Unpublish Feature

Summary

The Unpublish Feature automates the process of unpublishing posts based on a user-defined date/time. It adds:

• Admin Writing Section:
  A new section under Settings > Writing that allows users to select which post types (CPTs) will support scheduled unpublishing. This selection activates the "Unpublish Date" functionality for the chosen CPTs.

• Publish Metabox Integration:
  For posts belonging to the selected CPTs, a new Unpublish Date field is added to the Publish metabox. This field uses an ACF date_time_picker to let users specify the date and time at which the post should be automatically unpublished (i.e., switched to draft mode).

  • The field converts the local date/time input to GMT for storage, ensuring consistent scheduling across timezones.
  • When displayed on the edit page, the stored GMT value is converted back to the site’s local time.

• Scheduled Actions:
  A scheduled Action Scheduler event (Yoko\UnpublishPost) is set up to check for posts with an unpublish date that has passed, and then unpublish them accordingly.

  • The feature validates that the unpublish date is not in the past and, if it is, displays an admin warning notice indicating that unpublishing cannot be scheduled on a past date.

Requirements

• ACF – Advanced Custom Fields plugin
• Action Scheduler

Testing Guide

1. Select CPTs:

   • Go to Settings > Writing and select the CPT(s) you want to enable for scheduled unpublishing.

2. Verify Field Appearance:

   • Open the edit screen of a published post belonging to one of the selected CPTs.
   • Ensure that the Unpublish Date field appears in the Publish metabox.

3. Set Unpublish Date (Valid):

   • Update a published post by setting the Unpublish Date to a future date and time.
   • Verify that the field converts the local date/time to GMT for storage and that it correctly converts back to local time when displayed.
   • Confirm in the database that the value is stored in GMT.

4. Set Unpublish Date (Invalid):

   • Attempt to set the Unpublish Date to a past date.
   • Confirm that no unpublish date is saved and that a warning notice appears stating:
     "The unpublish date was not updated because you cannot schedule unpublishing on a past date."

5. Run Scheduled Action:

   • Navigate to Tools > Scheduled Actions.
   • Filter by Pending.
   • Locate the scheduled action Yoko\UnpublishPost and click Run.
   • Verify that the published post with a valid unpublish date is switched to draft mode.

Additional Notes and Troubleshooting

• The feature won't work without ACF enabled.
• The unpublish date is stored in GMT in the database for consistency and is converted to local time when displayed.
• Ensure your WordPress timezone (under Settings > General) is set correctly.
• The feaure logs scheduled unpublishing actions with yoko_log at yoko-logs/yoko-unpublish-post-yyyy-mm-dd.log
• If a post is not unpublished as expected, check the logs and the scheduled actions at wp-admin/tools.php?page=action-scheduler.

Screenshots