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MainWP Dashboard has separate schedules for automatic synchronization and advanced automatic updates. Sync refreshes child-site data, including available updates. The automatic-update schedule controls when MainWP installs eligible updates.

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What You’ll Learn

  • Configure the daily sync time and frequency
  • Schedule automatic updates daily, weekly, or monthly
  • Understand how the update delay and cron affect timing

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Prerequisites

  • MainWP Dashboard installed and activated
  • Access to Dashboard settings

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Configure Sync Frequency

1

Navigate to Settings

Go to top-right user menu > MainWP Settings > General Settings (/wp-admin/admin.php?page=Settings).
2

Find General Settings

On the General Settings tab, locate the General Settings section.
3

Set daily sync time

Find Daily sync time and set your preferred start time.This determines when MainWP begins the first automatic sync of the day.
4

Set sync frequency

Set Frequency of auto sync to the number of sync runs per day. Options range from Once per day to Twelve times per day; the default is Twice per day.
5

Save

Click Save Settings.

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Configure Update Frequency

1

Open Updates Settings

Open top-right user menu > MainWP Settings > General Settings (/wp-admin/admin.php?page=Settings) and find the Updates Settings section.
2

Enable the update types you need

Set the relevant control to Install Trusted Updates:
  • Plugin advanced automatic updates
  • Theme advanced automatic updates
  • Translation advanced automatic updates
  • WP Core advanced automatic updates
Mark plugins or themes as trusted on their Advanced Auto Updates pages. WordPress core also requires Auto Update Core enabled for each site. Follow the Manage Updates guide for these steps and translation eligibility.
3

Choose the schedule

Set Frequency of automatic updates to Daily, Weekly, or Monthly. For weekly or monthly runs, use Select day to choose the weekday or day of the month. Set Select time for the update run.
4

Set the update delay

Choose Advanced automatic updates delay. The default is 1 day; available options are Delay off, 1 day through 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days. An update must meet the delay before it is eligible for a scheduled run.
5

Save the schedule

Click Save Settings.

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How Timing Works

For example, configure:
  • Daily sync time: 7:00 AM
  • Frequency of auto sync: Three times per day
  • Frequency of automatic updates: Daily
  • Select time: 11:30 PM
MainWP schedules syncs for 7:00 AM, 3:00 PM, and 11:00 PM. The automatic-update run is scheduled separately for 11:30 PM, subject to the enabled update types, trust settings, ignored updates, and update delay. Use the Timezone configured in MainWP Dashboard when choosing these times. Scheduled times depend on cron execution; a late cron trigger can delay a run.

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Important Notes

  • Increasing sync frequency does not increase automatic-update frequency.
  • Plugin and theme advanced automatic updates require both the global setting and trusted items. Ignored items are excluded.
  • The update delay and the next scheduled run can both affect when an eligible update is installed; there is no universal 24-hour completion deadline.
  • MainWP uses cron for background work. Follow Manage WP Cron on a Low-Traffic MainWP Dashboard for reliable cron execution.

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Self-Check Checklist

  • Daily sync time and frequency are configured
  • Required automatic-update types and trust settings are enabled
  • Update schedule and delay match your needs
  • Settings are saved
  • WP Cron runs reliably on your Dashboard