Rules: safety, history and pausing

The guard rails on rules: test before you trust, backups before updates, skipped sites, the run history and automatic pausing.

Updated Oct 11, 2026

A rule does real work on real sites while you sleep, so it comes with guard rails. None of them can be switched off.

The guard rails

  • Backup before every update. A rule never updates anything without backing the site up first. If the backup fails, none of that site’s updates run (plugins, themes or WordPress).
  • One job at a time per site. If a backup, restore, update or storage move is already running on a site, the rule skips that site rather than piling on.
  • Connected sites only. Disconnected sites are skipped for backups and updates. Emails, webhooks and reports still go out.
  • Your time window. If you set Only run between, backups and updates skip sites outside those hours.
  • Never the WP Foreman plugin. Rules don’t update the plugin that connects the site.
  • No chain reactions. What a rule does never sets off another rule, or itself.
  • Same limits as you. A rule can only do what your account can, on sites in your account.

Test before you trust

Click Test on any rule. You see each site it covers and exactly what it would do there right now, or why it would skip it. Nothing is changed. Test again after editing.

Skipped sites

A skipped site isn’t a failure. It’s written to the site’s log as Rule skipped a site with the reason, it counts as “something needs me” for emails, and the rule tries again at its next scheduled run. It doesn’t retry in the meantime.

Reason What to do
Not connected Reconnect the site (troubleshooting).
Outside the rule’s allowed hours Nothing, or widen the hours.
A backup, restore or update was already running Nothing usually. If it keeps happening, move the rule’s time away from the site’s backup schedule.
Some updates were refused Usually a premium plugin without an active license or account connection. Fix it in wp-admin, or tick Skip updates marked “Can’t download”.

History

Click a rule’s History to see its recent runs: what started it (the schedule, an event such as “When Jane Doe installed the plugin Hello Dolly”, or Run now), the result, and what happened on each site.

Result Meaning
Done Every site was handled.
Problems At least one site was skipped or had an error. Look at the sites listed.
Failed Every site had an error.

Each site’s log also gets an entry under the Rules category, marked Rule: (name), and the backups and updates the rule started appear there as usual. The backups and updates themselves finish in the background, so their results show up in the log a few minutes later.

Automatic pausing

If a rule fails 3 runs in a row, it switches itself off so it doesn’t keep failing every night. You’ll see the reason on the rule, a Rule paused entry in the log, and an email (even if the rule is set to never email). Fix the problem (the history says what went wrong), then click Switch on. That resets the count.

Runs with only skipped sites don’t count as failures.

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