PHP Compatibility Scanner helps you assess whether your site’s code (plugins and themes) is likely to run on newer versions of PHP. It performs static analysis using PHP_CodeSniffer and the PHPCompatibilityWP ruleset to flag code patterns that are incompatible with the selected target PHP version.
What the plugin does (at a glance):
– Compares your current runtime PHP (baseline) to a selected target PHP version (8.0–8.5).
– Scans plugins and themes, then highlights only the new issues that would appear on the target version (the “delta”).
– Shows results in a clear report on the Tools screen and adds small badges on the Plugins list screen.
– Lets you pause, resume, or stop a running scan.
Important limitations of static analysis:
– Static analysis can miss issues in dynamic code paths and can generate false positives. Treat results as guidance, not guarantees. Always test site functionality on a staging environment before upgrading PHP in production.
Features
- Select a target PHP version (8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5)
- Scan all plugins or select specific ones
- Scan all themes or select specific ones, with an option to also scan a parent if a child theme is selected
- Pause/Resume/Stop controls for long scans
- Clear report of only the new issues between baseline (current runtime) and target
- Plugin list badges showing a quick summary for the last scan
Privacy
All analysis runs locally on your server. No data is sent to external services by this plugin.
Screenshots
The scan report on the Tools screen, listing only the new issues that would appear on the target PHP version.
Compatibility badges on the Plugins screen summarizing the last scan for each plugin.
A long scan paused partway through. Scans can be paused, resumed or stopped at any time.