When you’re planning an event, there’s a lot to think about — creating the event, getting the word out, registering attendees, selling tickets — the list goes on. If you’re using different tools for each of these tasks, event management can feel like juggling too many balls at once.
That’s where WordPress event management plugins come in. They can be a real lifesaver, making the whole process a lot smoother and saving you time and money in the long run. But with so many options out there, it can be tough to know which one to pick.
In this article, we’ll break down what you should look for in a great WordPress event management plugin. We’ll also give you a rundown of the top plugins that can help you manage your events like a pro.
Let’s explore how to choose the right plugin for your needs and make event management a breeze.
Key features to look for in an event management plugin
When you’re searching for the perfect WordPress event management plugin, you need to ensure that it has the core components of any event management system. These include things like:
- Event creation.
- Registration management.
- Ticketing options.
- Payment methods.
- An events calendar.
But if you really want to take your events to the next level, you should look for a plugin that offers more than just the basics. The best event and ticketing management plugins come with a range of additional features that can make your life easier and your events more successful.
For example, you might want a plugin that gives you tons of options for customizing the look and feel of your event pages. Or maybe you need support for recurring events so you don’t have to create a new listing every time. Advanced registration forms can also be an effective move, allowing you to collect all the information you need from attendees.
Features like social media integration and email marketing tools can be very helpful in promoting your events. And if you want to monitor their performance, look for a plugin that offers analytics and reporting.
Another thing to consider is whether the plugin integrates with other tools and services you’re already using. This could include payment gateways, calendars, or even your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. This way, your event management plugin can fit into your existing workflow.
Of course, every event is different, and so are the needs of every event organizer. That’s why it’s important to think carefully about which features are most important to you before choosing a plugin. You’ll need to figure out your specific requirements to find a solution that ticks all the right boxes and helps you create truly memorable events.
Top WordPress plugins for effective event management
Now that you know what to look for in a WordPress event management plugin, let’s take a closer look at some of the top options out there. In this section, we’ll introduce you to several of the best plugins for managing events on your WordPress site.
For each plugin, we’ll provide a brief overview of what it does and who it’s best suited for. We’ll also highlight the key features that make it stand out from the crowd and give you an honest assessment of its pros and cons.
Let’s begin!
The Events Calendar
First up on our list is The Events Calendar, the original calendar for WordPress. This plugin is designed to help users create, schedule, and manage events efficiently within WordPress.
The Events Calendar provides two core free plugins — The Events Calendar and Event Tickets — which work together seamlessly. Both plugins have pro versions that offer additional features and numerous add-ons to enhance functionality even further.
Key features
- Fully customizable display: The Events Calendar offers a highly customizable display, allowing users to switch between different event views such as list, day, week, and month. The pro version adds even more options, including photo grid and map views. You can place your calendar anywhere on your site using shortcodes or a built-in widget, and the developer-friendly code lets you tweak the appearance to fit your exact needs.
- Built-in event and ticket updates: Users can subscribe to receive event updates via iCloud Calendar or Google Calendar, ensuring they always stay informed. Event Tickets provides customizable ticket confirmation emails, making communication with attendees smooth and professional.
- Flexible payment options: Event Tickets supports payments through Stripe and PayPal using Tickets Commerce, The Events Calendar’s own free eCommerce solution. This offers many benefits similar to WooCommerce without needing a third-party solution. Upgrading to Event Tickets Plus allows full WooCommerce integration, opening up additional payment gateway options like Braintree.
- Integrations and extensions: The plugin integrates with many popular tools and platforms, including page builders like Elementor and third-party event platforms like Eventbrite. It can be extended with powerful add-ons such as the Promoter plugin for tailored email marketing and Event Aggregator for sharing external events on your site.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to set up and use, even for beginners. Offers extensive customization options for displaying events. Integrates with popular tools and platforms, enhancing its functionality. Helps improve search engine visibility for event listings with JSON-LD Structured Data. Mobile-friendly calendar design ensures events look good on all devices. | Advanced features and integrations only come with the pro versions. |
Use cases
The Events Calendar is ideal for businesses, organizations, and individuals who need to manage events professionally. It’s especially perfect for:
- Community organizations: Managing local events, meetings, and gatherings.
- Educational institutions: Scheduling classes, workshops, and academic events.
- Event planners: Organizing and promoting large-scale events like conferences, festivals, and concerts.
For instance, here’s how the Ann Arbor Art Center (A2AC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to being a contemporary forum for the visual arts, successfully integrated The Events Calendar into their WordPress site.
The Ann Arbor Art Center’s mission is to engage minds, expand perspectives, and inspire growth in students of all ages, teachers, artists, and the community through education, exploration, collaboration, and exhibition. In line with this philosophy, their website features a bold and colorful design, with a consistent palette of orange, green, yellow, and navy throughout.
