Cron Job Configuration

Why Booknetic requires a real server cron job

As of Booknetic v5.9.0, all workflow actions — booking confirmations, appointment reminders, follow-ups, birthday greetings, status-change notifications, and every other workflow-driven notification — are written to a processing queue and dispatched on the next cron run.

Without a real server cron job running every 1 minute, workflow emails, SMS, WhatsApp, and Telegram notifications will NOT be sent.

WordPress includes a built-in scheduling mechanism (known as "pseudo-cron") that runs scheduled tasks only when a page is loaded on your site. On low-traffic sites, this means tasks can be skipped or delayed unpredictably. Booknetic's workflow queue requires a real, server-level cron job firing on a fixed 1-minute schedule to process and dispatch all notifications reliably.

Step 1 — Disable WordPress pseudo-cron

Open your wp-config.php file (located in the root directory of your WordPress installation) and add the following line above the comment that reads /* That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */:

define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);

This setting tells WordPress to stop running scheduled tasks on page loads, handing full control of cron execution to your real server cron job.

Step 2 — Add a real 1-minute server cron job

Your cron job must call the WordPress cron endpoint every 1 minute. Replace YOUR-DOMAIN.com with your actual domain name:

Using curl (recommended):

* * * * * curl -s https://YOUR-DOMAIN.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron >/dev/null 2>&1

Using wget:

* * * * * wget -O /dev/null https://YOUR-DOMAIN.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron > /dev/null 2>&1

The prefix schedules the command to run every minute. Both curl and wget produce the same result — use whichever is available on your server. curl is more widely available on modern Linux servers.

Step 3 — Configure the cron job in cPanel

If your hosting uses cPanel:

1. Log in to cPanel and navigate to the Cron Jobs section.

2. Paste the curl or wget command from Step 2 into the command field.
3. Set the execution interval to every 1 minute: set all five timing fields (minute, hour, day, month, weekday) to , or use the "Once Per Minute" preset if your cPanel version provides it.
4. Click Add New Cron Job to save.

Containerized or managed hosting — ALTERNATE_WP_CRON

On some containerized or managed hosting environments (for example, certain Docker setups, managed WordPress platforms, or environments where the WordPress cron loopback call is blocked by a load balancer or firewall), the standard wp-cron.php call may fail to reach your own server.

In those cases, add this line to wp-config.php alongside DISABLE_WP_CRON:

define('ALTERNATE_WP_CRON', true);

This tells WordPress to use an alternative cron dispatching mechanism that works around loopback restrictions. Your wp-config.php should then have both lines:

define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);
define('ALTERNATE_WP_CRON', true);

If your standard cron setup is not triggering workflow actions and you are on a managed or containerized host, adding ALTERNATE_WP_CRON is the first thing to try.

No direct server cron access? Use a third-party cron service

If your hosting does not provide server-level cron job access, you can use a third-party cron service to call your WordPress cron endpoint on a schedule. One popular option is cron-job.org.

Before using a third-party service, verify that your plan supports a 1-minute execution interval. Plans that only allow 5-minute or 15-minute minimum intervals are not sufficient for reliable Booknetic workflow notification delivery.

To set up cron-job.org:

1. Register at cron-job.org.
   
2. After signing in, click the CREATE CRONJOB button at the top right.
   
3. In the URL field, enter your WordPress cron URL (without the wget/curl command — URL only):
   https://yoursite.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron
   Set the execution interval to every 1 minute and confirm your plan supports that frequency.
   
4. Click TEST RUN to verify the service can reach your WordPress site. Once the test succeeds, click CREATE to activate the cron job.