Events Plugins
Learn about our approved The Events Calendar plugin and the 3 types of add-ons we offer with it.
Events Calendar
Plan Type(s): Premium, Woo | Plugin Name: The Events Calendar
Plugin Details:
The base calendar plugin required for any of the add-ons to work. It includes a calendar page, event posts and basic functionality. We include The Events Calendar Pro in PWS Core which contains the plugin's full functionality, however, you must have the basic version installed and active to use any of the PRO features or any of the extensions.
When to use The Events Calendar:
Use The Events Calendar plugin when a customer would like a calendar displayed on their site with a directory of all events added. This plugin provides a detailed and more hands-on event managing interface with options to add venues, organizers and locations as taxonomies in the event database. It also provides the foundation for a more controlled & self-managed ticketing platform if the tickets extensions are used.
When NOT to use The Events Calendar:
Do NOT proceed with this plugin as an option if the customer is expecting it to integrate seamlessly or synchronize events with other calendars. There are options for importing with iCal and Google Calendar, but you have to get an add-on and setup reoccurring imports. This plugin will not seamlessly integrate with o365 and there's no importer add-on for Outlook at all.
Demo videos and publicly accessible info from plugin resources:
Events Calendar Pro
Plan Type(s): Premium, Woo | Plugin Name: The Events Calendar Pro
Plugin Details:
Powerful features. Easy to use. Beautiful design. Impeccable support. The PRO add-on for the Events Calendar plugin enables the use of the calendar shortcode or widget on any page other than the default events page.
When to use Events Calendar PRO:
The Events Calendar PRO plugin carries all the same uses as the basic Events Calendar plugin shown above, however, it allows the calendar widget to be placed on different pages and enables the use of premium features. Use this plugin if the customer requires reoccurring events, venue & organizer views, location and geo-location search, as well as the option to add additional fields to their events.
When NOT to use Events Calendar PRO:
As mentioned above, this plugin will not seamlessly synchronize events with other calendar apps without the additional importer add-ons, and will not integrate with Outlook.
Details and publicly accessible info from plugin documentation:
Configure your settings. Configure both your WordPress settings and Events Calendar settings so that your calendar works how you’d like it.
- Show The Events Calendar link: You will notice this in the large box at the top of this page. It adds a small link to the bottom of your calendar pointing to The Events Calendar project.
- Number of events to show per page: Defines the number of events showing on each page. This applies to all list-style views: List, Day, Photo, Map, Venue, and Organizer views. Other events are accessible from Previous/Next Events nav links.
- Use Javascript to control page load: Enables quicker AJAX update of calendar views.
- Recurring event instances (PRO): When checked only the next upcoming event in a recurring event sequence will show. This can be useful to unclutter your calendar. When unchecked, all instances will show.
- Front-end recurring event instances toggle (PRO): Gives a bit more flexibility than the Recurring event instances setting covered above. When enabled, this offers a frontend setting for users to decide whether they want to show an entire recurrence pattern or just the next event in that series.
- Clean up recurring events after (PRO): Use this setting to decrease clutter in your backend events list. Recurring events older than the inputted months will be deleted.
- Create recurring events in advance for (PRO): This settings controls how far in advance recurring events instances are made. For example, you could have your recurring events made 12 months in advance, so users would always see 12 upcoming instances on your calendar.
- Show Comments: When enabled, this setting adds WordPress’ basic commenting functions to your event listings. If comments are enabled on a whole they can still be disabled as you see fit on a post-by-post basis.
- Show Custom Fields metabox: This option allows you to show or hide the default WordPress “Custom Fields” meta box when editing events within your dashboard. If you aren’t already familiar with using this WordPress feature, you can go ahead and disable it. This will help to clean up the dashboard when creating events.
- Include events in main blog loop: Events will be included on your main page along with regular WordPress posts. They will continue to show in all calendar views. Read More
- Events URL slug: Determines where on the frontend your events will live; defaults to /events but can be changed to whatever you see fit. The link that appears below the field will take you directly to your events page. As of version 4.4 of The Events Calendar, you can set your calendar as the homepage! Learn more here.
- Single event URL slug: Similar to the Events URL slug, this determines the URL structure for a single event. Note that while you want this to be similar to the Events URL slug, they cannot be identical — notice how if the Events URL slug defaults to plural “events”, the Single Event URL Slug has to be singular “event.” Keep this in mind as you make changes.
- End of day cutoff: Let’s say you have an event that runs from 6 pm on Friday until 2 am on Saturday; technically, that’s a Friday & Saturday event — but to readers on the frontend, and for all intents & purposes, it’s a Friday night event that runs long. This is where the end of day cutoff comes into play; if you set the dropdown here to 2:30 a.m., for example, your Friday-Saturday event would only show on Friday in relevant views. Read More
- Default currency symbol: This allows non-US users to change the currency symbol for Event Cost. The symbol can also be changed on an individual post.
- Currency symbol follows value: Users with a default currency that follows the amount (for example 10 zł) can check this box to have the currency symbol show after the money value.
- Duplicate Venues & Organizers: You might find duplicate venues and organizers when updating The Events Calendar from a pre 3.0 version. This option allows you to automatically merge identical venues and organizers.
- Move to trash events older than: This option allows you to automatically move past events to trash based on their end date.
- Permanently delete events older than: This option allows you to bulk delete past events based on their end date. Be careful and backup your database before removing your events as there is no way to reverse the changes.
