Listings come through but images are slow or missing: set up a server-side cron for image processing

If your listings are coming through to your website but the images are slow, stuck or missing, the image-processing schedule isn't reaching your site reliably or hasn't been enabled in the FeedSync Service. The fix takes about two minutes: add a server-side cron on your hosting. It's faster and more reliable than the default, and it fixes the problem for good.

Why it happens

FeedSync processes listing images in a queue. Something has to tell your site to work through that queue every couple of minutes. By default we use an external scheduling service (cron-jobs.org) to do that.

That works well most of the time, but your hosting can time it out or block it. Security plugins, firewall (WAF) rules and some hosts' bot protection all do this. When it happens, the listing details still arrive, but the images wait in the WordPress > FeedSync > Queue Management.

A cron on your own server doesn't go through any of that, so the queue keeps moving.

Set up the server-side cron

1. Copy your Process Job URL

  1. Log in to your FeedSync dashboard: https://feedsync.com.au/
  2. Go to Sites, open your site, then Cron Job Management.
  3. Copy the Process Job URL. It already includes your site's key, so you don't need to add anything.

2. Add the cron on your hosting

In your hosting control panel, add a cron job that runs every 2 minutes with this command, pasting your Process Job URL between the quotes:

*/2 * * * * wget -q -O /dev/null "PASTE_YOUR_PROCESS_JOB_URL_HERE"

What it means:

  • */2 * * * * runs it every 2 minutes.
  • wget -q calls the URL quietly, so you don't get an email every time it runs.
  • -O /dev/null throws away the response: the URL only needs to be called, nothing needs saving.

Most control panels ask for the timing and the command separately. If yours does, set the timing to every 2 minutes (minute */2, everything else *)  and paste only this part as the command:

wget -q -O /dev/null "PASTE_YOUR_PROCESS_JOB_URL_HERE"

Where to find cron jobs on common hosts:

  • cPanel (VentraIP, Crazy Domains and most others): Advanced › Cron Jobs.
  • SiteGround: Site Tools › Devs › Cron Jobs.
  • Cloudways: your application › Cron Job Management.
  • Others: search your host's help for "cron job". If you can't find it, reply to us and we'll help.

3. Turn off the external cron

Back in Cron Job Management in your FeedSync dashboard, turn off the external cron, so the two don't both run.

What happens next

Within a few cycles the waiting images clear, and from then on new images arrive within a couple of minutes of your CRM sending them.

Still stuck after 10 minutes? Reply to your ticket with your site address and a screenshot of the cron you added, and we'll take a look.

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