When PHP 7.4 Went End-of-Life and a WordPress Site Flat-Lined—Here’s How We Revived It in One Evening
TL;DR: A small business woke up to a blank website after their host forced a PHP upgrade. In three hours we:
- 🔒 backed everything up & updated WordPress to 6.8.2,
- 🛠️ patched an out-of-date Cherry framework that was crashing PHP 8+,
- ⚡ moved the server from end-of-life PHP 7.4 to PHP 8.4,
- ✅ and got every page-builder element showing again.
1 • The Wake-Up Call
- 📧 Host emailed a security alert—WordPress version 5.8.10 + PHP 7.4.
- ⚠️ Host then retired PHP 7.4 overnight. Result: total white screen.
- 🐞 Root cause: Cherry theme & page-builder using removed
create_function().
2 • Why PHP 7.4 End-of-Life Matters
Official security support for PHP 7.4 ended on 28 November 2022. No patches = easy target for exploits. Hosts are forcing upgrades to keep servers safe.
3 • First Aid
- 💾 Switched back to PHP 7.4, took a full backup, cleared 250 MB of old logs.
- ⬆️ Updated WordPress core, plugins & theme to 6.8.2.
4 • The One-Line Bug
return create_function( '', 'return new Cherry_Framework();' );
create_function() was removed in PHP 8. We swapped it for an anonymous function:
return ( function () { return new Cherry_Framework(); } )();
5 • Patch & Upgrade (⚡)
- 🔧 Patched the theme and Power Builder plugin with the new function.
- 🚫 Disabled unused Cherry add-ons that weren’t needed.
- 🚀 Switched the server to PHP 8.4 and flushed OPcache.
6 • Results
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| PHP 7.4 (EOL) | PHP 8.4 (supported to 2028) |
| White screen | Site loads, builder elements render |
| TTFB 1.2 s | TTFB 0.8 s |
| Outdated core/plugins | WordPress 6.8.2 |
7 • Lessons for Site Owners
- ⏰ Don’t ignore PHP upgrade notices—white screens happen overnight.
- 🎨 Legacy page-builders age out; budget a refresh every 3-4 years.
- 🛡️ A small patch can buy you time before a full redesign.
8 • Is Your WordPress Site Ready for PHP 8?
Get a fast compatibility check — see if your site will stay online when your host moves to PHP 8.