"Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like computer operating systems. The name cron comes from the word "chronos", Greek for "time". Cron enables users to schedule jobs (commands or shell scripts) to run periodically at certain times or dates"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron

Tiki doesn't require the use of cron, even if starting in Tiki5, it is possible to use cron jobs to offload some work.

To manage cron jobs in Tiki, please see: Scheduler.

Starting in Tiki17, it's possible to trigger Web Cron like Easycron.com from a URL or JavaScript.

Click to expand

In Tiki6, tracker item status can be changed after a period of inactivity, etc. See
http://doc.tiki.org/Batch#Trackers

Using tiki-bach_send_newsletter.php

See Newsletters and
http://doc.tiki.org/Newsletter+User#Sending_newsletters_with_a_cron_batch_job

Using a custom php script as described in
http://doc.tiki.org/Advanced+Rating#Appendix

See Calculations

In Tiki9 there is a shell script for use in cron tasks etc for search index maintenance, with a line like:

30 2 * * * cd path_to_tiki/; php lib/search/shell.php rebuild;sh setup.sh -n

30 2 * * * cd path_to_tiki/; php console.php index:rebuild --log

This will run the command at 2:30 a.m.

See also: Cron Job to Rebuild Search Index

Note:
Keep in mind that some webhosts don't allow you set up a cron, and that's why Tiki9 is expected to include another system to manage cronjob calls in a Tiki site, in order to allow cron jobs in external servers with a special security token.

Alternatively, you can use an online cron job third-party service such as EasyCron: https://web.archive.org/web/20160910095003/https://www.easycron.com/cron-job-tutorials/how-to-set-up-cron-job-for-tiki-newsletters

Using tiki-user_send_reports.php

See Daily reports

Using console.php

See Mail Queue

• Batch
• Scheduler_presets_20

Cron jobs | Cron tabs | Cronjobs | Crontabs | Cronjob | Crontab