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March 12, 2023Consistent, quality updates are an ideal way to increase traffic and grow the brand of any WordPress blog. Making sure these posts go out on time is vital. Sometimes this needs to happen weekly or daily or maybe you’re publishing content even faster and more frequently.
However, no blogger can be there in person for every piece of new content, especially if that content needs to go out frequently. Thankfully, WordPress provides a solution with a feature to schedule your posts in advance. You can create a new post, set it up to be published at a set date and time, and nothing else from you is required.
All of us have other things that need our attention. This is a huge help for swamped bloggers and especially for anyone managing many WordPress sites. It's also useful for anyone who wants to better organize and guarantee their publishing times.
As much as we rely on it, this feature will sometimes miss scheduled posts. When this feature doesn’t perform how we want, it is caused by a failure of the Cron Jobs responsible for automating the process.
This article will explain why a WordPress post missed schedule error occurs, how to fix it, and how to make sure your scheduled posts are successful. Thus you can spend more time making your WordPress website a success and less time worrying about scheduling errors.
Why The WordPress Missed Schedule Error Occurs
WordPress will offer you an alert if a scheduled WordPress post is not published properly. The dashboard will display 'Missed Schedule Error'.
This means the post was not published at the time it was programmed to. The reason is likely from failed cron jobs.
Cron jobs are tasks that run at specific, regular intervals without any further input from humans. After the user sets up the program the cron job handles everything afterward. These are perfect for repeat tasks that become a hassle if manually handled every time, such as creating posts at a certain time.
The crons used by your WordPress site are different from traditional crons. WordPress crons rely on front-end requests and not your server. This means if your site has no visitors at the scheduled time, the post will not publish. It isn’t your server telling the cron to activate, but the process of a visitor loading your website.
So low traffic on your site can result in increased missed scheduled posts. Even so, WordPress sites with high traffic aren't immune to missed schedule errors.
Other causes of missed schedule errors can include a website that has gone temporarily dark. Caching plugins can also make a WordPress cron job fail.
How To Fix a WordPress Missed Schedule Using Plugins
Plugins are an efficient tool for fixing and preventing WordPress missed schedule errors. They’re easy to install and highly reliable for maintaining a posting schedule without any interruptions. Here are three recommended plugins for the job.
Scheduled Post Trigger Plugin
This first suggested plugin checks if WordPress has missed any of the scheduled posts it should have already published. It does this any time your site is visited. If there are any missing scheduled posts found, it publishes them immediately. This guarantees that even the visitor that triggered the search will see the formerly missing content as published.
This plugin is a cron job to double-check other cron jobs. This works well because it doesn't need any special configurations. It begins work as soon as installed and activated. This makes it a useful solution for those of any skill level.
Missed Scheduled Posts Publisher
Unlike the Scheduled Post Trigger Plugin, our second suggested plugin checks your WordPress website once every 15 minutes for missed scheduled posts. Then publishes any it finds. This happens even if there are no visitors to your website.
No matter what you use WordPress for, the Missed Scheduled Post Publisher works for all content types on WordPress websites.
WP Missed Schedule
The last suggested plugin is efficient, checking only missed schedule cron jobs. It also uses index table inquiries to find and fix stored Missed schedule posts. All the while doing so with full compliance with hyper database table query formatting.
WP Missed Schedule will work hard for you by repairing 10 items every 15 minutes. This also keeps it compatible with the default WordPress feeds syndication.
Other Ways To Fix WordPress Missed Schedule Errors
The above plugins are useful and can help prevent missed scheduled posts automatically. However, there are other causes of the error and several methods can fix the missed schedule error without a plugin.
Check The WordPress Timezone Settings
If the WordPress timezone doesn't match the timezone used for a website it can cause scheduling mistakes.
For example, 9am Pacific Time is 12pm Eastern Time. So if a user lives in New York, but their website is in Pacific time their posts will be three hours behind schedule.
To fix this, Navigate to Settings > General Page and go down to the 'Timezone' section. Then select your preferred time zone. This will make sure you and your website are in sync with one another and prevent missed scheduled posts like the above.
Clear WordPress Cache
Another possibility is that a misconfigured caching plugin could also be responsible for errors. Try clearing the WordPress cache. Then ensure your caching plugin is correctly configured. Regularly clearing its cache will prevent it from creating these types of errors.
Increase WordPress Memory Limit
Your website requires memory to function properly. If your WordPress website is suffering from a low memory limit issue it could also interrupt scheduled posts. To fix this, increase the amount of server memory WordPress can use.
To allow WordPress to use more server memory, insert this line of code to your wp-config.php file right before, "That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing."
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '500M');
This will instruct WordPress to change the PHP memory limit to 500 MB and will help with performance issues.
Check Your wpconfig.php File
A disabled WordPress cron job is occasionally the cause of a WordPress missed schedule error. Find out if any WordPress Cron jobs are disabled by finding the WPconfig.php file, either through the cPanel or using a FTP.
1. Open File Manager
2. Click on the Public_html folder
3. Move down to locate the WPconfig.php file and right-click it.
4. Select Edit
5. Look for this line of code:
define (‘DISABLE_WP_CRON’, true);
6. If it is present, WordPress Cron is disabled. Remove this line to enable it.
7. Save the changes
Disable Default WP Cron and Enable an Alternate Cron
If the server settings conflict with WordPress Crons this is the most likely solution. Disabling the default WordPress Cron and enabling an alternative will resolve the conflict.
