Ghost Update

Ghost Update is a simple but powerful plugin that makes your WordPress site look alive again by systematically updating post/page timestamps and alerting Google Search to come check it out.

This is perfect for older blogs, abandoned content, or static websites that haven’t changed in a while and are now suffering in search rankings.

Ghost Update offers:

• ✅ Automatic post/page timestamp refresh (without touching content)
• ✅ Optional random or sequential update order
• ✅ Force update + recrawl button
• ✅ Manual Google JSON auth upload & secure storage
• ✅ Enforced 10-minute cooldown between Google Indexing API pings (for safety)
• ✅ Simple log viewer + log clearing
• ✅ Cron toggle — enable/disable auto mode
• ✅ No product updates, no WooCommerce, no content edits

Cron Behavior

GhostUpdate uses WordPress’ built-in “pseudo-cron” system, which means scheduled tasks only run when someone visits your site. This includes both automatic post updates and Google Search Console pings.

Key Points

🔁 WordPress cron is visitor-based
No visitors = no cron runs. It only triggers when a page is loaded by a real user or bot.

🕓 Missed runs = delayed schedules
Cron tasks won’t fire in the background unless triggered by activity. This can cause delays in updates on low-traffic sites.

🧠 One run = one reschedule
A cron job must fire before WordPress will schedule the next one. They don’t “queue up” in advance.

Options for Low-Traffic Sites

✅ Keep the plugin’s settings page open in your browser
This keeps cron alive by generating regular page loads.

✅ Use the “Force Update + Recrawl Now” button
Instant update and ping, no waiting or cooldown.

Reminder

This behavior is core to how WordPress works. GhostUpdate doesn’t change or override it — it works with it.

External Services

This plugin connects to multiple endpoints from Google’s Indexing API to notify Google that a post or page has been updated. This functionality is required to trigger recrawls in Google’s search index.

What data is sent

The plugin sends the URL of the updated post or page to the following Google API endpoints. No personal data is transmitted.

When data is sent

Data is sent only when a post/page is programmatically republished by the plugin or when triggered manually by the admin.

External domains contacted

• https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token — used to obtain an OAuth 2.0 token with a service account
• https://indexing.googleapis.com/v3/urlNotifications:publish — used to send the updated URL to Google for recrawling
• https://www.googleapis.com/auth/indexing — used as the OAuth scope to limit access to Indexing API only

Service Provider

• Google LLC
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy

By using this plugin, you agree to Google’s API terms and policies. The authentication is performed using a Google Cloud service account which you manually upload to the plugin.

Notes

• Posts/pages skipped due to cooldown are still updated, just not pinged.
• Google will still crawl updated content eventually even if not directly pinged.

License

GPL v2 — use, modify, share freely.

1. Upload the plugin folder to /wp-content/plugins/ or install via the Plugins > Add New screen
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu

3. Visit Settings → Ghost Update to configure:

   • Upload your Google .json service account file
   • Enable automatic updating
   • Set your desired interval (in seconds)
   • Exclude posts/pages (optional)
   • View logs of all update and ping activity

1. 

   Ghost Update Settings Panel

1.1.0

Tested and updated to work with wp 6.9

1.0

• Initial release
• Scheduled updates with interval + randomization
• Google Indexing API ping integration
• Rate-limited GSC API calls (1 per 10 min)
• Service account JSON file support
• Logging system with viewer + cleaner
• Admin UI with force button and exclusion filter
• Enable/Disable toggle for plugin scheduler
• Works with pages and posts (not WooCommerce)