WooCommerce 3.9 is almost there and it's going to be released in January. Despite being a minor update it brings some very important changes especially for WooCommerce stores admins and shop managers. Take a moment and check what you should be prepared for.
PHP 7.0 and WordPress 5.0 minimum requirements
WooCommerce 3.9 will no longer provide support for PHP versions lower than 7.0. That may hit the most a big amount of active shops which are still running on the outdated PHP versions like e.g. 5.6. The shop admins and owners will need to switch them to at least 7.0 to maintain the WordPress / WooCommerce compatibility. What's more WooCommerce 3.9 will require at least WordPress 5.0 to be installed as well.
That's a significant change if it comes to the community's approach to the outdated installations and a big step in the WordPress / WooCommerce development. Let's take a look at the situation from a different angle. The plugins' and themes' developers will finally be able to focus on improving their products instead of ensuring their backwards PHP compatibility. That in turn will result not only in better performance and functionality but in keeping the WordPress / WooCommerce sites more secure as well.
WooCommerce 3.9 & PHP 7.0 - how to check which versions are used in my shop?
If you want to know if your shop is ready for WooCommerce 3.9 update you may simply check it in the WooCommerce System status. You will easily find all the necessary information there. If you are not sure how to access the System status choose WooCommerce → Status from the WordPress sidebar menu or check our guide How to get WooCommerce system status →
How to switch the PHP version?
Keeping the PHP version up to date is highly advised. As the plugins' authors we always encourage our customers to keep an eye on it as a good practice. If you want to switch the PHP version your shop is currently using to the one supported by WooCommerce 3.9 you may also take a look at our guide How to switch the PHP version? →
WooCommerce 3.9 - what's more?
According to the more frequent updates policy the announced changes and tweaks are not so spectatular this time. However, they are some still worth mentioning:
- Improved WooCommerce Blocks 2.5 with 'All Products' block added
- Show button for the password fields in the login forms
- New and experimental WooCommerce configuration guide boosting the onboarding experience (available for 10% of the new users)
- Clickable phone numbers in the emails
- Payment Gateway API supporting the 'Pay button'
WooCommerce 3.9 & WP Desk plugins compatibility
We do our best to keep our plugins up to date and make them ready for upcoming WooCommerce updates. It hasn't changed this time as well! All the WP Desk plugins are already fully compatible with the latest WooCommerce 3.9 release.
