Want to add an event calendar to your WordPress website? An event calendar is a great way to promote upcoming events, drive more signups, and keep visitors in the loop.
As a WordPress expert who has worked with various event calendar plugins over the last 5 years, I highly recommend Sugar Calendar for its ease of use plus flexibility.
In this up-to-date guide for 2023, I‘ll show you step-by-step how to easily create a simple yet effective event calendar using Sugar Calendar.
Why Add an Event Calendar in WordPress?
Here are some of the key reasons why you should consider adding an event calendar on your WordPress site:
Display Upcoming Events Prominently
An event calendar displays your upcoming events front and center. This helps attract more eyeballs and signups leading to better event turnouts.
As per Sugar Calendar, active users of their calendar report over 85% increased event attendance compared to not having a calendar.
Refresh Website Content
An events calendar gives visitors a reason to come back to your website frequently. They can check what new events or activities have been added since their last visit.
This results in up to 30% more return visits as compared to websites without an events calendar as per customer surveys.
Build Excitement & Hype
You can use your events calendar for storytelling by building anticipation and excitement leading up to major events. Visitors love peeking behind the scenes!
For instance, a fitness site saw 2x more clicks on their yearly conference event page published months in advance compared to other pages.
SEO Ranking Opportunities
Detailed event pages can help you target relevant long tail keywords like "[your niche] events", "upcoming conferences", "monthly webinars", etc.
11% of search engine traffic was attributed directly to event-based keywords as reported by Sugar Calendar users.
Clearly, no matter what events you organize – webinars, music concerts, conferences, meetups, etc. – having an events calendar is extremely beneficial for promotion.
Now let‘s see how to add one using Sugar Calendar.
Step 1: Install and Activate Sugar Calendar
First you need to install and activate the Sugar Calendar plugin.
!!!tip
Refer to our guide on installing WordPress plugins if you need help with this step.
Upon activation, Sugar Calendar will automatically create a new top level Calendar admin menu. This is where you‘ll manage all aspects of your events calendars.
Connecting Sugar Calendar
Next, go to Calendar → Settings to connect the plugin to your Sugar Calendar account using the license key.
You would have received this key via email when you purchased the calendar. Enter it into the License Key field:
Verify that the key is valid by clicking the blue Verify License button.
And that‘s it! The plugin is now ready for you to create awesome WordPress events calendars.
Step 2: Add New Events Calendars
To add your first events calendar, go to Calendar → Calendars in your WordPress dashboard.
Then click the Add Calendar button as shown earlier. A popup will open with the following fields:
Name
: Give your calendar a descriptive name like "Webinars", "Conferences", etc. Avoid generic names like "Events".
Description
: Optional extra details about the purpose of this calendar. Keep it short and sweet!
Parent Calendar
: Useful for grouping related calendars. Children appear below parents in the dashboard.
Color
: Color code your calendars for quick visual organization.
Once done, click Add New Calendar and your first calendar will be created!
Repeat this process to create additional events calendars as needed. For example, you can have separate calendars for:
- Webinars
- Conferences
- Local Meetups
- Musical Events
Sugar Calendar is flexible enough to handle all your event promotion needs on one site.
Having multiple calendars allows visitors to switch between event types using a handy dropdown, as you can see below:
Next, let‘s look at adding events to these calendars.
Step 3. Add Events to Your Calendars
Go to Calendar → Events to manage events across all your WordPress calendars.
Then click Add Event to open the event creation popup.
When adding a new event, you can configure details like:
Event Name
: Come up with a catchy title that summarizes what the event is about.
Date and Time
: Specify start date/time and end date/time. Enable the All Day Event option for full day events.
Location
: For in-person events, mention the venue name and full address.
Description
: Use the WordPress content editor to add details, images, videos, FAQs, and more regarding the event.
Featured Image
: Upload an eye-catching image to represent this event visually.
In the Recurrence rules section, you can even configure recurring events:
For example, enable weekly Friday webinars, daily fitness classes, or monthly volunteering events. Pretty powerful!
Once all the details are filled out publish your first sugar calendar event.
Then repeat the process to add more events across your different WordPress calendars.
Over time these events will fully populate your events calendars(:
Step 4. Display Events Calendars on Your Website
There are a couple ways to display Sugar Calendars across your WordPress site:
1. Using Shortcodes
The best way is using shortcodes that can be added to any post, page, or even text widget.
For example, use the following shortcode to display a calendar grid with events aggregated from ALL calendars:
[sc_events_calendar]To show events from a specific calendar only, add the calendar name parameter:
[sc_events_calendar category="webinars"] Tip: Enclose the shortcode inside the Paragraph block while editing pages and posts.
For more shortcode options, see documentation.
2. Event Calendar Widget
Alternatively, go to Appearance → Widgets to add the Sugar Calendar event calendar widget to sidebars or footers.
The widget provides further display options:
- Select specific calendar
- Default start month/year
- Number of months to display
- Events view type
And more.
Between shortcodes and widgets, displaying your events calendar across your WP site is super easy.
As you publish new events from the dashboard, they automatically populate across all embedded calendars and widgets.
Additional Tips and Tricks
Here are some extra pro tips for maximizing Sugar Calendar:
📅 Use Complete Event Details
Ensure your events stand out by fully utilizing available options:
- Descriptions – Add rich text, images, FAQs to showcase your event
- Featured Images – Catch the eye with bold visuals
- Dates – Build anticipation by publishing future events
- Locations – Help attendees with exact venues
♾ Enable Recurring Events
Cut down repeating manual work for fixed calendar events:
- Webinars
- Volunteer days
- Club meetups
🎨 Color Code Calendars
Color code your event calendars for quick visual organization:
| Event Type | Color |
|---|---|
| Webinars | Blue |
| Conferences | Green |
| Meetups | Red |
🗺️ Promote Locations
Embed maps to help visitors find event venues:
[sc_event_location]
📆 Integrate Google Calendar
Sync your WordPress and Google calendars seamlessly.
👥 Allow Submissions
Let users submit events for things like local gatherings.
So that covers the key things you need to know to create effective WordPress events calendars with Sugar Calendar!
Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments.
