Guides / Features
Scheduled QR codes: one code, content that changes itself
5 min read · Last updated 2026-08-13
The short answer
A scheduled QR code is a dynamic QR code whose destination changes on a schedule. You set content versions with start and end times — lunch, happy hour, dinner, the weekend special, next season’s listing — and the code serves the right one automatically. No one changes anything at the switch time.
How scheduled content rotation works
Each content version on a code carries a starts_at and an ends_at time. When someone scans, qr-evolve serves the version that is active right now.
Set it up once: today’s offer from 9am, tomorrow’s menu from 9am, Saturday’s open house from noon. The code handles the rest, including falling back gracefully when nothing is scheduled.
When a scheduled QR code pays off
Time-boxed businesses get the most out of it: restaurants with lunch and dinner menus, bars with happy hours, real estate with weekend open houses, venues with rotating lineups, retailers with seasonal campaigns.
The printed code never changes, so the schedule can run for years from a single sticker.
- Lunch menu 11:30–15:00, dinner menu after — automatically.
- Open house Saturday 12:00–15:00, listing page the rest of the week.
- Seasonal menu or campaign windows, then a graceful fallback.
The no-dead-link guarantee
A scheduled code never breaks: if no content is active, a scan falls back to the last saved content instead of a blank page or error. So the schedule can end — the QR stays useful.
Frequently asked questions
What is a scheduled QR code?
A dynamic QR code whose destination rotates automatically based on times you set. Each content version has start and end times, and the code serves the version active at scan time.
Can a QR code change its content by time of day?
Yes. Set different content versions with starts_at and ends_at times and the code switches automatically — for example a lunch menu until 3pm and a dinner menu after.
What happens when a QR code schedule ends?
The code falls back to the last saved content. It never shows a dead link or blank page, so your printed code keeps working even after a schedule window closes.