How about Wordpress 3 for PHP5?

July 20, 2007

You may have heard about the goPHP5 website, which is an organization that wanted to get web hosts and open source projects to phase out PHP4 (what many hosts use by default now) and focus on PHP5. (Since the project started, PHP.net announced that it focus would be on PHP5 at the end of the year, with only security updates to PHP4 after that time.

The change, going from PHP4 to PHP5, was controversial for some. Other, like Drupal, ebraced it. Matt M., WordPress' Benevolent Dictator for Life, didn't like it much.

Now, I'm not a coder, and I couldn't tell you the differences between PHP4 and PHP5, but I know one thing: The internet is ever-changing. If it wasn't, we'd still be using FrontPage -- everyone.... Ewwwwww -- and all our webpages would end in .htm. And even if PHP5 is flawed, it's the only way we'd ever get to PHP6. We all have to adapt.

But Matt's comments were pretty insipid. He said: "Let's make sure we have really solid importers for all the CMSs on that
list. Smiling (And wow that website is ugly.)"

Is that really the thinking that goes into WordPress? It's sure not forward-thinking. (Of course, I don't think WordPress is know for that.) It would seem everyone is comfortable at WPHQ.

And as for goPHP5's website being ugly: yes, it is. But by attacking the style of the site and discussing the substance is pretty lame. And let's not forget Wordpress.org. Talk about bland...

So with PHP5 on its way, I think WordPress developers should start thinking about WordPress 3, the PHP5 version of the blogware. With this release, they could take everything that makes WordPress great, and make it even better. Drop the legacy code (which would annoy some plugin makers and theme designers, but they'll adjust). Keep the user-friendliness of it.

And start thinking about the future instead of living in the past.

#1PHP5 represents an

Comment Information

skippy
Jul 30, 2007
10:08pm

PHP5 represents an attractive opportunity to review and refresh a lot of code. No one has ever said it would necessarily be easy to refactor any specific code from (procedural) PHP4 to (object-oriented) PHP5, but in many cases I believe it to be a worthwhile endeavor.

My experiences with Habari have really opened my eyes. Instead of grepping through wp-includes/functions.php for a function declaration, I know immediately which class file to open when searching for a Habari function. $post->insert() is a function inside the Post class, which is defined in post.php. (Or, at the worst, it's a function defined in a parent class, which is easy to discern.) A clearly defined object model makes it easy for new developers to jump into the code, find what they need, and add new features.

WordPress can retain all the end-user ease of use, and developer friendliness by upgrading to PHP5. A conversion to strong OOP and OOD (object oriented design) would actually make it easier for plugin authors to extend WordPress. Yes, it would be a non-trivial task; and yes there would be some conversion headaches as the ecosystem of plugins catches up. With a clearly defined end-of-life for PHP4, there's ample time for WordPress to embark on the work necessary for a smooth upgrade process.

#2Yeah, that's, um, what I

Comment Information

david
Jul 30, 2007
10:23pm

Yeah, that's, um, what I meant. Smiling (I, of course, am not really a coder, and not much of a designer!)

But I still firmly believe WordPress should starting heading in this direction. And WordPress does have a lot of talented and knowledgeable people to make this work.

(and I'm still working on my rational for having categories in Habari!)

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July 20, 2007