Install the Scheduler contributed module. It adds publish on and unpublish on date fields to content types, letting editors set a future publication or expiration date.
Set up Scheduler by enabling it per content type and configuring the cron job to run at intervals that match your scheduling needs. Typically, running cron every 15 or 30 minutes gives reasonable precision without overloading the system.
When cron runs, Scheduler checks for content that should be published or unpublished and updates it automatically. It integrates with Content Moderation, so scheduled publishing respects your workflow states. For sites with regular publication schedules, Scheduler is essential. Without it, editors have to manually publish content at the exact moment it should go live, which is impractical for news sites and content heavy publications.