Cron Jobs Settings

Manage scheduled background tasks in WordPress Download Manager. Access these settings from Downloads > Settings > Cron Jobs.

Overview

WPDM uses WordPress cron to handle scheduled tasks such as:

Sending activity reports

Cleaning expired downloads

Processing email queues

Updating statistics

License validation

Cache cleanup

Active Cron Jobs

View and manage all WPDM scheduled tasks.

Default Cron Jobs

Job Name	Schedule	Description
wpdm_activity_report	Daily/Weekly	Send activity email reports
wpdm_cleanup_expired	Hourly	Remove expired download links
wpdm_stats_aggregation	Daily	Aggregate download statistics
wpdm_email_queue	Every 5 min	Process email queue
wpdm_license_check	Weekly	Validate licenses
wpdm_cache_cleanup	Daily	Clean expired cache files

Job Status

Status	Description
Active	Job is scheduled and running
Paused	Temporarily disabled
Failed	Last run encountered error
Pending	Waiting for next run

Managing Cron Jobs

View Jobs

The cron jobs table shows:

Column	Description
Job Name	Identifier for the job
Next Run	When job will run next
Last Run	When job last completed
Interval	How often it runs
Status	Current status
Actions	Edit, Run Now, Delete

Run Job Now

Execute a job immediately:

Find the job in the list

Click “Run Now”

Wait for completion

Check status/result

Pause/Resume Job

Temporarily disable a job:

Find the job in the list

Click “Pause” to disable

Click “Resume” to re-enable

Delete Job

Remove a custom job:

Find the job in the list

Click “Delete”

Confirm deletion

Note: Default WPDM jobs cannot be deleted.

Creating Custom Cron Jobs

Add New Job

Field	Description
Job Name	Unique identifier
Hook	WordPress action hook
Schedule	Frequency (hourly, daily, etc.)
First Run	When to start
Arguments	Optional parameters

Available Schedules

Schedule	Interval
Every Minute	1 minute
Every 5 Minutes	5 minutes
Every 15 Minutes	15 minutes
Hourly	1 hour
Twice Daily	12 hours
Daily	24 hours
Weekly	7 days
Monthly	30 days

Custom Intervals

Add custom intervals via code:

add_filter('cron_schedules', function($schedules) {
    $schedules['every_three_hours'] = [
        'interval' => 10800,
        'display' => 'Every 3 Hours'
    ];
    return $schedules;
});

Cron Configuration

WordPress Cron Settings

Setting	Description	Default
Enable WP-Cron	Use WordPress cron system	Enabled
Alternate Cron	Use alternate cron method	Disabled
Cron Lock	Prevent simultaneous runs	Enabled

Server Cron

For high-traffic sites, use server cron instead:

Disable WP-Cron in wp-config.php:

define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);

Add server cron job:

# Run every minute
* * * * * wget -q -O - https://yoursite.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron > /dev/null 2>&1

Or with WP-CLI:

* * * * * cd /path/to/wordpress && wp cron event run --due-now > /dev/null 2>&1

Job Monitoring

Job History

View execution history for each job:

Field	Description
Run Time	When job executed
Duration	How long it took
Status	Success/Failed
Output	Job output/logs
Memory	Memory usage

Performance Metrics

Metric	Description
Avg Duration	Average execution time
Success Rate	Percentage successful
Failed Count	Number of failures
Last Error	Most recent error

Error Handling

Failure Notifications

Setting	Description	Default
Email on Failure	Send email when job fails	Enabled
Failure Threshold	Failures before alert	3
Admin Email	Where to send alerts	Site admin

Retry Settings

Setting	Description	Default
Auto Retry	Retry failed jobs	Enabled
Max Retries	Number of retry attempts	3
Retry Delay	Wait between retries	5 minutes
Exponential Backoff	Increase delay each retry	Enabled

Common Errors

Error	Cause	Solution
Timeout	Job takes too long	Increase timeout or optimize
Memory	Exceeded memory limit	Increase limit or batch process
Lock	Another instance running	Wait or clear locks
Missing Hook	Action not registered	Check plugin activation

Debugging

Debug Mode

Enable detailed logging:

Go to Cron Jobs Settings

Enable “Debug Mode”

Run the job

Check debug log

Log Location

Cron logs are stored in:

/wp-content/uploads/wpdm-cache/logs/cron-{date}.log

WP-CLI Commands

# List all cron events
wp cron event list

# Run specific event
wp cron event run wpdm_activity_report

# Run all due events
wp cron event run --due-now

# Delete an event
wp cron event delete wpdm_custom_job

Performance Tips

Optimization

Tip	Description
Batch Processing	Process large datasets in chunks
Off-Peak Scheduling	Run heavy jobs at low-traffic times
Use Server Cron	More reliable than WP-Cron
Monitor Memory	Watch for memory leaks

Resource Limits

Setting	Description	Default
Max Execution Time	Seconds before timeout	300
Memory Limit	Maximum memory usage	256M
Concurrent Jobs	Max simultaneous jobs	2

Security

Job Access

Setting	Description
Nonce Verification	Verify job authenticity
Capability Check	Required user capability
IP Whitelist	Allowed trigger IPs

Audit Log

Track who manages cron jobs:

Event	Logged Data
Job Created	User, time, job details
Job Modified	User, changes made
Job Deleted	User, job that was deleted
Manual Run	User, job executed

Tips

Use server cron for production sites

Monitor job execution times

Set up failure notifications

Review logs regularly

Test jobs in staging first

Avoid overlapping schedules

Related Documentation

Activity Reports Settings

General Settings

Troubleshooting