Resolving the "Array and String Offset Access Syntax with Curly Braces" Error in WooCommerce

If your WordPress or WooCommerce site shows "Fatal error: Array and string offset access syntax with curly braces is no longer supported", the site is running PHP 8 and one plugin or theme still contains code written for PHP 7 or older. This guide explains what the error means, how to get the site back quickly, and how to fix it properly.

1. What the error means

Older PHP allowed two ways to read one character of a string or one item of an array:

$first = $name{0};   // old curly-brace syntax
$first = $name[0];   // square-bracket syntax, the only one PHP 8 accepts

PHP 7.4 marked the curly-brace form as deprecated and printed a warning. PHP 8.0 removed it completely. Now PHP refuses to compile any file that contains it, so the whole page stops with a fatal error:

Fatal error: Array and string offset access syntax with curly braces is no longer supported
in /home/youruser/public_html/wp-content/plugins/some-plugin/includes/file.php on line 42

The path tells you where the problem is:

• wp-content/plugins/plugin-name/: the plugin in that folder;
• wp-content/themes/theme-name/: the theme in that folder;
• wp-includes/ or wp-admin/: WordPress core itself is very old and needs updating.

WooCommerce fixed this years ago. If the path points into plugins/woocommerce/, your copy of WooCommerce is badly out of date.

2. Why it appears "suddenly"

You usually see this error straight after one of these:

• the site's PHP version was changed to 8.x in the control panel;
• an old site was moved to a new host that defaults to PHP 8;
• an abandoned plugin was reinstalled from an old backup or a zip file.

The code was always outdated. PHP 8 simply stopped tolerating it.

3. Get the site back online

If you use cPanel, remember that a cache sits in front of the web server and can keep serving an old page for a while. Add ?t=1 to the address to see the live result.

4. Fix it properly

Work through these in order and stop at the first one that works.

Patching the code yourself

Open the file named in the error, go to the line number, and change the curly braces after the variable to square brackets:

// Before (fails on PHP 8)
$initial = $value{0};
$last    = $parts{count($parts) - 1};

// After
$initial = $value[0];
$last    = $parts[count($parts) - 1];

Only change braces that come straight after a variable. Leave {$var} inside double-quoted strings, and the braces of if, function and foreach blocks, alone.

A file often has more than one case. If SSH is enabled on your account, this lists every likely match in your plugins and themes:

grep -rnE '\$[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*\{[$0-9]' --include='*.php' ~/public_html/wp-content/

Two warnings about patching:

• An update overwrites your change. That is fine if the update also fixes the bug, but if the plugin is abandoned, replacing it is the lasting fix.
• The same plugin probably has other PHP 8 problems. Code that still uses this syntax usually also uses functions that PHP 8 removed. The next fatal error may be a different one.

Never edit a parent theme to fix this if you can avoid it. If the fault is in a theme you have customised, move your customisations into a child theme first, then update the parent.

5. Should you switch back to PHP 7.4?

Only as a stopgap for an hour or a day while you update or replace the plugin. PHP 7.4 accepts the curly-brace syntax (with a warning), so the error disappears, but:

• PHP 7.4 has had no security fixes since November 2022, and PHP 8.0 none since November 2023;
• current versions of WordPress plugins increasingly require PHP 8;
• the outdated plugin is still outdated.

The steps for changing the version are in How to change your PHP version. Before you move the site forward again, test it as described in Understanding PHP version compatibility.

6. Running WordPress on Domain India

On our cPanel servers you choose the PHP version per domain, and new accounts start on PHP 8.3 (measured September 2026). DirectAdmin offers PHP 5.6, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3. phpinfo() is disabled on cPanel, so check the version with a one-line file as the PHP version guide describes. Jailed SSH access is available on every shared hosting plan; it is off by default, so ask support to enable it if you want to run the grep search above.

Shared hosting includes weekly backups with JetBackup 5 on cPanel and DirectAdmin, which you can restore from your panel. Take your own copy before any big change anyway.

For WordPress, cPanel hosting gives the widest PHP choice and includes Softaculous and WP Toolkit. The card shows the live monthly price, excluding 18% GST.

Ready to fix it? Read How to change your PHP version and Understanding PHP version compatibility, or open a ticket with the full error message if you are stuck.