Enforcing minimum software requirements for AffiliateWP and its add-ons has always been a loose concept. However, as our code-base has matured, so has our approach to pushing our minimum requirements – and therefore our ability to innovate – forward.
With that in mind, we’ve published a new Minimum Requirements Roadmap doc on our docs site. It outlines the roadmap for eventually aligning all of AffiliateWP’s products to the same software requirements.
(Near) immediate effects
The most immediate changes will take effect starting in April 2021, coinciding with the AffiliateWP 2.7 release:
- Minimum PHP 5.6 (current: 5.3)
- Minimum WordPress 5.0 (current: 4.4)
Following in AffiliateWP’s footsteps, two of our pro add-ons will be similarly bumping their minimums around the same time. Those would be the REST API Extended add-on, and our brand new Affiliate Portal pro add-on which is in beta.
If all goes well with these initial changes, the rest of the add-on catalog will begin to see minimum requirements updates starting in May 2021.
Planning Ahead
For quite some time, we’ve been working toward the planned PHP minimum bump in AffiliateWP targeted for February 2021. Well, it’s March 2021 and here we are!
Make no mistake, we aren’t looking to cause undue struggle for our customers in more aggressively setting minimum requirements. Instead, we feel adopting a forward-looking approach is in the best interests of our and our customers’ long term sanity and security.
Plus, knowing what’s changing and when will help everyone plan accordingly.
The Roadmap
As mentioned, we’ve published a new Minimum Requirements Roadmap doc on our docs site that will be periodically updated. At the very least, this centralized resource should help keep everyone on the same page.
Because of the naturally disparate code-bases of AffiliateWP’s add-on catalog, not all add-ons will be bumping their minimum requirements to the same versions at the same times. Core dashboard notices will be periodically updated to follow the roadmap.
If you have any questions or concerns, leave a comment below or shoot us a message via our support page.