Answers.Body: <p>For anyone who may face this issue, it was finally fixed by WP Engine through adding an exception on the firewall for CiviCRM cron URL.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-12-21T15:20:57.267Z
Answers.Text: How do you actually run the cron? I have a new client which is already hosted on WP Engine, they get the notifications the no crons are run. But obviously I don't have SSH access to setup cron. How did you manage to do this?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Johan Haest
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-12-21T16:26:24.047Z
Answers.Text: We are using URL method: https://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/Managing+Scheduled+Jobs#ManagingScheduledJobs-URLmethod
Answers.UserDisplayName: Soroush Zo
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-12-21T16:31:03.657Z
Answers.Text: http://mysite.com/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/bin/cron.php?name=some_limited_user@myemail.com&pass=wp_user_pass&key=civicrim_key
  
  You can call this URL from anywhere maybe even from a free uptime monitoring service such as Pingdom.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Soroush Zo
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-12-22T13:53:27.503Z
Answers.Text: Ok, sounds logical. I am getting a 500 error on the cron.php but debugging that is kinda hard on wpengine... The log file from wpengine inside the wp-engine (error log) doesn't log anything from the cron.php...
Answers.UserDisplayName: Johan Haest
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-12-23T15:31:45.107Z
Answers.Text: Managed to finally fix the issues, path to the settings files etc were wrong and some couple of other errors. I'm just going to set crontab on one of my other servers to wget the cron once a while
Answers.UserDisplayName: Johan Haest
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-12-02T16:17:18.563Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2016-12-02T16:17:18.563Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Soroush Zo
Body: <p>We are using CiviCRM 4.6 on a live site we built with WordPress 4.6.1. We ran into the problem explained below. Any help is much appreciated.</p>
  
  <p>I have set up a scheduled reminder to send reminder emails to CiviCRM members 1 month before their membership expires. It works on my local VM and also on WPEngine's staging site. However on the live site on the same WPEngine environment the sent email is empty, no subject line and no body content.</p>
  
  <p>This happens with both SMTP and "Redirect to Database" options in "Settings - Outbound Mail". CiviCRM's SMTP settings are correct and "Save and Send Test Email" works as expected. When redirecting to database, body field is NULL.</p>
  
  <p>I get the following 8 PHP warnings every time a scheduled reminder email goes out. Smarty seems trying to include some missing php files with random names which change every time. Web server has full permissions on /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates_c/en_US. I even renamed this folder and it was re-created. So file permissions on that folder should be OK. </p>
  
  <p>Disabling Smarty in civicrm.settings.php or clearing/disabling cache did not help.</p>
  
  <p>Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this weird problem?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks</p>
  
  <p><code>
  [Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.221907 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates_c/en_US//%%B8/B82/B82902AF%%14776060711886644419.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264</p>
  
  <p>[Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.222042 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(): Failed opening '/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates_c/en_US//%%B8/B82/B82902AF%%14776060711886644419.php' for inclusion (include_path='/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/vendor/yoast/api-libs/google:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/packages/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/tecnickcom:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/phpseclib/phpseclib/phpseclib:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm//packages:.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264</p>
  
  <p>[Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.223342 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates_c/en_US//%%E1/E1B/E1B25959%%147760607183913258.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264</p>
  
  <p>[Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.223430 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(): Failed opening '/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates_c/en_US//%%E1/E1B/E1B25959%%147760607183913258.php' for inclusion (include_path='/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/vendor/yoast/api-libs/google:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/packages/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/tecnickcom:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/phpseclib/phpseclib/phpseclib:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm//packages:.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264</p>
  
  <p>[Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.224501 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates_c/en_US//%%91/910/9105E2BB%%1477606071414776177.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264</p>
  
  <p>[Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.224611 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(): Failed opening '/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates_c/en_US//%%91/910/9105E2BB%%1477606071414776177.php' for inclusion (include_path='/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/vendor/yoast/api-libs/google:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/packages/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/tecnickcom:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/phpseclib/phpseclib/phpseclib:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm//packages:.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264</p>
  
  <p>[Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.225795 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates_c/en_US//%%CB/CBC/CBC1541F%%14776060711283623884.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264</p>
  
