Clear version definition

[rhertogh]

Hi all,

Lately there has been a lot discussion and confusion about Yii2 versioning and PHP version compatibility. While it's good to have discussions (and a lot of valid points were raised) having confusion is not. Therefore I would propose to create a single and definitive version definition located within the Yii2 source code (e.g. in the readme.md).

Based on the current developments and aforementioned discussions I would propose the following versioning:

Yii2 Version	PHP version	Development status	EOL ¹
<= 2.0.49.*	>= 5.4, <= 8.3	security fixes only	23 Nov 2026 ³
>= 2.0.50	>= 7.3, <= 8.4	bug fixes and security fixes only	bugfixes till 23 Nov 2026 ³, security fixes till 21 Nov 2027 ⁴
>= 2.2.0 ²	>= 8.1	active development

¹ All mentioned dates may be subject to change and no rights can be derived from them.
² Note: Yii 2.1 was skipped, Yii 2.2 has not yet been released.
³ PHP 8.3 EOL date.
⁴ Expected PHP 8.4 EOL date.

The table above is a first setup, all input is of course very welcome.

---

Changelog:

Date (UTC)	Change
2024-03-23 16:44	Initial version
2024-03-23 22:34	Changed maximum PHP version to 8.4 for Yii 2.0.50 and updated EOL accordingly
2024-03-27 20:28	Added dates disclaimer, added note about Yii 2.1

[rhertogh]

@samdark @bizley @terabytesoftw @rob006 @mtangoo @schmunk42 and other @yiisoft/core-developers looking forward to hear your input.

[terabytesoftw]

I would just add, in the PHP 8.4 box for 2.0.50, which will already be available.

Excellent 100% agree.

[rhertogh]

@terabytesoftw I've updated the table. Since PHP 8.4 would push the EOL further back I've split the bugfixes and security fixes dates.

[bizley]

LGFM

[mtangoo]

Great Idea. Will clear a lot of issues regarding versions

[mtangoo]

Just addition thing is clarifying that v2.1 never happened as some get confused with a leap from 2.0.x to 2.2.x

[rhertogh]

Good point, added in the footnotes with link

[rhertogh]

Pull Request: #20142

[samdark]

https://github.com/yiisoft-contrib/yiiframework.com/blob/master/config/release-cycle.php should be updated as well.

[rhertogh]

Nice page, didn't know about it.
I'll create a PR for it.