Using The Event Calendar’s highly customizable design features, the Art Center echoed the vibrant colors of the homepage in the event titles of its main event calendar. It also utilized featured images containing event information, allowing visitors to easily access all relevant details. The List View feature of the calendar was used to prioritize multi-day events, ensuring they remain pinned to the top of the list for quick reference.
In addition, each single event page provided comprehensive information for visitors to participate in the event. If submissions were required, a “Learn More” link redirected users to the appropriate Google Form. Related Events were also displayed below, encouraging visitors to explore other relevant offerings.
The Events Calendar’s comprehensive feature set and flexibility make it a top choice for anyone looking to enhance their event management capabilities within WordPress.
Events Manager
Events Manager is a powerful event calendar, bookings, and registration management plugin for WordPress. It’s built on flexibility, reliability, and extensive features. Designed to enrich your site events, it offers a comprehensive solution for managing events with ease.
Key features
- Beautiful calendars and booking forms: Events Manager provides visually appealing calendars, search pages, lists, grids, and booking forms that integrate with your site. These features improve the user experience by making event details more accessible.
- Easy bookings management: Manage bookings efficiently with features for approval/rejection, CSV export, and more. The plugin also supports multiple tickets for different event types, making it suitable for a wide range of events.
- Graph and statistics: Events Manager includes graph and statistics tools, including bar, line, and pie charts with comparison and stacking options. This helps you analyze event data more effectively.
- Multisite event support: The plugin supports cross-network event sharing, allowing you to display events and booking forms on other subsites or the main site. It also offers network-wide global booking management.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Advanced permissions to restrict user management of events and locations. Supports BuddyPress and BuddyBoss for enhanced community engagement. Allows users to add events to their calendars with iCloud Calendar and Google Calendar buttons. | Customization might require coding knowledge and can be complex. Steeper learning curve due to the extensive features and settings. Front-end event submission forms are not as intuitive and may require additional setup. |
WP Event Manager
If you’re looking for a lightweight and scalable event management plugin that’s easy to use and packed with features, WP Event Manager might be just what you need.
This plugin helps you set up a full-featured event management system within WordPress for both live and virtual events, without the bloat and complexity of many other solutions.
Key features
- Simple event setup: WP Event Manager lets you add, remove, and organize event listings directly from the WordPress dashboard. You can assign locations to your events and group them by these locations. Custom event fields help you personalize your listings, making each event unique.
- Live previews: Get live previews of every event you create. This feature lets you see exactly how your attendees will view the event listing, ensuring everything looks perfect before publishing.
- Search and filter options: WP Event Manager includes search and filter options powered by AJAX and XML for a smooth user experience. Guests and registered users can submit and manage event listings through a front-end form.
- SEO and globalization: The plugin is SEO- and translation-ready, helping you reach a global audience. Caching support ensures fast performance, and there are plenty of endpoints and template files for deep customization.
- Comprehensive documentation and support: WP Event Manager offers detailed documentation and video tutorials to help users get the most out of the plugin. Support is available through the WordPress.org forum and a dedicated support forum.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Offers customization options for event listings. Does not bloat your site, ensuring fast performance. Excellent support and documentation. Allows front-end event submission and management by users. | The default design and layout may require customization to match the site’s theme. Requires an add-on for ticketing capabilities, as it’s not included in the core plugin. |
Amelia
Amelia is a powerful booking calendar plugin for WordPress, designed to automate online appointment scheduling and event booking processes. With an intuitive design, Amelia provides you and your clients with an unparalleled booking experience.
Key features
- Automated reminders: Amelia reduces no-shows with email and SMS reminders and follow-ups. This feature ensures clients remember their appointments and events, improving attendance rates.
- Mobile-first design: The booking calendar is designed with a mobile-first approach, ensuring it works perfectly across various devices for both administrators and customers.the vibrant colors of the homepage in the event titles. The Art Center utilizes featured images containing event information, allowing visitors to access details in various forms. The List View of the calendar prioritizes multi-day events, ensuring they remain pinned to the top of the list for easy access.
- Single Event Pages: Each single event page provides comprehensive information for visitors to participate in the event. If submissions are required, a “Learn More” link redirects users to the appropriate Google Form. Related Events are also displayed below, encouraging visitors to explore other relevant offerings.
- Easy embedding: Embed appointment booking forms using shortcodes like [ameliastepbooking] or [ameliacatalogbooking]. The catalog view displays all services as cards, making it easy for customers to browse and book an event. You can use the [ameliaeventslistbooking] shortcode to show events in a list format, displaying essential details like date, time, location, capacity, status, and price.
- Customization options: The plugin lets you customize booking confirmation emails and SMS notifications for both customers and providers. It also supports 20+ languages, making it suitable for global use.