  <p>[Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.225911 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(): Failed opening '/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates_c/en_US//%%CB/CBC/CBC1541F%%14776060711283623884.php' for inclusion (include_path='/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/vendor/yoast/api-libs/google:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/packages/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/tecnickcom:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/phpseclib/phpseclib/phpseclib:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm//packages:.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264
  </code></p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-10-29T00:05:18.060Z
Comments.Text: Please update your question with your CiviCRM and WordPress versions?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Jon G - Megaphone Tech
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-10-29T00:06:55.890Z
Comments.Text: Also, what user does your cron job run as?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Jon G - Megaphone Tech
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-10-31T13:57:13.130Z
Comments.Text: Hi Jon G. We are using CiviCRM 4.6 and WordPress 4.6.1. Thank you for looking into it.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Soroush Zo
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-10-31T14:21:52.190Z
Comments.Text: And the user has Administrator role in WP.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Soroush Zo
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-10-31T15:15:08.223Z
Comments.Text: I suppose Joh G means the *unix* user of the cron job. If the cron unix user is not allowed to write the **templates_c**, that can be a problem. What happens if you invoke the Scheduled Reminder Mail job from the userinterface?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Kainuk - CiviCooP
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-10-31T16:23:16.030Z
Comments.Text: @SoroushZo - Kainuk is right.  It sounds like your cron job has a Unix user that doesn't have file system permissions.  They're correct that a good way to test it is to run the job using "Execute Now" and see if it works.  If it does, that's a pretty good indication that this is the issue!
Comments.UserDisplayName: Jon G - Megaphone Tech
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-10-31T18:14:00.677Z
Comments.Text: Thank you Kainuk and Jon G. You are right. Running "Send Scheduled Reminders" from the user interface sends the reminder properly.
  
  I run CiviCRM cron using its cron URL:
  curl http://mysite.com/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/bin/cron.php?name=crivicrm_cron_user@mysite.com&pass=the_password&key=civicrm_site_key_from_civicrm_settings_php.
  I suppose it runs as www-data user, because after renaming templates_c folder, it got re-created and owned by www-data linux user with full permissions. So I think there should not be file permissions problem.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Soroush Zo
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-10-31T18:28:52.627Z
Comments.Text: WP Engine does not allow creating cron jobs (crontab). So AFAIK the only other option to run CiviCRM cron is to call its URL.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Soroush Zo
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-10-31T19:20:11.963Z
Comments.Text: WP Engine confirmed that the Apache web server runs under www-data. That applies to both staging (which works fine) and production sites.
  
  If we assume that the problem is caused by file permissions, one question still remains: User interface is provided by Apache server which runs under www-data user. CiviCRM cron URL is also served the same way and by the same user. Why would these two requests be treated differently (in terms of file access) by the system?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Soroush Zo
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-11-21T19:57:14.387Z
Comments.Text: Kainuk and Jon G were right. Our host (WPEngine) finally confirmed that guest users don't have permission to right php files on production environment, because that could allow vulnerabilities within the site. Wondering why CiviCRM is built in a way that you would have to give such permission to guest user in order to run cron.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Soroush Zo
Tags: <wordpress><email><scheduled-reminders><smarty><cache>
Title: Scheduled Reminder Email is Empty
ThreadText: # Scheduled Reminder Email is Empty
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2016-10-28)
  
  We are using CiviCRM 4.6 on a live site we built with WordPress 4.6.1. We ran into the problem explained below. Any help is much appreciated.
  
  I have set up a scheduled reminder to send reminder emails to CiviCRM members 1 month before their membership expires. It works on my local VM and also on WPEngine's staging site. However on the live site on the same WPEngine environment the sent email is empty, no subject line and no body content.
  
  This happens with both SMTP and "Redirect to Database" options in "Settings - Outbound Mail". CiviCRM's SMTP settings are correct and "Save and Send Test Email" works as expected. When redirecting to database, body field is NULL.
  
  I get the following 8 PHP warnings every time a scheduled reminder email goes out. Smarty seems trying to include some missing php files with random names which change every time. Web server has full permissions on /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates\_c/en\_US. I even renamed this folder and it was re-created. So file permissions on that folder should be OK.
  
  Disabling Smarty in civicrm.settings.php or clearing/disabling cache did not help.
  
  Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this weird problem?
  
  Thanks
  
  `[Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.221907 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates_c/en_US//%%B8/B82/B82902AF%%14776060711886644419.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264`
  
  [Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.222042 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(): Failed opening '/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates\_c/en\_US//%%B8/B82/B82902AF%%14776060711886644419.php' for inclusion (include\_path='/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/vendor/yoast/api-libs/google:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom\_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/packages/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom\_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/tecnickcom:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/phpseclib/phpseclib/phpseclib:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm//packages:.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264
  
  [Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.223342 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates\_c/en\_US//%%E1/E1B/E1B25959%%147760607183913258.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264
  
  [Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.223430 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(): Failed opening '/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates\_c/en\_US//%%E1/E1B/E1B25959%%147760607183913258.php' for inclusion (include\_path='/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/vendor/yoast/api-libs/google:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom\_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/packages/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom\_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/tecnickcom:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/phpseclib/phpseclib/phpseclib:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm//packages:.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264
  
