Note: This article is useful for the obsolete eSyndiCat versions (PRO version below 2.4, free versions below 1.7).Starting from PRO 2.4 and FREE 1.7 there is no need to configure cronjob manually, this is done automatically by eSyndiCat.

In this article I would like to answer the following questions that eSyndiCat directory script users often ask about cron jobs:

1. What are cron jobs?

2. Why are they used in eSyndiCat?

What Are Cron Jobs?

So, what the heck a cron job is? Simply put a cron job is an automated process that operates at predefined time intervals.

This is how it works: you tell the operating system what program/script and when to execute and the operating system takes care about the rest.

This is very simplified explanation but if you want to learn more about how the Unix-like systems perform this task please read this Wikipedia article.

Why Cron Jobs?

The keyword "automated" in the definition above answers the second question. Let me explain what I mean.

You can set up eSyndiCat so that it performs the following tasks: checks for broken links, checks for valid/invalid reciprocal links, updates PageRank values, and finds out expired paid submissions.

Cron jobs allow to automate this process. And without cron jobs you would have to do this manually.

Cron jobs are a great time saver that's why they are used in eSyndiCat!

In other words you set up cron jobs to perform all the aforementioned checks automatically. You set it up once and forget about it. It's that simple.

Best regards,

Vincent Wright