Important website functionality updates are coming in 2019
If your business has a website, you may have heard rumblings of some upcoming enhancements on the horizon. And if you haven’t heard anything yet, all the more reason to read on!
Here at Red Technologies, we appreciate the opportunity to serve businesses and innovate online. We are grateful for our clients trust, and it is our priority to help ensure the performance, stability, and security of websites we manage. We also work to provide industry knowledge and share information on upcoming changes. As we explore the two upgrades detailed below, please know you can contact us with additional questions at any time.
Upgrade to WordPress 5.0
WordPress is releasing an enhancement soon that will impact your current site. There will be a number of important feature upgrades, including security and performance improvements, but the most significant update coming is the Gutenberg Editor. WordPress has completely rethought and developed its editor, and Gutenberg will act more as a page builder, similar to popular plugins like WPBakery Page Builder. The goal of the new Gutenberg Editor is to make navigating WordPress easier. However, this new feature will impact any plugins on your site that are outdated. If your current site uses any page builder plugins that are out of date, it is likely this WordPress update will break the functionality of that page builder.
Upgrade to PHP 7.2
Hosting platforms are also updating to PHP 7.2. (PHP refers to Hypertext Preprocessor, a server side scripting language designed for web development). The benefits of moving to the PHP 7.2 platform include increased performance, faster page speed, and greater memory efficiency. Sites that do not migrate to PHP 7.2 will have no critical security support after January 2019. Some of your websites may require development work and plugin or theme updates in order to successfully upgrade to PHP 7.2. At this time, WP Engine is requiring both upgrades be completed in the first months of 2019. While we’re not sure of the timeline for other providers we believe it is on the horizon.
What do these enhancements mean for you?
Eek! That sounds bad. And it could be, depending on the age and functionality of your site. If Red Technologies is your current website partner, we want to make these upgrades as easy as possible. In order to maintain your current website, Red Technologies will need to update your site. If you are a member of our monthly website security and maintenance program, we will take care of this migration for you at no additional cost.
If you are not a part of the monthly security package, we need to assess your website and offer an estimate of the time needed for the upgrade. Due to the unknown volume or time it may take to update our clients, we will work on a first come, first serve basis for these requests. Please contact your Project Manager today to start the updates or initial assessments needed to complete these upgrades.
Not sure what a hosting platform or plugin is because your cousin Eddie built your site a few years back? Contact your web tech support guru as soon as possible. And if they are not available, email us at info@redtechnologiesinc.com.
We know your website is an important component of your business and don’t want you to suffer the impacts of an error code, or an inefficient site. Contact us at info@redtechnologiesinc.com with any questions or concerns.
