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Administration & troubleshooting

Keep background jobs and cron running

Keep background tasks processing reliably and check the cron setup on your hosting.

2 min read · HelSup product documentation
On this page
  1. Overview
  2. When to use this
  3. Where to find the controls
  4. Who can make these changes
  5. Before you begin
  6. Follow these steps
  7. Settings reference
  8. Example workflow
  9. Good practices
  10. Important considerations
  11. If something does not work

Overview

The job queue runs hook elegant_support_run_queue. It evaluates SLA, polls IMAP, sends scheduled replies, delivers webhooks, runs automation, and processes RAG/index jobs. queue_batch_size (5–100, default 25) is Settings → System → System (#/settings/system/system). Production should hit wp-cron.php via system cron; WP-Cron only runs when someone visits the site.

When to use this

A quiet site overnight will not poll email, will not send Saturday scheduled replies, and will freeze SLA clocks if it relies on WP-Cron alone.

Where to find the controls

#/settings/system/system (queue batch, health). System Status cards: queue depth, cron last run. WordPress: Tools → Site Health. Host crontab or systemd timers.

Who can make these changes

Site admin / Support Admin. Agents only see the symptoms (stale SLA, pending scheduled replies).

Before you begin

Disable WP-Cron in wp-config (DISABLE_WP_CRON) only after system cron is installed. Set queue_batch_size higher on busy mailboxes, carefully. Watch depth on System Status.

Follow these steps

  1. Open System Status.
  2. Note cron last run and queue depth.
  3. On the host, schedule wget/curl to wp-cron.php every minute.
  4. Create a scheduled reply one minute ahead and confirm send.
  5. Adjust batch size if depth grows during IMAP hours.

Settings reference

queue_batch_size, cron last run, queue depth, job types (SLA, IMAP poll, send_scheduled_reply, webhooks, automation, RAG).

Example workflow

Staging uses WP-Cron and looks fine because developers keep the tab open. Production had no traffic at 03:00; Monday morning shows a backlog of inbound mail until system cron is added.

Good practices

Need system cron? Strongly recommended in production. Pair with IMAP and SLA if you promise overnight intake.

Important considerations

DISABLE_WP_CRON without a real crontab stops every WordPress cron, not only HelSup. Do not raise batch size to 100 on a tiny PHP worker.

If something does not work

Queue backlog: cron idle, fatal in a job (check error_log), IMAP hang, or batch too small. Automation/SLA/email all stall together — think queue first. Contact support if last-run is current but depth only grows.

Continue learning

Configure a service-level policy→Automation overview→Scheduled replies→Check System Status→

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