PHP 8.3
The language that powers WordPress and 77% of the web.
What is it?
PHP is a server-side scripting language specifically designed for web development. When a visitor loads a WordPress page, it is PHP code that retrieves your content from the MySQL database, applies your theme, and generates the HTML that the visitor's browser receives. PHP 8.3 is the latest version, with significant performance improvements over older versions.
Why does your website need it?
WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, and most open-source CMS platforms are built on PHP. If your website runs on any of these, PHP is running behind every page load. PHP 8.3 runs up to 3× faster than PHP 7.x, which directly reduces your server's CPU usage and improves page load times. Keeping PHP updated also protects your site from security vulnerabilities in older versions — sites running PHP 7.x have known unpatched security issues.
How does it work?
PHP files (ending in .php) are processed by the PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) service on your server. When LiteSpeed receives a request for a PHP file, it passes it to PHP-FPM, which executes the PHP code. The code might query MySQL, read files, make API calls, or perform calculations, then outputs HTML that gets sent back to the visitor. PHP-FPM maintains a pool of PHP worker processes ready to handle requests, reducing startup overhead.
PHP 8.3 is included in every VillageHosting plan.
You don't need to configure or manage it. Our team sets it up for you.