A WordPress site pinned to an ancient PHP by one abandoned plugin. A codebase written for PHP 5 that nobody dares touch. Getting them onto a supported PHP, and keeping them there, is my specialty.
Free 30-minute call · $100 an hour after that · Remote clients welcome
Nobody stays on an unsupported PHP on purpose. Something breaks when you try to move, so you don't, and every year the gap gets wider. Here's what closing it looks like.
A theme or plugin that hasn't seen an update in years breaks on a newer PHP, so the site stays pinned to an old one. Now that old PHP is the problem.
What I do
An exposure check: which PHP version each site really runs, what breaks when it moves to a supported one, and what fixing each piece costs. Then we fix it: update, swap or retire whatever is holding the site back.
The exposure check typically takes about three hours a site, at $100 an hour
Code written for PHP 5 or 7 leans on functions and behaviour that newer versions removed. Nobody wants to touch it, and the people who wrote it may be long gone.
What I do
An assessment of your code and servers, then a written upgrade plan: a staged path, what breaks at each step, and how we'll know it still works.
Scoped to your codebase, with a written quote before the upgrade starts
A backlog of client sites on PHP versions that won't get a patch, and a team that already has a full-time job.
What I do
Triage first: which sites are exposed, and which will be hardest to move. Then I work through the backlog alongside your team, worst first.
$100 an hour, for as many or as few sites as you need
Been there, upgraded that
I've taken a million lines of PHP from version 4 to 8.5.
As software manager at a small SaaS company, I became responsible for a codebase of roughly a million lines that was still on PHP 4 when I arrived. It hadn't had software updates in years. I led the team in getting it onto PHP 5.3 first. Then I set a policy: we'd never fall behind by a major or minor version again. We kept up through PHP 5, 7 and 8, and when I left we were on PHP 8.5, the latest release. When the company was acquired, I also led a security uplift to remediate the vulnerabilities in the code we'd inherited.
Years of modernizing and securing other people's PHP. I can do it for yours, too.
Four steps, and the last one is the one that keeps you from ever needing the first three again.
A free 30-minute call. You tell me what you're running, which PHP version it's on, and what happens when you try to move it. I tell you roughly what's involved and whether we're a good fit.
Outcome Fit check
I look at the code and the servers and write down what breaks on a supported PHP, in what order to fix it, and what it costs. For one WordPress site that's typically about three hours. Nothing more starts until you say so.
Outcome Upgrade plan
In stages, not one big bang: each step tested before the next, so the site keeps working while the PHP underneath it moves.
Outcome Supported PHP
The policy that kept a million-line codebase current: never fall behind by a major or minor version again. Upkeep by the hour or on retainer, so you never have to dig out from this far back again.
Outcome Stay current
Sometimes you can, and if that's all it takes I'll tell you. Usually something breaks: a plugin, a theme or your own code that relies on something newer PHP removed. Finding those pieces and fixing them is the job.
Probably not. A rewrite is the expensive answer, and it throws away code that already works. An upgrade keeps your application and moves the ground under it. If a rewrite really is cheaper for some part of it, I'll show you why in the plan.
The first call is free. After that it's $100 an hour from the moment the work starts. An exposure check for one WordPress site typically takes about three hours. Custom applications vary too much to guess at, so they get an assessment and a written quote before the upgrade starts.
Yes. I've led a team through exactly this. I can do the upgrade, guide your developers through it, or take the backlog nobody has time for.
Me, Brian Reich. CCG Labs is one person, so the person on the first call is the person in your code. I read every message myself and reply within one business day.
Get in touch
WordPress or custom, which PHP version, and what happens when you try to move it. I read every message myself and reply within a business day.
Rather talk now? Call (570) 939-7322.