Managing CMS blocks in Magento can be overwhelming, especially when the holiday season is just around the corner. If you want to display different CMS blocks based on sales, be ready for a lot of repetitive enabling/disabling. Unless you use the Magento CMS Block scheduler.
In this guide, you'll learn how to schedule CMS blocks in Magento and see when it comes in handy.
- Magento CMS block scheduler is a tool that lets merchants schedule CMS content by time, customer groups, store views, or cart conditions.
- The default Magento doesn't offer CMS block scheduler out of the box.
- The extension by Magefan enables CMS block scheduler in Magento.
- Magefan Extension also enables a scheduler for CMS pages.
What Is Magento CMS Block Scheduler?
Magento CMS Block Scheduler is a feature that allows merchants to show or hide CMS blocks automatically based on a predefined schedule or different cart or customer rules. It allows store owners to automate promotion campaigns and plan content for sales ahead of time.
In other words, it turns static blocks into dynamic ones that appear at a particular time.
e.g. CMS block can be configured to appear Monday to Friday, be active only during business hours, and switch off automatically when the working day is over.
Unfortunately, you can't implement something like this without a CMS block scheduler. Magento simply doesn't have any time- or customer-based options for CMS blocks by default.
You need to manually enable and disable CMS blocks every time. If you run numerous promotions, update content regularly, or support a multi-language setup, it becomes a never-ending and time-consuming task.
The Magento CMS block scheduler fixes that.
Benefits of Scheduling CMS Blocks in Magento
CMS block scheduling in Magento improves the whole content management system, bringing several benefits to the store.
Fewer human errors
Scheduling helps to avoid mistakes and prevents you from forgetting when to enable or disable a certain block.
e.g. a banner that offers 20% discount for a limited time only won't stay active for a few extra days, it will be disabled exactly when scheduled.
More relevant content
CMS block scheduling allows visitors to see the most relevant offers and announcements rather than outdated content.
e.g. the "Hop Into Easter Sales! Get up to 30% Off" banner can be automatically enabled at midnight (the day the sale starts), not when the manager comes to work.
Easier management
Merchants can schedule their CMS blocks in advance and avoid being stressed and overwhelmed when the time of the campaign date comes. It reduces a large number of repetitive clicks and the need to duplicate settings.
e.g. merchants can make a single CMS block appear on a specific date, showing 10% off for first-time visitors, 15% off for registered accounts, and 20% off for VIPs. Once the campaign is over, the block is disabled automatically, only to be enabled again on a different date.
So, if a Magento CMS block scheduler is something you would like to add to your store, let's look at how to enable it.
How to Schedule CMS Blocks in Magento 2?
To schedule CMS blocks in Magento:
Step 1. Install the Magento 2 Dynamic Blocks extension by Magefan.
Step 2. Navigate to Content > Blocks and press the Add New Block button to start scheduling CMS blocks in Magento.
Note: if you've already created a CMS block, move on to step #4.
Step 3. Enable the block and fill out general block information like Title, Identifier, and Store View it will be displayed on.
Step 4. Fill in the block Content, either in the page builder or WYSIWYG editor.
Step 5. Jump to the Display Rules section and specify the Date From and Date To to define when you want to display the CMS block. Once that period expires, the block will be automatically disabled.
Step 6. Set the Days Of The Week when a CMS block should be enabled.
Step 7. Set Time From and Time To to limit the display of the block during the day.
CMS block scheduler date and time settings
Don't forget to Save a block, and you're all set. You've scheduled a CMS block in Magento.
Magento 2 CMS Block Scheduler Use Cases
To understand the practical value of the Magento CMS block scheduler better, let's review its use cases.
| Capability | What it means for merchants | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign-based content scheduling | Merchants can schedule CMS blocks and match product launches, holidays, and promotions together | Summer Collection Launch banner can be scheduled to go live on the product release date |
| Automated management of multiple promotions | Allows running banners, seasonal offers, and VIP deals simultaneously without manual updates | Free shipping block, VIP loyalty offer, and sale countdown can be displayed simultaneously |
| Complex store setups support | Makes it easier to manage content in stores with multiple store views, languages, or currencies | English USD banner can be shown in one store view and its EUR version in another |
| Campaign performance optimization | Merchants can test different blocks and see which ones get the most clicks | Run a homepage banner in the morning and another in the evening to test engagement |
| Personalized customer experience | Allows store owners to show targeted content to different customer groups | VIP early-access sale block can be shown only to logged-in wholesale or loyalty customers |
| Less developer dependency | Marketing teams and store admins can control campaigns directly from the Magento admin panel | Blocks can be scheduled without creating a support ticket for the dev team |
| Flexible schedule and condition updates | Merchants can change campaign timing, customer groups, or display rules whenever business priorities change | Holiday sale banner can be extended by 3 more days after seeing strong conversion results |
Yet, there is also one additional capability that makes scheduling even more powerful. And this is personalization.
How to Personalise Scheduled CMS Blocks?
Magefan CMS Blocks Scheduler not only allows you to schedule CMS blocks so they are enabled and disabled automatically. It also lets you to personalise them, based on different conditions:
- customer group
- cart conditions
- product attributes
- category
- customer device
e.g. each customer can see a different offer based on when they visited your store, whether they added something to cart, or based on the page they're on.
Additional conditions for the scheduled CMS blocks in Magento
Best Practices for Scheduling CMS Blocks
To make the most of the CMS block scheduler in Magento, there are some best practices to follow:
Prevent blocks from overlapping in the same spot
To prevent block conflicts, create a schedule map. This way, you avoid duplicate banners, conflicting promotions, and broken layouts.
Note: Magefan CMS block scheduler eliminates this by allowing you to set the replacement CMS block. So that the same spot always shows different blocks, even if the schedule overlaps somehow.
Schedule personalized offers
Since the CMS block scheduler supports customer groups, use this feature to schedule different content to different types of customers. It helps to make the offer more targeted and increases conversions.
Mix time-based and condition-based scheduling
Combine time scheduling and predefined conditions to tailor content for specific promotional campaigns.
e.g. schedule a free shipping message to activate only on weekends for users whose cart total is over $100.
This way, you can motivate customers to use a limited-time opportunity, keep all the items in the cart, and complete the purchase to get free shipping.
Prepare backup blocks when the campaign is over
Sometimes, merchants leave the space of an expired promotion banner empty. But it's a good practice to prepare a backup block to appear when the campaign is finished, so you always have something to offer.
e.g. when the Spring Sale banner is automatically disabled, schedule another one that engages customers to check new arrivals.
Check timezone and store-view settings
For a store with multiple regions, it's especially important to always check if everything works as expected for each location. Therefore, make sure the time zone, store version, and currency match each region.
The Magento 2 CMS block scheduler is already a powerful automatic tool for online stores. But if you like to go further into automation, check our guide on how to enable dynamic pages in Magento using the same logic.
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