How to create an event calendar in WordPress

Decide whether you only need a list of dated announcements or a real event calendar. WordPress’s built-in Calendar block displays posts on the dates they were published; it does not let you create event records, add start and end times, manage venues or handle recurring events.

For a small site with a few announcements, create one post per event and add the Calendar block to a page or sidebar. The drawback is that visitors are browsing posts, not events, and you will not get proper event views, recurrence rules, bookings or ticketing.

For a proper calendar, install an events plugin from Plugins in the WordPress dashboard, or upload its ZIP file and activate it. Follow the plugin’s setup screen to choose the event URL structure, date format, time format, timezone and default calendar page.

Check the site timezone under Settings before adding events. A wrong timezone can make an event appear on the previous or next day, especially for visitors in another region.

Open the plugin’s event creation screen and enter the event title, description, start date, end date, start time and end time. Add the venue, organiser, cost, featured image and event website where those fields are available.

Use the event’s own date and time fields rather than putting the schedule only in the description. This lets the calendar sort events correctly and gives visitors reliable details on the event page.

Create useful categories such as Workshops, Webinars or Community, then assign each event to the appropriate category. Add tags only when they help visitors filter or understand the listings.

Enter the complete venue name and address. If the plugin supports maps, enable the map for the event and check the pin before publishing. Do not rely on an incomplete address, because map results can point to the wrong venue.

For a repeating event, choose the recurrence option on the event edit screen and set the pattern, such as weekly, monthly or yearly. Add an end date or a fixed number of occurrences where possible, then add exceptions for cancelled or skipped dates.

Before changing a recurring event, check whether the edit applies to the whole series or only one occurrence. A common mistake is changing the series when one date was cancelled, which can alter every future listing.

Publish the event, open the public calendar page and check the month, list and single-event views on both desktop and mobile. Confirm the date, timezone, venue, map, registration details and links.

The fast way is to use The Events Calendar Pro: install it, activate it alongside its required base plugin if prompted, create your calendar page, add the first event and then use its recurring events, map, view and ticketing tools as needed. It suits feature-rich event sites that need recurring events, multiple calendar views, locations and registrations.