Title: Fatal error when activating plugin
Last modified: August 31, 2016

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# Fatal error when activating plugin

 *  Resolved [nhowarth](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nhowarth/)
 * (@nhowarth)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-when-activating-plugin-26/)
 * Activating plugin following update 1.8.17 results in the following error:
 * Plugin could not be activated because it triggered a fatal error.
 * Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘[‘ in /home/cypruspr/public_html/wp/wp-
   content/plugins/wpnewsman-newsletters/lib/emogrifier/Classes/Emogrifier.php on
   line 91
 * (I also have WPNewsman Pro Version 1.5.9)
 * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpnewsman-newsletters/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpnewsman-newsletters/)

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

 *  Plugin Author [G-Lock Software](https://wordpress.org/support/users/marisp/)
 * (@marisp)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-when-activating-plugin-26/#post-7048902)
 * What is your php version?
 * That line had a short syntax array private $excludedSelectors = []; which doesn’t
   work in PHP 5.3 (>=5.4 it is supported).
 *  Thread Starter [nhowarth](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nhowarth/)
 * (@nhowarth)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-when-activating-plugin-26/#post-7048924)
 * Thanks, I’m running PHP Version 5.3.29 – I’ll update.
 * Regards
 * Nigel
 *  Thread Starter [nhowarth](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nhowarth/)
 * (@nhowarth)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-when-activating-plugin-26/#post-7048931)
 * OK – I’ve updated to PHP Version 5.5.32, but still have a problem.
 * Activating the plugin fails with:
 * Fatal error: Class ‘newsmanOptions’ not found in /home/cypruspr/public_html/wp/
   wp-content/plugins/wpnewsman-pro/core-pro.php on line 76
 * Rgds, Nigel
 *  Plugin Author [G-Lock Software](https://wordpress.org/support/users/marisp/)
 * (@marisp)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-when-activating-plugin-26/#post-7048933)
 * Deactivate the WPNewsman Pro first. Then activate WPNewsman Lite and then Pro
 *  Thread Starter [nhowarth](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nhowarth/)
 * (@nhowarth)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-when-activating-plugin-26/#post-7048958)
 * Thanks all is now OK.
 *  [Oscar Estepa](https://wordpress.org/support/users/estepix/)
 * (@estepix)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-when-activating-plugin-26/#post-7049154)
 * This plugin won’t work anymore on PHP 5.3?
 * I have a server running this PHP version for many of my clients, several of which
   are using WPNewsman Lite and Pro and I would like to know if this is not going
   to work anymore with PHP 5.3.
 * In my opinion it shouldn’t be a problem making the plugin backwards compatible
   with older PHP versions (at least 5.3) I don’t see the point of losing potential
   clients by making it more restrictive.
 *  Plugin Author [G-Lock Software](https://wordpress.org/support/users/marisp/)
 * (@marisp)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-when-activating-plugin-26/#post-7049155)
 * The PHP version 5.3 has reached its End of Life (EOL). Using this old version
   may expose you to security vulnerabilities and bugs that have been fixed in more
   recent versions of PHP.
 * So, better if you upgrade to the latest PHP 5.5 or PHP 5.6 which brings huge 
   benefits in terms of performance, memory usage, security and overall stability.
 * WPNewsman uses some 3rd party libraries that do not work on PHP v5.3 anymore.
   Thus, WPNewsman itself does not work on PHP v5.3.
 *  [Daniel VERCAEMST](https://wordpress.org/support/users/daniel-vercaemst/)
 * (@daniel-vercaemst)
 * [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-when-activating-plugin-26/#post-7049198)
 * Hi !
 * My website runs on Php 5.3. ([http://www.jaime-jardiner.com](http://www.jaime-jardiner.com))
 * I would have liked to be informed before the change, so do the legwork before“
   suffering” of the bug and have to disable the extension : An information with
   a time limit for exemple.
 * Communicating is important!
 * Bye !

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

The topic ‘Fatal error when activating plugin’ is closed to new replies.

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## Tags

 * [fatal error](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/fatal-error/)

 * 8 replies
 * 4 participants
 * Last reply from: [Daniel VERCAEMST](https://wordpress.org/support/users/daniel-vercaemst/)
 * Last activity: [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-when-activating-plugin-26/#post-7049198)
 * Status: resolved