Description
ScheduleLens shows every scheduled job on your WordPress site in plain words. It is a lightweight cron manager for WordPress that helps you fix missed schedule and wp-cron not working issues fast.
- All cron events with repeat, next run, and source (which plugin added it)
- Overdue badge in red, Core badge in gray
- Run now, Pause / Resume, Delete custom jobs
- Add custom job without code (existing hook only, no PHP execution)
- Custom intervals (minimum 60 seconds)
- Health tab: enabled, reachable, late count, total – Green / Yellow / Red
- Last 100 runs log with duration, auto-deleted after 3/7/14 days
- Admin only under Tools > Cron Manager. No frontend load. No tracking.
No external service. 100% free, no upsell.
Plugin page — what ScheduleLens does and why it exists · More free plugins — every plugin on one page · Development on GitHub — report issues or contribute.
External services
ScheduleLens makes one kind of outbound request: a loopback GET to your own site’s wp-cron.php for the Health tab. Nothing leaves your server — the request goes to your own domain and back.
Privacy
Stores paused jobs list, last 100 log rows, custom intervals, and 3 settings in wp_options (autoload=no). Auto-prunes log after 3/7/14 days (default 7). No personal data stored. No external requests except a loopback GET to your own site for health check. All data deleted on uninstall if enabled in Settings.
Screenshots
Installation
- Upload the plugin folder to
/wp-content/plugins/or install from Plugins > Add New. - Activate through the Plugins screen.
- Go to Tools > Cron Manager.
FAQ
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Why is wp-cron not working / why do posts miss schedule?
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Low traffic, caching, or DISABLE_WP_CRON can stop schedules from firing. Open the Health tab — it shows enabled, reachable, late count and total with Green / Yellow / Red plus fix steps (e.g. set up a real server cron hitting wp-cron.php).
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How do I run a cron job manually?
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Find the event in Tools > Cron Manager and click Run now. The run is logged in the Log tab with duration.
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Can I pause a cron without deleting it?
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Yes. Click Pause — the job is kept as a backup and will not run until you Resume it. Core jobs cannot be deleted (blocked with a warning).
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Will this slow my site?
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No. Admin pages only. No CSS/JS on the frontend.
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Can I break my site?
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Core jobs cannot be deleted (blocked with a warning). Custom jobs can be deleted. Pause keeps a backup to resume.
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Does it send data outside?
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No. Everything stays in wp_options (autoload=no). No remote calls except a loopback check to your own wp-cron.php for the Health tab.
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Can I add PHP code to a job?
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No, and that is intentional for safety and org approval. You can only trigger an existing hook.
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Why are my scheduled posts not publishing?
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Usually low traffic (nothing triggers WP-Cron), a caching layer serving pages without running PHP, or DISABLE_WP_CRON with no server cron replacing it. Open the Health tab — Green / Yellow / Red plus fix steps tell you which one it is.
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How do I disable WP-Cron and use a real server cron?
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Define DISABLE_WP_CRON as true in wp-config.php, then add a server cron job that calls wp-cron.php every few minutes (your host’s control panel usually has a Cron Jobs screen). ScheduleLens keeps working — its Health tab will show the system cron driving schedules.
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What is the difference between WP-Cron and a system cron job?
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WP-Cron only runs when someone visits your site; on a quiet site, scheduled jobs fire late or never. A system cron runs on the clock regardless of traffic. That is the whole difference, and the reason quiet sites miss schedules.
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Which plugin added this cron job?
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The Source column on the events list names the plugin (or theme, or WordPress core) that registered each job. An unknown source usually means custom code in functions.php or a must-use plugin.
Reviews
Contributors & Developers
“ScheduleLens – Cron Viewer & Manager” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
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Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.1
- Fixed: every action now reports its real result — core delete blocked with a warning, exact-timestamp delete, failed pause/run reported instead of false “success”.
- Fixed: Run now only fires hooks that are actually scheduled; log keeps full hook names (case, dots, slashes).
- Added: review notice (15-day) + footer rating link, .pot translation template.
- Tooling: PHPCS WordPress-Extra clean, PHPStan level 5, CI on push/PR.
1.0.0
- Initial release: events list + search/filter, run/pause/resume/delete, add custom job, custom intervals, health lite, 100-row log, settings.