One More Reason Why Not To Use BlueHost Web Hosting
BlueHost shared web hosting is currently running obsolete versions on PHP, and refuses to upgrade. I have contact @Support twice, on behalf of two different clients. Even though Cpanel has the option to support multiple versions of PHP, and let us choose the version we want to run, BlueHost fails to make PHP 7.2 and PHP 7.3 available as options.
On my first chat session with @Support they claimed “We are still testing it …” What a dumb answer. Many hosting companies offer PHP 7.2 and 7.3. PHP 7.3 is the fastest most secure version of PHP, ever!
On another session with @Support they told me “We can not switch because too many old sites are no compatible [with 7.2 – 7.3].” What the hell? Shared hosting options should not cater to the lowest common denominator.
If you are run the most recent version of Joomla on BlueHost, you will see this PHP Warning on your Joomla Dashboard:
We have detected that your server is using PHP 7.1.14 which is obsolete and no longer receives official security updates by its developers. The Joomla! Project recommends upgrading your site to PHP 7.2 or later which will receive security updates at least until 2020-11-30. Please ask your host to make PHP 7.2 or a later version the default version for your site. If your host is already PHP 7.2 ready please enable PHP 7.2 on your site’s root and ‘administrator’ directories – typically you can do this yourself through a tool in your hosting control panel, but it’s best to ask your host if you are unsure.
My preferred hosting company is SiteGround. At SiteGround you can develop on the cutting edge if you want to, and use the very latest release of PHP (currently v7.4). SiteGround’s default version is 7.1, but that is changing to v7.3 in two weeks.