Events Tickets - RSVP
Plan Type(s): Premium, Woo | Plugin Name: Event Tickets
Plugin Details:
Event Tickets provides a simple way for visitors to RSVP and buy tickets to your events. As a standalone plugin, it enables you to add RSVP and ticket functionality to posts or pages. When paired with The Events Calendar, you can add that same functionality directly to your event listings, including an RSVP/Buy Now button on list-style pages. This call to action makes it quick and easy for attendees to RSVP and buy tickets to your event.
Event managers are able to access RSVP and ticket order information from the admin, allowing them to check in registered attendees when your event begins. Events Tickets allows you to own the entire event management process within your WordPress site.
When to use Event Tickets:
Use The Events Tickets plugin when a customer would like RSVP/registration for their events on a post or event page if paired with The Events Calendar plugin. This basic tickets plugin only allows RSVP registration. This is good for registering guests for free events or for events where its important to build an email list of attendees. It is also good for events or seminars where headcount is monitored or where any ticketing fee is handled upon arrival but the guest spot needs to be reserved for free.
When NOT to use Event Tickets:
This basic tickets plugin only allows RSVP registration, not ticket sales. If the customer is expecting to make ticket sales on the site itself, they need to use the Event Tickets Plus add-on, shown below, and they need to be on a WooCommerce platform.
Demo videos and publicly accessible info from plugin resources:
Details and publicly accessible info from plugin documentation:
Sometimes you may not want to sell tickets and charge a price for an event, but would still like to have a list of people who will be attending. The RSVP ticket type in Event Tickets provides this functionality.
Instead of buying a ticket, entering credit card or PayPal information, or going through any other part of the checkout process, with the RSVP “ticket” option users just:
- Select a quantity for how many spots to RSVP.
- Enter their name and email address to confirm that they will be attending the event.
- Immediately receive a simple tickets confirming their reservation at the email address they entered.
This article will show you how to enable and use the RSVP features of Event Tickets and Event Tickets Plus.
Note: there is no eCommerce or payment-collection functionality with RSVPs.
Before using Event Tickets, you’ll want to make sure that you have the plugin settings configured to meet your needs. You can find your tickets settings under Events –> Settings –> Tickets.
If you’re using Event Tickets with The Events Calendar, you’ll want to make sure to review our guide to The Events Calendar’s settings. If you’re not using TEC, be sure to read the section below on stand alone Tickets settings.
Event Tickets Plus - Woo
Plan Type(s): Woo | Plugin Name: Event Tickets Plus
Plugin Details:
Take control of your ticket sales with Event Tickets Plus. Event Tickets Plus allows you to add as many tickets as you wish to a given event and sell those tickets entirely within your WordPress site. Each ticket has its own price, stock, SKU, and specified time-frame for when ticket sales open and close. No third party websites, no extra ticket processing fees.
Event Tickets Plus runs alongside the core Event Tickets plugin and Woo. Add The Events Calendar or Events Calendar PRO for even more robust event ticketing and calendar functionality.
When to use Event Tickets:
Use The Events Tickets Plus plugin when a customer would like the ability to allow registration & purchase for event tickets on a post or event page if paired with The Events Calendar plugin. Event Tickets Plus uses the Woo platform to keep users on the site from start to finish. Configure custom attendee registration forms to collect information like t-shirt size or food preferences. When your event begins, you or your staff can mark guests as checked in manually or by scanning the QR code on their ticket.
When NOT to use Event Tickets:
At this time, Event Tickets Plus will NOT support tickets for recurring events.
Demo videos and publicly accessible info from plugin resources:
Details and publicly accessible info from plugin documentation:
Before using Event Tickets, you’ll want to make sure that you have the plugin settings configured to meet your needs. You can find your tickets settings under Events –> Settings –> Tickets.
If you’re using Event Tickets with The Events Calendar, you’ll want to make sure to review our guide to The Events Calendar’s settings. If you’re not using TEC, be sure to read the section below on stand alone Tickets settings.
Many of the fields in the tickets meta box are self-explanatory, but let’s run through each just to be sure.
- Type lets you set a unique name for the ticket type – which might be something like Standard, Adult, Concession, etc.
- Price controls the price of each ticket. If the tickets are not going be sold – but rather you are going to give them away for free – you can leave this field blank or set it to 0.
- Capacity is the number of tickets that are available: if you leave this blank it is assumed that there is no limit and customers can buy as many as they would like. If you have a limited number of spots for your event, you’ll want to make sure to set this accordingly.
Advanced:
- Ticket description is optional, but it’s a good space to add any information customers might be interested in, such as bring waterproof jackets or not recommended for children. You can choose to show or not in the front end ticket form.
- Start sale dictates when the tickets are available for sale. If you’re making tickets on a post or page, this field is required. If you are making tickets on an event, you don’t need to set this field- by default sales will start when you publish the event or ticket.
- End sale does the reverse – you can set this to a date after which the tickets should no longer be available for customers to buy. As with the start sale field, setting this is optional for events and the default is to stop sales when the event itself starts.
- SKU lets you set a unique code to help identify the tickets. This is another optional field and is of most use to merchants with an existing stock-keeping unit system.
Using Event Tickets Plus with an e-commerce plugin:
Although it depends on your e-commerce plugin, the general order process for Event Tickets Plus is as follows:
- A customer purchases one or more tickets
- An order or purchase record is created
- You review the order, and, if you’re happy with it, you mark the order Complete
- The moment the order is completed, tickets are generated and emailed out to the customer
- At the same time, ticket details are added to the attendee list for the event (or other post type)