  [Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.224501 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates\_c/en\_US//%%91/910/9105E2BB%%1477606071414776177.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264
  
  [Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.224611 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(): Failed opening '/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates\_c/en\_US//%%91/910/9105E2BB%%1477606071414776177.php' for inclusion (include\_path='/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/vendor/yoast/api-libs/google:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom\_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/packages/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom\_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/tecnickcom:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/phpseclib/phpseclib/phpseclib:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm//packages:.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264
  
  [Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.225795 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates\_c/en\_US//%%CB/CBC/CBC1541F%%14776060711283623884.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264
  
  [Thu Oct 27 22:07:51.225911 2016] [:error] [pid 1516] [client 208.124.188.134:42618] PHP Warning: include(): Failed opening '/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/templates\_c/en\_US//%%CB/CBC/CBC1541F%%14776060711283623884.php' for inclusion (include\_path='/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/vendor/yoast/api-libs/google:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom\_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/packages/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/files/civicrm/custom\_ext/com.drastikbydesign.stripe/:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/tecnickcom:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/vendor/phpseclib/phpseclib/phpseclib:.:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/:/nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm//packages:.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /nas/content/live/mysite/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/packages/Smarty/Smarty.class.php on line 1264
  
  **Tags:** wordpress, email, scheduled-reminders, smarty, cache
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Please update your question with your CiviCRM and WordPress versions?  
  > **username_1**: Also, what user does your cron job run as?  
  > **username_0**: Hi Jon G. We are using CiviCRM 4.6 and WordPress 4.6.1. Thank you for looking into it.  
  > **username_0**: And the user has Administrator role in WP.  
  > **username_2**: I suppose Joh G means the *unix* user of the cron job. If the cron unix user is not allowed to write the **templates_c**, that can be a problem. What happens if you invoke the Scheduled Reminder Mail job from the userinterface?  
  > **username_1**: @username_0 - username_2 is right.  It sounds like your cron job has a Unix user that doesn't have file system permissions.  They're correct that a good way to test it is to run the job using "Execute Now" and see if it works.  If it does, that's a pretty good indication that this is the issue!  
  > **username_0**: Thank you username_2 and Jon G. You are right. Running "Send Scheduled Reminders" from the user interface sends the reminder properly.  I run CiviCRM cron using its cron URL: curl http://mysite.com/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/bin/cron.php?name=crivicrm_cron_user@mysite.com&pass=the_password&key=civicrm_site_key_from_civicrm_settings_php. I suppose it runs as www-data user, because after renaming templates_c folder, it got re-created and owned by www-data linux user with full permissions. So I think there should not be file permissions problem.  
  > **username_0**: WP Engine does not allow creating cron jobs (crontab). So AFAIK the only other option to run CiviCRM cron is to call its URL.  
  > **username_0**: WP Engine confirmed that the Apache web server runs under www-data. That applies to both staging (which works fine) and production sites.  If we assume that the problem is caused by file permissions, one question still remains: User interface is provided by Apache server which runs under www-data user. CiviCRM cron URL is also served the same way and by the same user. Why would these two requests be treated differently (in terms of file access) by the system?  
  > **username_0**: username_2 and Jon G were right. Our host (WPEngine) finally confirmed that guest users don't have permission to right php files on production environment, because that could allow vulnerabilities within the site. Wondering why CiviCRM is built in a way that you would have to give such permission to guest user in order to run cron.  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_0 on 2016-12-02. Score: 3
  
  For anyone who may face this issue, it was finally fixed by WP Engine through adding an exception on the firewall for CiviCRM cron URL.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_3**: How do you actually run the cron? I have a new client which is already hosted on WP Engine, they get the notifications the no crons are run. But obviously I don't have SSH access to setup cron. How did you manage to do this?  
  > **username_0**: We are using URL method: https://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/Managing+Scheduled+Jobs#ManagingScheduledJobs-URLmethod  
  > **username_0**: http://mysite.com/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/bin/cron.php?name=some_limited_user@myemail.com&pass=wp_user_pass&key=civicrim_key  You can call this URL from anywhere maybe even from a free uptime monitoring service such as Pingdom.  
  > **username_3**: Ok, sounds logical. I am getting a 500 error on the cron.php but debugging that is kinda hard on wpengine... The log file from wpengine inside the wp-engine (error log) doesn't log anything from the cron.php...  
  > **username_3**: Managed to finally fix the issues, path to the settings files etc were wrong and some couple of other errors. I'm just going to set crontab on one of my other servers to wget the cron once a while  
  
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