At WHC, we're committed to providing you with powerful tools to enhance the performance and security of your website. That's why we're excited to introduce Site Quality Monitoring (SQM), a comprehensive new tool now available for free with your web hosting at WHC. 

Whether you're a business owner, blogger, or online retailer, SQM makes it easy to maintain top-notch site performance, reliability, and user experience—all from a single dashboard.

Why choose Site Quality Monitoring?

We all know that your website's performance and user experience are critical to your success. Downtime, broken links, slow-loading pages, and security vulnerabilities can hurt traffic, conversions, and search engine rankings. 

How SQM improves your website

Site Quality Monitoring proactively identifies and resolves issues before they affect your website or business, ensuring it runs smoothly and efficiently. Here's what SQM can help you with:

Uptime Monitoring with Real-Time Alerts

SQM continuously checks your website's availability and alerts you immediately if it goes down. This allows you to act swiftly to minimize disruptions, preventing lost revenue and maintaining your reputation.

Performance Optimization 

Identify slow-loading pages and performance bottlenecks. SQM provides insights to help you optimize your site's speed, enhancing user experience and reducing bounce rates.

Error Detection 

Automatically detect broken links, missing files, and malfunctioning scripts. SQM helps you fix these issues promptly to maintain site integrity and improve SEO rankings.

Security Monitoring 

Stay ahead of potential security risks by identifying expired SSL certificates, insecure content, and compliance issues like excessive cookie usage. SQM alerts you to these vulnerabilities so you can address them before they become serious problems.

E-commerce Monitoring

For online stores, SQM ensures that all e-commerce functionalities are operating smoothly. It monitors critical aspects like checkout processes and payment gateways to prevent technical issues that could result in lost sales.

Detailed Reporting and Actionable Insights

Access comprehensive reports and analytics to make data-driven decisions for optimizing your site's performance and reliability over time.

Who can benefit from Site Quality Monitoring?

SQM is available for free to WHC customers on the following hosting plans:

• Hosting Pro and Hosting Enterprise plans
• WP Pro and WP Beast plans
• Cloud and Dedicated Server plans with a cPanel license

If you’re already on one of these plans, SQM is included as part of your package. By default, this feature is turned off, but enabling it is quick and easy from within your cPanel dashboard.

Monitor your site today

Don’t let poor site performance stand in the way of your success. You can now take proactive steps to ensure your website is running smoothly at all times with Site Quality Monitoring. Simply activate Site Quality Monitoring directly in cPanel to start optimizing your online presence.

PHP 8.2 & 8.3 are now available on WHC's Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting, and Managed WordPress plans. For Cloud and Dedicated plans, these new versions are available provided you have the latest cPanel version. These upgrades offer enhanced performance and introduce several new features for websites running on PHP. If you're ready to upgrade, you can easily switch to the latest version directly from your control panel.

• What is PHP?
• What’s new in PHP 8.2?
• What’s new in PHP 8.3?
• Why should I update to the latest version?
• How do I change the PHP version?
• Where does PHP go from here?

What is PHP?

PHP is a flexible and powerful programming language that helps create dynamic, interactive websites. It's a key part of the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) and supports popular platforms like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Magento. Many major sites and apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Zoom, and Wikipedia, also rely on PHP.

What’s new in PHP 8.2?

PHP 8.2 is another significant step forward for PHP, continuing the evolution of the language with new features, performance improvements, and greater security.

PHP 8.2 is available for Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting, and Managed WordPress plans. Also Cloud and Dedicated plans with the latest cPanel version.

Key Features of PHP 8.2:

• Read-Only Classes: Developers can now make entire classes read-only, not just individual properties. This helps keep your data secure and unchangeable where needed.
• Improved Type Handling: PHP 8.2 offers more flexible options for combining different types of code, making it easier to write and maintain.
• Deprecation of Dynamic Properties: For greater code consistency and maintainability, dynamic properties are now deprecated.
• Improved Performance: Various internal optimizations have been added to further enhance speed and memory usage, making PHP 8.2 one of the fastest versions yet.

For a full list of updates, check the official PHP 8.2 Release Announcement.

What’s new in PHP 8.3?

PHP 8.3, the latest release, brings even more enhancements to improve the performance, developer experience, and feature set of PHP, making it easier to build and maintain modern web applications.

PHP 8.3 is available for Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting, and Managed WordPress plans. Also Cloud and Dedicated plans with the latest cPanel version.

Key Features of PHP 8.3:

• json_validate: A new function that makes it easier to check if JSON data is valid, without needing extra tools or libraries.
• Simplified Closures: With auto-capture closures, you can now write less code to achieve the same functionality, making your coding faster and cleaner.
• Anonymous Read-Only Classes: You can create read-only anonymous classes, offering more flexibility when you need quick, secure solutions.
• Better Performance: PHP 8.3 improves speed and reduces memory usage, making websites run more efficiently than ever.

Developers eager to explore the latest features can check out the official PHP 8.3 Release Announcement.

Why should I update to the latest version?

Upgrading to PHP 8.2 or 8.3 unlocks a range of powerful new features that can significantly enhance your website’s speed, security, and functionality. Developers can tap into the latest tools for more efficient coding, while website owners may notice performance improvements across the board. However, it's essential to check that your site's plugins, themes, and applications are fully compatible with these newer versions before making the switch.

To minimize disruptions, it’s often best to wait a few months before upgrading to a newly released version, especially if your site uses older plugins or themes that haven't been updated to be compatible with the latest PHP versions. By delaying for a few months, you give developers time to release updates that work smoothly with the new version. 

Always test your website after changing PHP versions and, if available, test your updates in a staging environment first to ensure everything runs as expected. Website forms, order forms and login pages are particularly susceptible to breaking when changing PHP versions.

How do I change the PHP version?

It’s easy to switch PHP versions, right from your cPanel. If you discover a problem on your website following the switch, you may use this procedure to switch back to a prior version.

Where does PHP go from here?

With the release of PHP 8.3, PHP continues to evolve and improve, with further performance boosts, stability improvements, and new features on the horizon. Expect to see even more advancements that make PHP faster, more secure, and easier to use. PHP 8.4 is scheduled to be released on November 21, 2024

Stay updated with PHP's development by visiting the official PHP website.