Using PHP 5
PHP 4 will remain the default for all users for the time being – we anticipate it being phased out over the next 6-8 months, so expect regular reminders on the subject.
To use the new PHP 5 (or at least test your site with it), simply edit the .htaccess file in your public_html directory and add the details from our FAQ Page:
http://blog.betterwebspace.com/technical/faq-php4-and-php5
To revert back to PHP4 simply remove the line again.
You may find that particular modules are not available in the PHP 5 configuration, if this is the case – revert back to PHP 4 and contact support with the modules names that need installing.
PHP Register Globals in PHP 4
The most controversial move made by the PHP developers in recent years was the move to changing the default value of register globals from ON to OFF in versions of PHP since 4.2.0. The directive itself isn’t insecure, but misuse of it can be!
Many users weren’t even aware of this change, and were even less aware as web hosts began to override this by setting it to ON for their servers (ourselves included). You can read more about register_globals and how it can be misused on the PHP website.
Going forward PHP Register Global will be set to off on all of our servers.
For users who need time to migrate their code, or update their software to a version that does not require PHP Register Globals to be switched on, we have a workaround:
Using your File Manager or FTP software, add the following line to tbe end of your /public_html/.htaccess file:
php_flag register_globals on
This will turn on PHP Register Globals for your entire site, and you should work towards not needing this setting any longer due to the security risk it may present to your own site.
We are aware that OSCommerce in particular requests register globals be switched on, please use the workaround and work towards using one of the fixes available that allows register globals to be switched off.
Versions of PHP 4
Now that we have PHP 5 available alongside PHP 4, We’d like to bring all of our PHP 4 installations up to the latest version (4.4.9).
Maintenance Window for this work: One hour during a six hour window between 0000-0600 GMT Sunday 14th September 2008.
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