Drupal Scheduler Module – What Is It and How Can It Help You Manage Content?

• Dates

  November 15, 2006 (first release of Drupal 4),

  March 12, 2011 (version 8.x-1.0 Drupal 8),

  November 14, 2017 (wersja 8.x-1.0 Drupal 8),

  July 7, 2022 (version 2.0.0 Drupal 8, 9, 10),

• Popularity – the module is currently used by over 95k websites,
• Publication/undo publication of content,
• Integration with the Content Moderation module via a submodule,
• The option to define which roles should have access to the functions.

With the release of the latest version, the authors introduced support for taxonomy, media, Drupal Commerce elements, and individually created types in addition to the basic node entity type. Moreover, since Drupal 7 support will end soon, you can migrate settings to new versions.

You can install the module manually or via Composer (the recommended option). Visit the expansion's official website for more detailed information.

Execute the command available in the Releases section: composer require 'drupal/scheduler:^2.0'.

Enable the module from the admin panel (Extend tab).

Configure permissions.

The authors planned three permission groups:

• Module administration,
• preview of planned content (access to content listings, including `/admin/content/scheduled`, `/admin/content/media/scheduled`),
• Scheduled time settings.

After installing the module, configure the content you want to control. Taxonomy, content types and media are supported by default.

Let’s assume you want to schedule the publication of blog posts. To do this, go to Administration -> Structure -> Content types -> Blog posts. From the Scheduler tab, you can enable the option to publish and unpublish the selected content.

Once you select your desired option, more choices will appear, such as:

• Should publication be required?
• Should new revisions be created during publication?

If a user has permission to access the functions, they will now have additional features in the Scheduling options tab when adding content.

Leaving this field empty will not affect the current publication method; entering the date and time will make content available only at the specified time. The attached screenshot shows the time in the h:i:s format. However, remember the Drupal Scheduler Module works based on cron. This means that even if the editor schedules the content to be available at 6 PM, the task will be completed at the next call of the schedule cycle. Therefore, precision to seconds is not a desirable setting in this case, and you can change this option in the Time settings -> Hide the seconds tab.

Lightweight cron is an exciting feature if you have specified publication time requirements. As mentioned, Drupal Scheduler works based on cron. Triggering all tasks too often can be an unnecessary burden. This is where the Lightweight cron feature comes in. It provides the option to trigger one specific task responsible for publishing content.

The configuration is available as the second tab in the module (/admin/config/content/scheduler/cron) and requires setting an access key.

The module provides a preview option to facilitate control over scheduled content publication. To access it, go to Content -> Scheduled Content or directly via the link /admin/content/scheduled.

Most Drupal users should be familiar with this view as it’s similar to the content listing. However, there are two additional columns – Publish on and Unpublish on. By enabling sorting, you can preview the content in the order in which it will be published. An analogous view is available for the media.

With the Scheduler module comes a submodule that allows integration with Rules. You can use it to perform tasks in the system. More advanced users will appreciate this feature. After enabling it, additional options will become available when creating rules. Take a look at the screenshot below.

Scheduler is a solution that significantly improves content management on websites built with Drupal. It extends basic CMS functions, giving content editors additional options and allowing them to publish articles on specified dates and times. It is irreplaceable for websites publishing large numbers of articles. The module can be used when users are statistically most active, positively impacting content reach.

Another example could be planned marketing campaigns, where scheduled publishing is a part of the strategy. It is difficult to imagine a situation where the editor has to enable/disable content manually. This is also burdened with a small error margin and associated with a probable delay in publication if you simply forget about it. On the other hand, you can use the content revocation function to unpublish some invitations to events that have already taken place or temporary messages.

The basic module configuration is pretty simple, and anyone should be able to do it without problems. This makes it an accessible solution for those without extensive technical knowledge. However, if you need help installing and configuring the module, reach out to a Drupal development company for expert advice.