The technical direction of PHP is coordinated on the PHP Internals mailing list (internals@lists.php.net).

This is a public forum where core developers, extension authors, and other contributors discuss language design, policy, and other matters relating to the core project.

Before any significant new feature, change, or removal can be made to the language, it must first be written as an RFC (Request for Comments) and then be posted to the PHP Internals mailing list for discussion.

Anyone can contribute an RFC, even those who may not have the right to vote on them directly.

The goal of each RFC is to ultimately be brought to a vote, requiring a 2/3rds majority to pass.

Find out more about the RFC Process.

Voting privileges are the way the project recognises those individuals who have made significant contributions to the project, by way of their own personal efforts.

These efforts might include working on the source code, documentation, infrastructure, or even being a particularly consistent and high-quality contributor to the internal discussions.

Each voter acts in a personal capacity.

There are hundreds of people who have voting privileges on PHP matters; However, this is heavily skewed by a large number of alumni who have earned voting rights over the past 30 years, but who have since moved on.

On any given RFC, there is usually expected to be between 30 and 60 voters, many of whom are still actively involved in working on the project.