Amelia works seamlessly with page builders like Elementor, Divi, and Gutenberg. You can choose between on-page or pop-up booking forms for better integration with your site’s design.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Works seamlessly across various devices. Reduces no-shows with email and SMS reminders. Supports automatic time zone detection and online meetings. Has clean code and webhooks for easy integration and customization. | The plugin does not allow you to generate tickets for the event. When purchasing for more than one attendee, it is not possible to add the additional attendees’ names or information. Only the buyer’s name and contact information can be entered. |
Modern Events Calendar
Modern Events Calendar (MEC) is a comprehensive event management plugin for WordPress, perfect for organizing and managing events of any size. With its powerful features and user-friendly interface, MEC helps you create and manage events effortlessly.
Key features
- Advanced event locations and organizers system: Manage multiple locations and organizers for your events, complete with images and detailed information.
- Custom booking forms: Create and customize booking forms for each event, allowing you to gather specific information from attendees.
- Dynamic event labels and filters: Use dynamic labels to highlight event statuses (like featured or canceled) and provide advanced filtering options for users to easily find events.
- Google Maps integration: Display event locations on Google Maps within your event listings and shortcodes, enhancing visual appeal and usability.
- Recurring and multi-day events: Set up events that repeat daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, and manage multi-day events with detailed schedules and variations.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Extensive options for event creation, booking, and display. Supports multiple languages and time zones, making it suitable for international events. In-depth documentation with detailed video tutorials and great customer support. | The wide range of features may be overwhelming for beginners. Can experience performance issues on websites with a large number of events. |
Eventin
Eventin simplifies the process of organizing and managing events. Designed to be user-friendly, it offers an intuitive interface that makes event setup and management straightforward even for beginners.
Key features
- Unique event attendee management: Eventin assigns unique ticket IDs to attendees, allowing you to track attendance easily from your dashboard. This feature ensures efficient management of event attendees.
- Multivendor event marketplace: You can use Eventin in combination with Dokan to transform your website into a multivendor event and ticket-selling marketplace. This feature allows multiple vendors to manage and sell tickets for their events.
- Detailed analytics reports: Eventin offers detailed analytics to help you track your event performance and goals. This feature provides valuable insights to keep your event ticketing platforms on track.
- QR code for attendees: The plugin lets you generate unique QR codes for ticket holders, which can be scanned at the event entrance for quick and easy guest management.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Allows multiple vendors to sell tickets and manage events on a single platform. Provides in-depth reports to help track event performance and goals. Great plugin support. | At the time of writing this article, the plugin cannot add a total number of tickets with varying prices. You need to add multiple batches with different prices. |
Event Organiser
Event Organiser is a versatile event management plugin, with a dynamic events feed and venue management features. It utilizes WordPress’ built-in custom post types to allow you to create events with the same functionality as posts while adding additional features for event management.
With Event Organiser, you can create both one-time and recurring events, assign venues, and manage complex schedules – all through an intuitive user interface. The plugin provides WordPress list views and a calendar page in the admin area for easy navigation.
Key features
- Recurring events: Event Organiser allows you to create complex recurring events. You can set up events to repeat over specific periods, such as “every third Tuesday of every fourth month” or “every month on the 16th.” This flexibility ensures that even the most complex schedules can be managed with ease.
- Venue management: The plugin supports the creation and maintenance of venues for your events. Each venue can be detailed with a fully-featured content editor and Google Maps support, making it easy to provide location information for attendees.
- Useful widgets and shortcodes: The Calendar widget displays a calendar similar to the standard WordPress Calendar, while the Event List and Event Agenda widgets allow you to show lists of upcoming events. Shortcodes are available for embedding calendars, event lists, agendas, and venue maps directly into your posts or pages.
- Event categories and tags: You can assign events to categories and tags, allowing for better organization and filtering. Events can be color-coded based on categories, making it easy to distinguish between different types of events at a glance.
- Public events feed and iCloud Calendar export/import: Event Organiser supports public event feeds, enabling visitors to subscribe to events or specific categories and venues. Additionally, events can be exported and imported using iCloud Calendar files, for easy transfer of event data.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Integrates well with WordPress using custom post types. Supports complex recurring event schedules. Venue management with Google Maps integration. | Customizing templates may require coding knowledge. Some users report potential conflicts with other plugins. |
Get started with The Events Calendar for enhanced event handling
Investing in a WordPress event management plugin like The Events Calendar can significantly streamline your event planning process. By consolidating various aspects of event management into one place, you can save time and money.
Of course, all the plugins mentioned in this guide provide excellent solutions for event managers aiming to enhance their operations. Any decision should be based on your specific needs.
That said, The Events Calendar stands out as an excellent event management solution. It offers all the core features needed to create and manage events successfully, is easy to use, and provides integrations and extensions for complex event management needs.
Get The Events Calendar and take the next step in enriching your event management today!
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