Documentation
JoomBook performs several tasks automatically in the background - confirmation deadlines, appointment reminders, Google Calendar synchronisation and more. JoomBook creates those tasks itself; for them to actually run, Joomla has to be triggered regularly - most reliably by a Web-Cron.
What you have to do - and what you do not
That leaves exactly one thing nobody can do for you: the Joomla task scheduler has to be triggered regularly. That is what this article is about.
Which tasks exist
You will find them under System → Scheduled Tasks, each with the note "Set up automatically by JoomBook.". Only the tasks your settings actually require appear there.
| Task | Appears as soon as ... | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| JoomBook: Release unconfirmed bookings | double opt-in is switched on | Releases slots whose confirmation deadline has passed. Runs every 5 minutes - until it has run, the slot stays blocked. |
| JoomBook: Send Appointment Reminders | the reminder email is enabled | Sends the reminder emails ahead of the appointment. Runs every 15 minutes. |
| JoomBook: Expire Waitlist Entries | the waitlist is enabled | Removes expired waitlist offers so the slot can pass to the next person. Runs every 15 minutes. |
| JoomBook: Anonymise old customer data (GDPR) | anonymising old customer data is enabled | Replaces name, email and phone of customers whose last appointment is older than the retention period you set. Runs once a day. |
| JoomBook: Sync Google Calendars | Google credentials are stored | Pulls changes from the staff members' Google calendars back into JoomBook (e.g. externally added events as blocked times). Runs every 15 minutes. |
| JoomBook: Check License | a licence key is entered | Checks in the background whether the licence is still valid. Runs hourly. |
Why Does This Need to Be Set Up Separately?
Without a Web-Cron, Joomla runs scheduled tasks unreliably at best - only on random page visits, and with few visitors (at night, for example) often not at all. This can mean a reminder is sent hours late or not at all. A real Web-Cron triggers Joomla reliably, independently of visitors.
Step 1 - Enable Web-Cron in Joomla
- Open System → Scheduled Tasks.
- Click Options at the top right.
- Switch to the Web Cron tab and set Web Cron to Enabled.
- Now click Save at the top left. Right after enabling, no key is shown yet - only a note that the Web-Cron needs a protection key. Joomla only generates this key when you save.
- Open the Web Cron tab again after saving - the full Web-Cron URL including the key is now displayed. Copy this URL.
Step 2 - Set Up the Cron Job at Your Host
Add the copied URL as a cron job in your hosting provider's panel and have it called every minute (with most hosts this corresponds to the schedule * * * * *). You will usually find the relevant area in the hosting panel under "Cron Jobs". If in doubt, your host's support can help.
Calling it every minute does not mean every task runs every minute - each task has its own interval (see the table above). The cron only makes sure Joomla looks whether anything is due.
If your host does not offer its own cron jobs, the Web-Cron URL can alternatively be called every minute via an external cron service.
Step 3 - Check That It Works
- Wait a few minutes and open System → Scheduled Tasks again.
- In the list, the Last Run and Next Run columns show whether the tasks are actually running. Via Execution History you can see whether they completed successfully.
- The warning in the JoomBook dashboard disappears automatically once the Web-Cron is set up correctly.
