Set Up Your First Cron Job to Send Automated Emails Every Week

Nov 1

Written By ADMIN

Automating tasks is one of the most powerful ways to enhance your web application. If you’ve built an app using PHPRunner, adding automated emails can help you keep users informed, send regular reports, or remind them about upcoming deadlines without manual intervention. A cron job is the perfect tool to schedule these automated tasks in a Unix/Linux environment.

In this guide, we’ll walk through how to set up your first cron job to send automated emails every week. We’ll use an example of a student registration system created in PHPRunner, where the cron job sends a weekly email summary of new registrations to the administrator. By the end of this post, you’ll know how to set up cron jobs to complement your PHPRunner applications, making them more efficient and user-friendly.

Step 1: Understanding Cron Jobs

A cron job is a time-based task scheduler in Unix-like operating systems. It allows you to schedule scripts or commands to run automatically at specific intervals—whether it’s every minute, hour, day, or week. For this guide, we’ll schedule a cron job that sends an email every week summarizing the number of new student registrations.

To set up a cron job, you need access to a server (such as WHM/cPanel or a Linux VPS) where you can configure the job.

Step 2: Preparing the Email Script

Before setting up the cron job, let’s create a PHP script that will send the weekly summary email. This script will query the student_list table and send an email with the count of new registrations.

Here’s the PHP script (weekly_summary.php) that sends the email:

php

<?php // Database connection $mysqli = new mysqli('localhost', 'username', 'password', 'school_app'); // Check connection if ($mysqli->connect_error) { die('Connect Error (' . $mysqli->connect_errno . ') ' . $mysqli->connect_error); } // Get the number of new registrations in the past 7 days $query = "SELECT COUNT(*) AS total_registrations FROM student_list WHERE enrollment_date >= CURDATE() - INTERVAL 7 DAY"; $result = $mysqli->query($query); $row = $result->fetch_assoc(); $total_registrations = $row['total_registrations']; // Email configuration $to = 'admin@school.com'; // Replace with admin email $subject = 'Weekly Student Registration Summary'; $message = "This week, you had $total_registrations new student registrations."; $headers = 'From: no-reply@school.com' . "\r\n" . 'Reply-To: no-reply@school.com' . "\r\n" . 'X-Mailer: PHP/' . phpversion(); // Send email if (mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers)) { echo "Email sent successfully."; } else { echo "Failed to send email."; } // Close database connection $mysqli->close(); ?>

Explanation:

This script connects to your school_app database, queries for student registrations made in the last 7 days, and sends a summary email to the administrator.
Make sure to replace the database connection details (localhost, username, password) and the administrator's email (admin@school.com) with your actual credentials.

Step 3: Upload the Script to Your Server

Once your script is ready, you need to upload it to your server. You can do this using an FTP client like FileZilla or directly through cPanel’s File Manager.

Upload to Server: Place the weekly_summary.php file in a secure location on your server, such as /home/yourusername/public_html/scripts/weekly_summary.php.
Test the Script: Before setting up the cron job, open your browser and navigate to the script’s URL (e.g., https://yoursite.com/scripts/weekly_summary.php) to ensure it runs correctly and sends the email.

Step 4: Setting Up the Cron Job

Now that your email script is working, it’s time to set up the cron job to execute it automatically every week.

Access cPanel: Log into your hosting account and navigate to cPanel (or WHM if you’re using it).
Find Cron Jobs: In the cPanel dashboard, look for the Cron Jobs option, typically under the “Advanced” section.
Create a New Cron Job:
- Set the Schedule: In the cron job setup form, choose the time interval. To send the email every week, you can set the following values:
  - Minute: 0
  - Hour: 0
  - Day: * (this allows it to run on any day)
  - Month: *
  - Weekday: 1 (this sets it to run on Monday)
- Command to Run: The command tells the server to execute the PHP script. Use the following command:
```
bash
```
  Copy code
  /usr/local/bin/php /home/yourusername/public_html/scripts/weekly_summary.php
  Make sure the path to your script is correct.
Save the Cron Job: Once everything is set, click Add New Cron Job.

Step 5: Test the Cron Job

Cron jobs usually run at the time you’ve specified, but it’s a good idea to test it manually first to ensure everything works properly.

Force the Cron Job to Run: In cPanel, you can manually run the cron job. Find the cron job you just created and click Run Now (if this option is available in your hosting provider's cPanel).
Check the Email: After running the cron job, check the administrator's inbox to ensure the summary email has been sent.

Step 6: How This Works with PHPRunner

Automating emails with a cron job can significantly enhance the functionality of apps created with PHPRunner. Here’s how it complements your PHPRunner app:

Automated Reporting: If you’ve built an event registration system or similar app with PHPRunner, you can schedule cron jobs to automatically send reports to administrators, summarizing weekly activity (registrations, new users, etc.).
Reminders: Cron jobs can send weekly reminder emails to users about upcoming events, deadlines, or incomplete registrations.
User Engagement: Automating emails helps keep users engaged with your app by regularly providing them with relevant information without manual effort.

You can also extend this to more advanced features in PHPRunner by:

Sending custom emails to users based on actions (e.g., email users who registered for an event).
Generating PDF reports using cron jobs to send weekly summaries with more detail.

Step 7: Advanced Customizations (Optional)

Here are a few advanced features you can explore to further enhance your cron job setup:

Logging: Add logging to your script to record when the email was sent and how many registrations were reported. This can help you track cron job execution over time.
Multiple Email Recipients: If you want to send the email to multiple recipients, modify the $to variable to include a comma-separated list of email addresses.
Error Handling: Add error handling to your script to manage issues like failed database connections or email failures.

Conclusion

Setting up a cron job to send automated emails is a simple yet powerful way to complement your PHPRunner applications. Whether you're managing registrations, sending reminders, or providing weekly reports, cron jobs allow you to automate repetitive tasks and improve user engagement.

With the example provided, you’ve seen how easy it is to set up a cron job that sends a weekly email summary of new registrations. This concept can be applied to a wide range of tasks, making your PHPRunner apps even more dynamic and efficient.

If you need help setting up cron jobs, integrating automated emails, or enhancing your PHPRunner apps, don’t hesitate to reach out to PHP Code School. We’re here to support your web development journey!

ADMIN