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Ask the Readers: Does PHP 4 Matter to You?

Ask the Readers On Monday, Solspace announced that they are dropping support of PHP 4 for their add-ons. We covered this here at EE Insider and also in the EE Podcast with an interview of add-on developer Brandon Kelly.

We’ve heard from the add-on developers and now we want to hear from you:

Does the lack of support for PHP 4 in add-ons matter to you? Do you or your host still run PHP 4 with ExpressionEngine?

Posted on Oct 14, 2009 by Ryan Irelan

Filed Under: Ask the Readers

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For small clients who are on shared PHP4 environments that they've pre-paid for the next year I tell them that they can either get a new PHP5-compatible shared host account at a decent provider for $40/year or I can just charge them extra for the trouble PHP4 will cause. $40/year compared to $90/hour gets the point across. For larger clients who have larger hosting bills (VPS, etc.) it's sometimes a bit tricky to step around telling them to upgrade the software (gotta watch those legacy apps) versus telling them to get another server environment for their new website. Ultimately the one I encountered upgraded to PHP5 and fixed the old code that used PHP4 xml processing functions.
Posted by Ty Wangsness on 2009-10-22 09:55:02 people seem pretty much in agreement about it going... if only it were this easy with IE6!
Posted by moogaloo on 2009-10-22 08:50:49 PHP4 needs to go.
Posted by Phil Freo on 2009-10-22 08:48:28 Currently have a project where the client (a city) is hosted on a PHP4 environment. The email is also hosted with this host (25+ accounts) so there will be a cost to move them. I currently have to try and explain what they will be missing out on if they stay - which is tough because it's a set of tools that may or may not be used in the actual site build. All this to non-technical staff, who haven't had a CMS in the past so even EE out of the box with PHP4 and no fun stuff like Playa/Structure will be an improvement, and who have had a good working relationship with their current host for a number of years. We'll see if I'm successful...
Posted by Boyink on 2009-10-16 06:15:38 I think limiting PHP 4 support is a step in the right direction. For any company that is looking at advancing with the web over the next few years. I also think that any company that is wanting to actively compete needs to check what they are doing. Supporting a technology that is no longer being supported by the developers is a surefire way to stay stagnant. It makes sense to limit the available platforms so you can provide great support for the current platform. Sure some clients will be upset because they are use to what they have now and don't want to change but those are the same people running IE6 or still driving there late 70's car just because they are use to it.
Posted by Justin Long on 2009-10-14 15:57:06 You matter to me Ryan.
Posted by Kenny Meyers on 2009-10-14 09:16:15 I think this is awesome news. It's time to move on. PHP4 = IE6. Get rid of them both.
Posted by bjornbjorn on 2009-10-14 07:51:41 I do a lot of work on shared hosting servers and haveing no php5 support is increasingly rare. If a particular host gives me a hard time about installing php5 I usually advise my client to look into a new hosting company :)
Posted by e-man on 2009-10-14 06:08:14 Considering that PHP5 has been around for several years now, I see no problem with kicking PHP4 to the curb. The many benefits gained by moving to PHP5 -- which would certainly include the latest and greatest EE add-ons -- offsets any risks associated with the move, IMHO.
Posted by Jason Morehead on 2009-10-14 04:54:01 If a technology is no longer being supported by its creators AND there is an alternative solution (an update), I see no reason why to continue supporting it long-term. I like the way Solspace is going about their transition. As developers, I think we need to be encouraged to keep / purchase older versions of software to keeps those view clients with PHP4 needs happy. Should you have access to the latest and greatest technologies if you refuse to use software that supports it? I say no, because the nature of technology is to develop for the latest and readily-available software/hardware.
Posted by Patrick Clarke on 2009-10-14 03:59:50 yeh - i do agree - only trouble is with some clients you may have agreements, and getting them moved may not be easy... but then i guess they have to put up with not using newer modules.
Posted by moogaloo on 2009-10-14 03:03:44 Although not much of an add-on developer, I do develop in PHP, and haven't touched PHP4 in ages. It's dead and we must move. As for some ISP's that cause issues in PHP5, move away from them to a host that works, would be my suggestion.
Posted by Out of Control on 2009-10-14 02:59:47 I personally will be happy to see PHP4 go, and would make it a prerequisite of clients servers that they support PHP5, but I know there are some CGI script versions of PHP5 that have issues - Heart Internets Reseller accounts use one of these and it messes with the .htaccess needed to remove the index.php from URLs. This would be my only reservation about this move.
Posted by moogaloo on 2009-10-14 02:27:30

moogaloo — 02:27 on 10.14.2009

I personally will be happy to see PHP4 go, and would make it a prerequisite of clients servers that they support PHP5, but I know there are some CGI script versions of PHP5 that have issues - Heart Internets Reseller accounts use one of these and it messes with the .htaccess needed to remove the index.php from URLs.

