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Cronjob.de – Reliable Cron

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Cronjob.de – Reliable Cron

by cronjobde

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Description

WP-Cron only runs when someone visits your site. On quiet sites, at night or behind a page cache, scheduled posts are published late, WooCommerce and backup tasks pile up, and nobody notices. On busy sites the opposite happens: every page view checks for due tasks and adds load.

The usual fix is to switch off WP-Cron in wp-config.php and call wp-cron.php from a real cron job. Many shared hosting plans have no cron, and if the external call ever stops, WP-Cron stays switched off without anyone noticing.

This plugin does it safely:

  • Set up in two minutes. The plugin shows your wp-cron.php address and opens a pre-filled cron job at Cronjob.de – you only click “save”. Five cron jobs are free, without time limit.
  • Switches off the visitor trigger only while it is safe. Page views stop triggering WP-Cron as soon as external calls arrive. If they stop, WordPress goes back to the visitor trigger by itself. No editing of wp-config.php.
  • Works with any external trigger. Calls from a server crontab or another service are detected as well.
  • Shows the status. Last WP-Cron run, last external call and the number of overdue tasks, under Tools Cronjob.de.
  • Optional heartbeat. Every WP-Cron run checks in at a heartbeat address. If the check-ins stop – for whatever reason – Cronjob.de alerts you by email (included from the Plus plan, 17.88 € per year).

Cronjob.de is a cron service from Germany, running since 2003, with servers in the EU only. A data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR is available.

External services

This plugin works with the service Cronjob.de, operated by Joscha Schultze, Germany.

  • Links to cronjob.de. The buttons “Create cron job at Cronjob.de”, “Sign up for free” and “Create a heartbeat” open cronjob.de in a new tab. The cron job link contains the address of your site’s wp-cron.php so that the form can be pre-filled. Nothing is transmitted unless you click one of these buttons.
  • Heartbeat check-ins (optional, off by default). Only if you enter a heartbeat address, the plugin sends a GET request to that address at runcheck.de (a Cronjob.de domain) after WP-Cron runs, at most every 5 minutes. The request contains no data about your site or your visitors apart from what every HTTP request carries (IP address of your server, user agent “Cronjob.de WordPress plugin”).
  • Calls to wp-cron.php. If you set up a cron job, Cronjob.de calls your site’s wp-cron.php on the schedule you choose.

Terms of service: https://www.cronjob.de/agb
Privacy policy: https://www.cronjob.de/datenschutz

  1. Install the plugin through Plugins Add New, or upload the folder cronjob-de to /wp-content/plugins/.
  2. Activate it.
  3. Go to Tools Cronjob.de and click “Create cron job at Cronjob.de”. Log in or sign up, then save the pre-filled cron job.
  4. Within five minutes the page turns green.
  1. Before the setup: WP-Cron only runs on page views. The button opens a pre-filled cron job at Cronjob.de.

    Before the setup: WP-Cron only runs on page views. The button opens a pre-filled cron job at Cronjob.de.

  2. After the setup: Cronjob.de calls wp-cron.php, page views no longer trigger WP-Cron, and an optional heartbeat reports every run.

    After the setup: Cronjob.de calls wp-cron.php, page views no longer trigger WP-Cron, and an optional heartbeat reports every run.

Do I need an account at Cronjob.de?

For the external call, yes – the free plan covers five cron jobs in 5-minute steps without time limit. If you already call wp-cron.php from a server crontab or another service, the plugin detects that too and you do not need an account.

What happens if the external calls stop?

The plugin only keeps the visitor trigger switched off while calls arrive. After 30 minutes without a call (longer if you call less often), WordPress triggers WP-Cron from page views again, exactly as without the plugin.

I already have DISABLE_WP_CRON in wp-config.php.

That is fine. The plugin then shows whether wp-cron.php is actually being called and warns you if it is not.

Does it work with WooCommerce and the Action Scheduler?

Yes. The Action Scheduler runs through WP-Cron, so it benefits from the regular calls just like scheduled posts.

Does it work on multisite?

WP-Cron runs per site, so each site needs its own cron job. Activate the plugin on each site where you want to use it.

Does the plugin slow down my site?

No. On normal page views it reads one stored value. Work is only done when wp-cron.php runs.

What does the heartbeat cost?

One heartbeat is included in the free plan and shows its status in your Cronjob.de account. Email alerts are included from the Plus plan (17.88 € per year).

1.0.0

  • First release.
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