When upgrading a test installation, the Acron plugin is installed as enabled and it ignores the scheduled_tasks configuration option. So immediately it starts to send mail like review reminders that a test installation should not send automatically.
So my request is: Make the Acron plugin disabled by default, or make it obey scheduled_tasks, or both.
Meanwhile, a question. It seems that Acron is just an interface to PKPAcron, and in lib/pkp/plugins/generic/acron/settings.xml there is enabled=true. Will changing that to enabled=false make the plug disabled by default, or will running “php tools/upgrade.php upgrade” just enable it again?
The Acron plugin should only be enabled automatically when it’s first installed (or you upgrade to a version that includes it). After that, the enabled status should be retained.
The scheduled_tasks setting in config.inc.php is there to ensure that the administrator knows that server-side administrative tasks are required in order to get the scheduled emails working; a UI checkbox isn’t enough. The Acron plugin provides a separate alternative to it.
In my opinion a better solution might be to not distribute the Acron plugin with OJS at all, but to include it in the plugin gallery. (Personally, I’ve never liked Acron-type plugins! But some users don’t have another option.)
Reards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team