Nightly & 6.3 versions requires at least PHP 7.0.0

[marcarmengou]

When a user tries to load a nightly version of WordPress with php 5.6 the following error appears:

Your server is running PHP version 5.6.40 but WordPress 6.4-alpha-56555 requires at least 7.0.0.

Can see it here: https://playground.wordpress.net/?php=5.6&wp=nightly&storage=temporary

[marcarmengou]

Also the same error when using php 5.6 and wp 6.3

Can see it here: https://playground.wordpress.net/?php=5.6&wp=6.3&storage=temporary

[dmsnell]

@marcarmengou this is because WordPress bumped its minimum supported PHP version to PHP 7.0 in WordsPress 6.3 - https://make.wordpress.org/core/2023/07/05/dropping-support-for-php-5/

We could consider not allowing these combinations of PHP and WordPress, but I don't suppose there's harm in leaving them around since someone may want to test out some patch in unsupported versions.

[marcarmengou]

I am not able to use those combinations in Playground. How to test with these combinations?

[dmsnell]

@marcarmengou the php=5.6 part of the Playground link you shared specifies that the Playground should load with PHP 5.6. If you remove that part of the URL then it won't force that version. Alternatively, you can click on the button at the top of the Playground to customize it and pick a PHP version from a dropdown box.

Screen.Recording.2023-09-12.at.11.00.07.AM.mov

[marcarmengou]

Thanks @dmsnell for the video. I don't mean to remove 5.6. I mean that if the combinations of 5.6 + 6.3 or 5.6 + nightly do not allow to be used by the user, because it generates an error on the screen, perhaps they could not be offered to the user.

For example, if in the modal I select versions not "compatible" with php 5.6, such as WordPress 6.3 or nightly, that automatically the selector switches to php 7.0, because otherwise it just shows an error on the screen.

[dmsnell]

thanks @marcarmengou - this is what I meant in considering the change. for now we'll leave it in, because it's possible to use the Playground with additional code and plugins that could alter this behavior.

maybe we can get a warning message to appear in that list. for now, the warning message comes from WordPress itself, which seems to communicate everything necessary to resolve the issue.