To run WordPress your host just needs a couple of things:

PHP version 5.2.4 or greater

MySQL version 5.0 or greater

The requirements have changed as of WordPress 3.2. The minimum requirements for WordPress 3.1 are PHP 4.3 and MySQL 4.1.2.

That’s really it. We recommend Apache or Nginx as the most robust and featureful server for running WordPress, but any server that supports PHP and MySQL will do. That said, we can’t test every possible environment and each of the hosts on our hosting page supports the above and more with no problems.

Ask for it

Here’s a letter you can send to your host; copy and paste!

I'm interested in running the open-source WordPress <http://http://www.zjjv.com///> blogging software and I was wondering if my account supported the following:

Thanks!

Not required, but recommended for better security

Hosting is more secure when PHP applications, like WordPress, are run using your account’s username instead of the server’s default shared username. The most common way nowadays for hosting companies to do this is using suPHP. Just ask your potential host if they run suPHP or something similar.

Why not the latest, greatest, bleeding edge versions?

We’re very aware that the latest versions of PHP and MySQL aren’t right for everyone, and that sometimes hosts can be slow or hesitant to upgrade their customers since upgrades to PHP and MySQL historically have broken applications.

While sometimes we as developers miss the whiz-bang features that might be in the newest version of something, we find that with just a little extra work we can usually accomplish what we wanted to do without placing the burden on you guys. Innovation is seldom hindered by platform.