This would be my only reservation about this move.

Out of Control — 02:59 on 10.14.2009

Although not much of an add-on developer, I do develop in PHP, and haven’t touched PHP4 in ages. It’s dead and we must move. As for some ISP’s that cause issues in PHP5, move away from them to a host that works, would be my suggestion.

moogaloo — 03:03 on 10.14.2009

yeh - i do agree - only trouble is with some clients you may have agreements, and getting them moved may not be easy… but then i guess they have to put up with not using newer modules.

Patrick Clarke — 03:59 on 10.14.2009

If a technology is no longer being supported by its creators AND there is an alternative solution (an update), I see no reason why to continue supporting it long-term.

I like the way Solspace is going about their transition.

As developers, I think we need to be encouraged to keep / purchase older versions of software to keeps those view clients with PHP4 needs happy.

Should you have access to the latest and greatest technologies if you refuse to use software that supports it? I say no, because the nature of technology is to develop for the latest and readily-available software/hardware.

Jason Morehead — 04:54 on 10.14.2009

Considering that PHP5 has been around for several years now, I see no problem with kicking PHP4 to the curb. The many benefits gained by moving to PHP5—which would certainly include the latest and greatest EE add-ons—offsets any risks associated with the move, IMHO.

e-man — 06:08 on 10.14.2009

I do a lot of work on shared hosting servers and haveing no php5 support is increasingly rare.
If a particular host gives me a hard time about installing php5 I usually advise my client to look into a new hosting company

bjornbjorn — 07:51 on 10.14.2009

I think this is awesome news. It’s time to move on. PHP4 = IE6. Get rid of them both.

Kenny Meyers — 09:16 on 10.14.2009

You matter to me Ryan.

Justin Long — 15:57 on 10.14.2009

I think limiting PHP 4 support is a step in the right direction. For any company that is looking at advancing with the web over the next few years. I also think that any company that is wanting to actively compete needs to check what they are doing. Supporting a technology that is no longer being supported by the developers is a surefire way to stay stagnant. It makes sense to limit the available platforms so you can provide great support for the current platform.

Sure some clients will be upset because they are use to what they have now and don’t want to change but those are the same people running IE6 or still driving there late 70’s car just because they are use to it.

Boyink — 06:15 on 10.16.2009

Currently have a project where the client (a city) is hosted on a PHP4 environment. The email is also hosted with this host (25+ accounts) so there will be a cost to move them.

I currently have to try and explain what they will be missing out on if they stay - which is tough because it’s a set of tools that may or may not be used in the actual site build.

All this to non-technical staff, who haven’t had a CMS in the past so even EE out of the box with PHP4 and no fun stuff like Playa/Structure will be an improvement, and who have had a good working relationship with their current host for a number of years.

We’ll see if I’m successful…

Phil Freo — 08:48 on 10.22.2009

PHP4 needs to go.

moogaloo — 08:50 on 10.22.2009

people seem pretty much in agreement about it going… if only it were this easy with IE6!

Ty Wangsness — 09:55 on 10.22.2009

For small clients who are on shared PHP4 environments that they’ve pre-paid for the next year I tell them that they can either get a new PHP5-compatible shared host account at a decent provider for $40/year or I can just charge them extra for the trouble PHP4 will cause. $40/year compared to $90/hour gets the point across.

For larger clients who have larger hosting bills (VPS, etc.) it’s sometimes a bit tricky to step around telling them to upgrade the software (gotta watch those legacy apps) versus telling them to get another server environment for their new website. Ultimately the one I encountered upgraded to PHP5 and fixed the old code that used PHP4 xml processing functions.

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