1. Log into your cPanel or FTP
2. Open File Manager > Public_html folder
3. Find the wpconfig.php file and right-click
4. Select Edit
5. Insert the following code right before, "Stop editing, happy blogging":
define(‘DISABLE_WP_CRON’, true); define(‘ALTERNATE_WP_CRON’, true);
Manage Cron Jobs Directly Through Your Server
1. To do so, access your site using an FTP client. FileZilla is recommended.
2. Go to the root folder.
3. Find the wp-config.php file
4. Right-click the wp-config.php file and select View/Edit
5. Place the following code before the end of the file:
define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);
6. Save the changes
Next, implement manual crons in your server. Within the cPanel look for the Cron Jobs option under the cPanel tabs.
This tool can schedule new cron jobs to run on set intervals. Usually, any interval higher than five minutes is unnecessary and will strain your server.
It is important to remember that even though your host can schedule a server-level cron, you will need to specify which tasks to execute. You should be familiar with writing UNIX commands before adjusting crons yourself.
FAQ about the WordPress "post missed schedule error"
What does it mean when a WordPress post misses its schedule?
When a WordPress post misses its scheduled publishing time, it wasn't published at the date and time it was supposed to be. Instead, it stays in the "Scheduled" status and doesn't show up on your website the way you wanted it to. This can happen for a number of reasons, such as server problems, conflicts with other plugins or themes, or settings in WordPress that aren't set up right.
Why do WordPress posts sometimes miss their scheduled publishing time?
There are many reasons why WordPress posts might not get published at the time they were supposed to. Some of the most common reasons are problems with the server, differences in time zones, conflicts with other plugins or themes, and wrong settings for WordPress. It's important to figure out what went wrong and why the schedule was missed so that it doesn't happen again in the future.
How can I check if a WordPress post missed its schedule?
To see if a WordPress post didn't get published when it was supposed to, go to the Posts section of the WordPress dashboard and look for the status of the post. If the post is still in the "Scheduled" status and hasn't been published yet, it missed its deadline. You can also look at the post's date and time of publication to see if it was meant to be out already.
How can I fix a missed schedule for a WordPress post?
To fix a WordPress post that wasn't published when it was supposed to be, you can click the "Publish" button in the post editor and publish the post by hand. You can also change the post's date and time to publish it at a different time. It's important to figure out why the schedule was missed and make the changes that are needed to stop it from happening again.
Will a missed schedule affect my WordPress site's SEO?
Your site's SEO isn't likely to change much if you miss a single WordPress post's schedule. But if it happens again and again and more than one post misses its scheduled time, it could hurt your site's reputation and make it hard for people to use. It's important to deal with missed appointments right away and stop them from happening again.
How can I prevent WordPress posts from missing their scheduled publishing time in the future?
Make sure your server is properly set up and up to date, check for conflicts with other plugins or themes, and make sure your WordPress settings are correct to stop WordPress posts from not being published when they were supposed to be. You can also use a plugin to make sure that scheduled posts are published on time and to keep track of them.
Does a missed schedule affect other scheduled posts on my WordPress site?
If you forget to schedule one WordPress post, it probably won't affect the other posts you have planned. But if the missed schedule was caused by a server problem or a problem with a plugin or theme, it could affect other posts that were also scheduled. It's important to figure out what's going wrong and fix it right away.
Can I set up email notifications for missed scheduled posts on WordPress?
Yes, you can use a plugin like WP Missed Schedule to set up email alerts for missed scheduled posts on WordPress. This plugin sends an email to the site admin whenever a post doesn't get published at the time it was supposed to. This lets you fix the problem quickly and stop it from happening again in the future.
Are there any plugins or tools available to help manage missed scheduled posts in WordPress?
Yes, WordPress has a number of plugins and tools that can help you deal with posts that you forgot to schedule. WP Missed Schedule, Missed Schedule Handler, and Scheduled Post Trigger are some of the most popular choices. These plugins can help you keep an eye on and manage scheduled posts so that they go out on time.
How can I troubleshoot missed scheduled posts on WordPress?
To fix WordPress posts that didn't show up when they were supposed to, check the post's status and the date and time it was supposed to be published. Next, look for problems with your server, and conflicts with other plugins or themes, and make sure your WordPress settings are right.
You can also use a plugin to keep an eye on and manage scheduled posts so they don't miss their times in the future. It's important to figure out what caused the problem and make the changes needed to stop it from happening again. If you don't know how to fix the problem, you might want to ask a WordPress developer or a support community for help.
Ending thoughts on the WordPress post missed schedule error
No one can be at their computer all the time to provide their website with the regular, engaging content it needs to thrive. Even the most dedicated blogger has other obligations. So most rely on WordPress cron jobs to help get the job done, but when scheduled posts are missed all the hard work is in jeopardy.
That's why WordPress has enabled solutions for how to fix the missed schedule errors we may encounter. The above guide is sure to help fix and prevent any missed schedule errors.
Whether by plugins or setting changes, you’re now equipped to fix the solution so that you can continue doing what you love without worrying about missed posts.
Though this problem is fixed, you might have to face others as you continue growing your brand and website. When you face other unexpected problems, turn to our many WordPress tutorials to make you an expert at all things WordPress.
If you enjoyed reading this article on WordPress post missed schedule, you should check out this one about WordPress updating failed error.
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