Cron is a tool used to schedule tasks to run automatically at specific times or intervals. Think of it as setting an alarm clock for your computer, but instead of waking you up, it runs a task, like backing up files, sending an email, or running a script.

WordPress has a built-in cron system. However, it only runs when someone visits your site. If your website has low traffic, then some scheduled tasks may fail. To work around this, you might consider setting up cron from an alternative source.

In this article, we will discuss how you can setup cron from an external source

Setting up Cron from an External Source

You can employ an external source that can help to trigger cron events at the time you specify. This helps to ensure that your cron events run when they should irrespective of the website traffic.

Go to https://wp-cron.wp-migration.com/ and click on the register button at the top right of the page to create an account. Once the account is set up you should be able to log in.

You will see your dashboard which shows you the list of sites in your account. To add a new site, click on the “Add site” button at the top right.

Next, specify the site name, and the site URL and select the timezone. The timezone is very important, as it determines the exact time(in relation to the timezone) the cron task will take place. Once you have entered these details, click save.

You will then be redirected back to your list of sites, where the newly created site will be visible. You will now need to configure cron for that site. Click on the “Show” link as shown below:

This takes you to the cron page that displays all the cron tasks set up for a particular site. To set up a new cron task, click on the “Add cron” button at the top right of the page.

From here, you will be able to set the time and frequency of the cron task. If you want a more custom configuration, select the “Custom” option. The image below the input area helps you to understand how to set the right time for your cron event to run. For every setting you specify, you should also see a brief description of when the cron event will run. For example, if you want your event to run once every hour, you will input    0 * * * *. If you want the event to run at 10 AM everyday, it will be  0 10 *  * 

Once you are satisfied with the settings, click on the “Save” button, and your cron event is set!.

The “crons” page also lists details of each event, such as the last time it was run, and the next time it will run.

You can delete a cron task by clicking on the “Edit” button, and then the “Delete Cron” button. On the edit page, you can also adjust your cron settings.

If you have any questions or issues, please contact us by sending an email to support@servmask.com