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What’s in This Guide

These are the instructions for adding a Scheduling Rule to a block. The instructions use the Starting After rule as an example.

Adding a Scheduling Rule to a Block

1. Select a block

2. Click Enable Controls

3. Expand the User Rules

Click the (+) next to User Rules. You need to expand the User Rules for Content Control to protect your block.

Either keep the default user rule to allow any logged-in role to see your block or choose a different user rule.

Remember!
You must expand the User Rules settings for Content Control to protect your block. If you create Scheduling Rules but never expand the User Rules, your Scheduling Rules won’t take effect (i.e., they won’t work).

4. Expand the Scheduling Rules

Now that you’ve expanded the User Rules, you can create a scheduling rule.

Click the (+) next to Scheduling Rules.

5. Click Add a schedule

For this tutorial, we want our Block Controls to kick in after a specific time. That means our paragraph block will display only to logged-in visitors starting after the date/time we specify. Check it out.

6. Click Starting After

7. Click the default START DATE

Click the default START DATE to pick a date and time.

8. Pick a date and time

Use the date and time picker popup to select your start date and time.

The time picker uses a 24-hour clock format (e.g., 00:00:00 is 12:00 a.m., 09:00:00 is 9:00 a.m., and 17:00:00 is 5:00 p.m.). Use the Start of Day preset to set the start time to 00:00:00 with 1 click. Use End of Day for 23:59:59.

Server Time Versus Local Time Zones

The default time zone is Server Time. Server Time uses your WordPress site’s time zone setting (Settings > General > Timezone).

Click the Server Time toggle to change it to Local Time.

What’s the difference?

Server Time

For Server Time, the restriction turns on after your scheduled time according to the time zone you’ve set up in WordPress.

For example, if your start time is 9:00 a.m. EST, your visitors in London will see your restriction after 2:00 p.m. their time (5 hours ahead of New York).

Local Time

Using the example above, if you want your restriction to start after 9:00 a.m. in your visitor’s time zone (wherever they are), use Local Time. That means folks in London can see your restriction after 9:00 a.m., too, but in London time (that would be 4:00 a.m. in New York).

9. Click Publish or Update to save your changes

Your Turn!

In this guide, we covered only one kind of the available Scheduling Rules (the Starting After rule). What if you need your block restriction rules active starting now until an end date/time or on recurring days every week? Well, you can! That’s because we’ve got a Date Range rule, Weekly Schedule rule, and more.

You can even add multiple schedules to a block. Scope out examples in our Choosing a Schedule Matching Strategy for Block Controls guide.

It’s your turn to give these a try next:

• Always: Apply block restriction rules all the time. For example, if you have permission to see the block, you can see it any day, any time.
• Starting After: Apply block restriction rules after a date/time (the example covered in this guide).
• Ending Before: Apply block restriction rules until an end date/time (the opposite of Starting After).
• Date Range: Apply block restriction rules between a start and end date/time.
• Chosen Dates: Apply block restriction rules between a start and end time on any set of dates you pick.
• Weekly Schedule: Apply block restriction rules on recurring days/times of the week. For example, Monday-Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Never: Never show your block.
  

Do you have a new or different scheduling idea you’d like to see? Head over to our support page and let us know 😌