Title: Why require PHP 8.1?
Last modified: March 13, 2025

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# Why require PHP 8.1?

 *  Resolved [andrewstarr](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrewstarr/)
 * (@andrewstarr)
 * [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-require-php-8-1/)
 * Hi there!
 * Why does the plugin require PHP 8.1?
 * I’ve tested it with PHP 7.4 and it seems to work just fine, and is now blocking
   usage on some sites that I am unable to upgrade PHP.
 * I can change “Requires PHP” value in readme and main plugin file, but I don’t
   really want to do that as any theme update will remove those changes.
 * BTW, WP core only recommends a minimum of PHP 7.4

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  [websevendev](https://wordpress.org/support/users/websevendev/)
 * (@websevendev)
 * [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-require-php-8-1/#post-18359070)
 * Yeah the version requirement is arbitrary in the sense that it may very well 
   work with older versions, but since everything below 8.1 is EOL ([https://endoflife.date/php](https://endoflife.date/php))
   I use 8.1 during development and wouldn’t catch any mistakes that would cause
   fatal errors in older versions.
 * If you were to download the plugin zip, modify the Requires PHP, and then install
   this patched version, the next update would also refuse to install due to PHP
   version, so it actually feels like a viable method to keep using the plugin with
   an older PHP version, just requires some extra effort to keep it updated.
 *  Thread Starter [andrewstarr](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrewstarr/)
 * (@andrewstarr)
 * [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-require-php-8-1/#post-18361640)
 * Thanks for the quick reply and the explanation.
 * I’d really like to continue recommending Animations for Blocks in my own plugin,
   but I just don’t see a way to do so when 50% of WP sites are still running < 
   PHP 8.1 – [https://wordpress.org/about/stats/](https://wordpress.org/about/stats/)
 * Would you have any objections if I were to perhaps release a fork of your plugin?
 *  [websevendev](https://wordpress.org/support/users/websevendev/)
 * (@websevendev)
 * [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-require-php-8-1/#post-18361645)
 * Go for it
 *  Thread Starter [andrewstarr](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrewstarr/)
 * (@andrewstarr)
 * [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-require-php-8-1/#post-18361694)
 * Awesome. Thanks again for your super quick reply!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘Why require PHP 8.1?’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/animations-for-blocks/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=2587511)
 * [Animations for Blocks](https://wordpress.org/plugins/animations-for-blocks/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/animations-for-blocks/#faq)
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 * 4 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [andrewstarr](https://wordpress.org/support/users/andrewstarr/)
 * Last activity: [1 year, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-require-php-8-1/#post-18361694)
 * Status: resolved