Scheduled Content Updater
Automatically update your WordPress content on schedule. Plan it once, let it run when the time comes.
v1.0.0 • WordPress 6.0+ • PHP 8.1+
What Does It Do?
Scheduled Content Updater lets you automatically change any field of your WordPress posts, pages, and custom post types at a specific date and time. No more manual edits.
Scheduled Updates
Change any content field (title, content, status, custom meta) automatically at a specific date and time you choose.
Instant Rollback
Made a mistake? Restore the previous value with one click from the task detail page. Snapshots are kept for 24 hours.
Notifications & Webhooks
Get email notifications on success or failure, diff preview emails before execution, and trigger webhooks on events.
Task Templates
Save frequently used configurations as templates. Load them with a single click when creating new tasks.
Detailed Logging
Every execution is logged with date, status, old/new values, and error messages. Export logs to CSV for analysis.
Calendar View
Visualize all your scheduled tasks on an interactive calendar. Monthly and weekly views for easy planning.
How to Use
Create your first scheduled task in 4 simple steps.
Create a New Task
Navigate to Scheduled Updates → New Task. Select the content type (post, page, product, etc.) and pick the target content.
Choose the Field and New Value
Which field should change? (title, content, status, custom field…) Enter the new value. In Pro, you can use template variables like {{post_title}} for dynamic values.
Set the Date and Time
Choose when the task should run. In Pro, you can also set up recurrence (daily, weekly, monthly, or custom intervals).
Save — the Rest is Automatic
The task waits in “Pending” status. When the time comes, it executes automatically. You’ll receive an email notification on success or failure.
Use Cases
See how Scheduled Content Updater solves real-world content management challenges.
Campaign Publishing
Automatically publish your Black Friday campaign page at midnight on November 24th.
Product Price Update
Update WooCommerce product prices on a specific date. Use chain tasks to revert prices after the sale ends.
Timed Unpublishing
Automatically move expired announcements or event pages to “draft.” With Pro, redirect visitors to another page instead of showing a 404.
Weekly Recurring Task
Automatically update the “This Week’s Priorities” post title every Monday. Use template variables for dynamic content.
Conditional Execution
Only run the task when specific conditions are met. For example, update only if the post is currently “publish” status.
Chain Tasks
Automatically create a follow-up task when the first one completes. Example: drop the price, then restore it 7 days later.
Lite vs Pro
What can you do with the free version? What does Pro add? Compare side by side.
| Feature | Lite (Free) | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Active task limit | 5 | ✓ Unlimited |
| Scheduled updates | ✓ | ✓ |
| Core field changes (title, content, status, excerpt) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom field (meta) updates | ✓ | ✓ |
| Task cloning | ✓ | ✓ |
| Instant rollback — 24 hours | ✓ | ✓ |
| Template save & load | ✓ | ✓ |
| Calendar view | ✓ | ✓ |
| Logging & CSV export | ✓ | ✓ |
| Failure email notification | ✓ | ✓ |
| Approval workflow | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dashboard widget & admin bar | ✓ | ✓ |
| Site Health integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Abilities API support (AI Agent compatibility, WP 6.9+) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Recurring tasks (Daily / Weekly / Monthly / Custom) | — | ✓ |
Template variables {{field_key}} |
— | ✓ |
| Custom field discovery (Meta Browser) | — | ✓ |
| Chain tasks | — | ✓ |
| Conditional execution (Conditions) | — | ✓ |
| WooCommerce integration (price, stock) | — | ✓ |
| ACF integration | — | ✓ |
| Elementor integration | — | ✓ |
| WPML multilingual sync | — | ✓ |
| Redirect management | — | ✓ |
| Webhook dispatching | — | ✓ |
| Diff preview email | — | ✓ |
| Success email notification | — | ✓ |
| Weekly / Monthly email reports | — | ✓ |
| Full REST API access | Read-only | ✓ Full |
| External cron support | — | ✓ |
Integrations
Scheduled Content Updater works seamlessly with popular WordPress plugins.
WooCommerce
Schedule product prices (_price, _regular_price, _sale_price), stock status (_stock_status), and stock quantity (_stock). Automate sale price changes during campaigns.
Pro
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)
Automatically discovers all ACF custom fields. Supports text, textarea, number, select, checkbox, radio, WYSIWYG, and true/false field types.
Pro
Elementor
Schedule changes to Elementor edit mode (_elementor_edit_mode) and template settings on Elementor-edited pages.
Pro
WPML
On multilingual sites, automatically creates tasks for all translation pages when you schedule a task. Shows language badges in the task list.
Pro
REST API & WP-CLI
Full REST API and WP-CLI support for developers. Integrate with external systems and automation pipelines.
