Scheduled jobs are the backbone of automation: syncing data, sending reports, cleaning up records. Here is how we run them reliably on Nginx.
Use the system cron, not WP-Cron
WordPress’ built-in cron only fires on page visits. For predictable timing, disable it and call wp-cron.php from the system crontab instead.
A clean crontab entry
Run a PHP script every five minutes:
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/php /var/www/site/tasks/sync.php >> /var/log/sync.log 2>&1
Log everything
Always redirect output to a log file. When an automation fails at 3am, the log is the difference between a five-minute fix and a lost morning.
Need bullet-proof scheduled jobs feeding your integrations? We build them.
Keep an eye on it
A scheduled job you never check is a job you cannot trust. We add health-checks and alerts so a failed run pings the team instantly — not three days later when the data is already stale.