BrightLeaf Digital

PHP Compatibility Scanner helps you assess whether your site’s code (plugins and themes) is likely to run on newer versions of PHP. It performs static analysis using PHP_CodeSniffer and the PHPCompatibilityWP ruleset to flag code patterns that are incompatible with the selected target PHP version.
What the plugin does (at a glance): 
– Compares your current runtime PHP (baseline) to a selected target PHP version (8.0–8.4). 
– Scans plugins and themes, then highlights only the new issues that would appear on the target version (the “delta”). 
– Shows results in a clear report on the Tools screen and adds small badges on the Plugins list screen. 
– Lets you pause, resume, or stop a running scan.
Important limitations of static analysis: 
– Static analysis can miss issues in dynamic code paths and can generate false positives. Treat results as guidance, not guarantees. Always test site functionality on a staging environment before upgrading PHP in production.
<h3>Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Select a target PHP version (8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4)</li>
<li>Scan all plugins or select specific ones</li>
<li>Scan all themes or select specific ones, with an option to also scan a parent if a child theme is selected</li>
<li>Pause/Resume/Stop controls for long scans</li>
<li>Clear report of only the new issues between baseline (current runtime) and target</li>
<li>Plugin list badges showing a quick summary for the last scan</li>
</ul>
<h3>Privacy</h3>
All analysis runs locally on your server. No data is sent to external services by this plugin.

BrightLeaf Digital PHP Compatibility Scanner

This plugin scans your installed plugins and themes for potential PHP compatibility issues when upgrading to newer PHP versions.

Eli Hanna

⚠️ Important: Development Environment Only
This plugin is designed for development environments like LocalWP, XAMPP, or self-hosted servers. It will not work on most managed hosting providers (WP Engine, Kinsta, SiteGround, etc.) due to security restrictions that disable the <code>exec()</code> function and limit access to PHP binaries.
How It Works
This plugin leverages <a href="https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer" rel="nofollow ugc">PHP_CodeSniffer</a> with the <a href="https://github.com/PHPCompatibility/PHPCompatibility" rel="nofollow ugc">PHPCompatibility</a> standard to perform deep static analysis of your PHP code.
Core Components:
<ol>
<li>Bundled Dependencies: Includes PHP_CodeSniffer and PHPCompatibility ruleset</li>
<li>Batch Processing: Scans files in configurable batches (10-100 files) to manage memory usage</li>
<li>Command Execution: Executes PHPCS via PHP’s <code>exec()</code> function with specific parameters</li>
<li>Server-Side State: Stores file lists in WordPress options to optimize AJAX requests</li>
<li>Progressive UI: Real-time batch results with stop/start controls</li>
</ol>
How to Use:
<ol>
<li>Navigate to Tools → PHP Compatibility Scanner</li>
<li>Review the System Check section to ensure your environment is compatible</li>
<li>Select the plugins and/or themes you want to scan by checking their boxes</li>
<li>Configure your scan options:
<ul>
<li>Target PHP Version: Choose the PHP version you want to test against (7.4 – 8.4)</li>
<li>Batch Size: Select how many files to process at once (default: 50 files)</li>
<li>Skip Vendor Directory: Keep checked to skip third-party dependencies</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Click Start Scan to begin the compatibility check</li>
<li>View results in real-time as each plugin/theme is scanned</li>
<li>Review any errors (❌) or warnings (⚠️) found in your code</li>
<li>Click on any target to expand and see detailed compatibility issues</li>
</ol>
Why It Requires Development Environments
<ul>
<li><code>exec()</code> Function: Required to run PHPCS binary – disabled on managed hosts</li>
<li>PHP Binary Access: Needs access to PHP executable – restricted on shared hosting</li>
<li>Composer Dependencies: Requires vendor directory with PHPCS installation</li>
<li>File System Access: Creates temporary files for batch processing</li>
<li>Memory/Time Limits: Long-running scans need relaxed execution limits</li>
</ul>
Supported Environments
<ul>
<li>LocalWP (recommended)</li>
<li>XAMPP/MAMP</li>
<li>Docker WordPress setups</li>
<li>Self-hosted VPS/dedicated servers</li>
<li>Development environments with shell access</li>
</ul>
Unsupported Environments
<ul>
<li>WP Engine (exec() disabled)</li>
<li>Kinsta (security restrictions)</li>
<li>SiteGround (managed hosting limitations)</li>
<li>GoDaddy Managed WordPress (function restrictions)</li>
<li>WordPress.com (no plugin uploads)</li>
<li>Most shared hosting providers</li>
</ul>
<h3>Contributing</h3>
This plugin is actively developed for WordPress development environments. Contributions are welcome, especially:
<ul>
<li>Additional PHP version compatibility rules</li>
<li>Performance optimizations</li>
<li>UI/UX improvements</li>
<li>Hosted environment compatibility solutions</li>
</ul>
<h3>Technical Details</h3>
Dependencies
<ul>
<li>PHP_CodeSniffer: ^3.13 (static analysis engine)</li>
<li>PHPCompatibility: dev-develop (compatibility ruleset)</li>
</ul>
License
GPLv2 or later – same as WordPress core.

Eli's PHP Compatibility Scanner

A comprehensive WordPress plugin that scans your plugins and themes for PHP version compatibility issues using the  PHPCompatibility ruleset.

BrightLeaf Digital PHP Compatibility Scanner vs Eli's PHP Compatibility Scanner