Add DISABLE_WP_CRON to site health constants

[leedxw]

I recently had to confirm for a site owner that DISABLE_WP_CRON was set, and was surprised that it's not listed as a constant in the Info section of Site Health.

Referencing piecemeal approach from #51326

[leedxw]

Add DISABLE_WP_CRON as a constant in Info

[rollybueno]

Reproduction Report

This report validates that the issue can be reproduced.

Environment

• OS: Linux 6.8.0-60-generic x86_64
• Web Server: nginx/1.26.1
• PHP: 8.2.27 (Supports 64bit values)
• WordPress: 6.8.1
• Browser: Chrome 136 on Linux
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five (twentytwentyfive) 1.2
• Active Plugins:
  • Query Monitor 3.17.2
  • User Switching 1.9.2

Actual Results

• ✅ Error condition occurs (reproduced).

Additional Notes

• You have to set define( 'DISABLE_WP_CRON', true ); on the wp-config.php
• Then go to Tools -> Site Health -> Info -> WordPress Constants
• The DISABLE_WP_CRON constant is not listed

Supplemental Artifacts

[rollybueno]

Test Report

This report validates that the indicated patch addresses the issue.

Patch tested: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/63524/health_disable_cron.patch

Environment

• OS: Linux 6.8.0-60-generic x86_64
• Web Server: nginx/1.26.1
• PHP: 8.2.27 (Supports 64bit values)
• WordPress: 6.8.1
• Browser: Chrome 136 on Linux
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five (twentytwentyfive) 1.2
• Active Plugins:
  • Query Monitor 3.17.2
  • User Switching 1.9.2

Actual Results

• ✅ Issue resolved with patch.

Additional Notes

• After I set define( 'DISABLE_WP_CRON', true ); on the wp-config.php, I check the value on Tools -> Site Health -> Info -> WordPress Constants and I confirmed it's visible and has correct values

Supplemental Artifacts

define( 'DISABLE_WP_CRON', false );

define( 'DISABLE_WP_CRON', true );

[hbhalodia]

Hi @rollybueno @leedxw, Not sure we need to add this constant to the class-wp-debug-data.php, because there are many constants which can/are added, for example, WP_POST_REVISIONS, WP_DEFAULT_THEME and many more.

So we need to identify all the list of constant that needs to be added or we should not add more to the list.

We do have all the constant listed here - ​https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress/blob/master/wp-includes/default-constants.php, which can use a SOT to add the constants to the site info table.

Thank You,

[rollybueno]

Hi @hbhalodia, actually that makes sense. I'll wait for others to chime. Most likely we do not need to add everything but I'll leave that to the rest to decide.

[huzaifaalmesbah]

Test Report

Description

Patch tested: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/63524/health_disable_cron.patch

Environment

• WordPress: 6.9-alpha-60093-src
• PHP: 8.4.7
• Server: nginx/1.27.5
• Database: mysqli (Server: 9.3.0 / Client: mysqlnd 8.4.7)
• Browser: Chrome 137.0.0.0
• OS: macOS
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five 1.2
• MU Plugins: None activated
• Plugins:
  • Test Reports 1.2.0

Actual Results

1. ✅ DISABLE_WP_CRON appears correctly in Site Health debug info.
2. ✅ Verified both true and false values.

Additional Notes

• ✅ Patch is functionally correct.
• ⚠️ Should be updated to use proper Unified Diff format for compatibility with grunt patch.

Screenshots

False	True

[hmbashar]

I've updated it using the proper diff format for compatibility with Grunt Patch.

[peterwilsoncc]

I briefly discussed this with @desrosj at the WCEU contributor day.

Incorrectly setting DISABLE_WP_CRON === true without configuring a real cron system will trigger site health reports that wp-cron is not firing correctly. For hosting providers attempting to provide support to users, including the configuration information could prove helpful.

I've not worked in hosting support so welcome others' views who have had personal experience.

---

Patch feedback:

I agree that DISABLE_WP_CRON: Disabled would not be helpful due to the double negative. However, I'd prefer it to display as true or similar rather than the 1 displayed when using the current patch.

For the case in which the constant is defined, I'd suggest the text be WP-Cron disabled vs WP-Cron enabled.

Adds proper handling of DISABLE_WP_CRON constant in WP_Debug_Data class, including translation support and debug value tracking. Feedback of https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/63524#comment:9

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/63524