REST API
GET /wp-json/scu/v1/tasks?status=pending
// Create a new task
POST /wp-json/scu/v1/tasks
{
“post_id”: 42,
“field_key”: “post_status”,
“new_value”: “draft”,
“scheduled_at”: “2026-06-01 10:00:00”
}
// Execute a task
PUT /wp-json/scu/v1/tasks/{id}
// Cancel a task
POST /wp-json/scu/v1/tasks/{id}/cancel
// External cron trigger (Pro)
GET /wp-json/scu/v1/cron?token={token}
WP-CLI
wp scheduled-update list
# Filter by status
wp scheduled-update list –status=pending
# Run a specific task
wp scheduled-update run 42
# Cancel a task
wp scheduled-update cancel 42
# Cancel all sibling recurring
# tasks as well
wp scheduled-update cancel 42 –all
Webhook Events
- ✓
task.completed— Task executed successfully - ✓
task.failed— Task execution failed - ✓
task.cancelled— Task was cancelled
Abilities API (WP 6.9+)
Introduced in WordPress 6.9, the Abilities API provides a standardized way to register and discover plugin capabilities for AI agents and automation tools. Our plugin fully supports this API.
| Ability | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
scu/create-task |
Management | Create a new scheduled task |
scu/list-tasks |
Information | List and filter tasks |
scu/get-task |
Information | Get details of a single task |
scu/update-task |
Management | Update a pending task |
scu/delete-task |
Management | Delete a task |
scu/cancel-task |
Management | Cancel a task |
scu/run-task |
Management | Execute a task immediately |
scu/rollback-task |
Management | Rollback a completed task Pro |
scu/list-logs |
Information | Query execution logs |
wp_register_ability(‘scu/create-task’, [
‘label’ => ‘Create Scheduled Task’,
‘category’ => ‘scheduled-content-management’,
‘input_schema’ => [
‘post_id’ => [‘type’ => ‘integer’, ‘required’ => true],
‘field_key’ => [‘type’ => ‘string’, ‘required’ => true],
‘new_value’ => [‘type’ => ‘string’, ‘required’ => true],
‘scheduled_at’ => [‘type’ => ‘string’, ‘required’ => true],
],
‘permission_callback’ => fn() => current_user_can(‘manage_scheduled_updates’),
]);
Each ability includes JSON Schema-based input/output validation and manage_scheduled_updates permission checks. On WP 6.8 and below, registration is silently skipped with no errors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why aren’t my tasks running automatically?
WordPress’s built-in cron system (WP-Cron) only triggers when someone visits your site. On low-traffic sites, tasks may be delayed. Go to Settings → Scheduled Updates → Settings and enable “External Cron” mode to use a real server cron job (Pro). Alternatively, call the /scu/v1/cron REST endpoint from your server cron every minute.
How does rollback work?
Before each task execution, the current value is saved as a “snapshot.” You can restore it within 24 hours by clicking the Rollback button on the task detail page.
What are template variables?
Template variables let you use dynamic placeholders like {{post_title}} or {{_price}} in the new value field. When the task runs, these are replaced with the content’s current value at that moment. For example, {{post_title}} 2026 resolves to “Current Title 2026” at execution time. Pro
What are chain tasks?
When a task completes, a follow-up task is automatically created. For example: drop the price, then restore it 7 days later. Configure this in the “Chain Task” section of the task form. Pro
How does the redirect feature work?
When creating a task that moves content to “draft”, “pending”, or “trash” status, you can optionally set a redirect URL. Visitors will be redirected to that URL instead of seeing a 404 error. Supports 301 (permanent) and 302 (temporary) redirect types. Pro
How do I set up the approval workflow?
Enable “Require Approval” on the Settings page. New tasks will be created with “Pending Approval” status. Administrators and editors can approve or reject tasks from the Approval Queue page.
How many active tasks can I create?
The free version allows up to 5 active tasks. The Pro version has no task limit. Completed or cancelled tasks do not count toward the limit.
Which WordPress roles can manage tasks?
Upon activation, the manage_scheduled_updates capability is assigned to Administrator and Editor roles. You can manually add this capability to other roles if needed.
What is the Abilities API? Can AI agents use my plugin?
The Abilities API, introduced in WordPress 6.9, provides a standardized way for plugins to register their capabilities in a machine-readable format. AI agents (such as ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) can discover these registrations and directly create, run, and cancel tasks on your site. Our plugin registers 9 different abilities covering all major operations. On WP 6.8 and below, registration is silently skipped and the plugin works normally.
Upgrade to Pro
Unlimited tasks, recurring schedules, chain tasks, integrations, and much more. Unlock the full power of Scheduled Content Updater.
Go to Settings → Scheduled Updates → Activation to enter your activation code.