event management plugins for wordpress

East Bay WordPress Meetup Presentation

October 22, 2017

EastBayWP.com

For the meetup presentation slides and notes, go to https://eastbaywp.com

Our Meetup.com Page

https://www.meetup.com/Eastbay-WordPress-Meetup/

Event Management PluginsA few high-and-lowlights of some of the many, many event management plugins for WordPress

Event Plugin Spreadsheet

Add information about your favorite event plugin here.

What Event Plugins Can Do• Show events in the order they’re happening.

• Display different event views: calendar, list, grid, map.

• Show extra event information like Google Maps

• Sell tickets to events.

• Import events from other sources.

• Sync with your calendar.

• Export events to people’s calendars.

• Let other people add events and sell tickets.

• Show detailed schedules for all-day events (sometimes).

A Few Honorable Mentions

• Just want to show your Google calendar on your site? Try Simple Calendar.

• Want a timeline of history instead of a calendar of upcoming events? Try Timeline Express.

• Selling tickets for your WordCamp? CampTix is the way to go.

• Is your band or show on tour? Try GigPress (now owned by Modern Tribe).

• Show just the event schedule with Timetable and Event Schedule.

The Events Calendar Modern Tribe

https://theeventscalendar.com

The Events Calendar Pros & Cons

Pro

• Straightforward to use.

• Free version is solid.

• Nice range of views

• Wide range of features available with add-ons.

• Extensive docs/forums.

• Discounts for nonprofits & special Meetup program.

Con

• No guidance on creating new views.

• Too much reliance on templates & not enough on hooks.

• More expensive than alternatives: Ultimate Bundle for 1 site is $499

Events Calendar Examples

EventON http://www.myeventon.com/

EventON Pros & Cons

Pro

• Low Base Price

• Slick Tile View

• Attractive List View

• Event Seating Add-on

• Event Speaker & Schedule Add-on

Con

• Almost every feature is a paid add-on, including many that are free with other plugins.

• Total price can = Modern Tribe.

• No free version.

• No developer license.

EventON Screenshots

Event Organiserhttps://wp-event-organiser.com/

Event Organiser Pros & Cons

Pros

• Decent free version with multiple views.

• Handles VAT for Europe.

• Free third-party import tool.

• Popular with my dev friends.

• Add-ons either separate or bundled.

• £120 Dev package

Cons

• All views but list require shortcodes.

• No integrations with ecommerce—sales go through their plugin.

• Limited number of add-ons.

Event Organiser Screenshots

Events Manger https://eventsmanagerpro.com/

All This for $75 (Sonja London)Pros

• Multisite & BuddyPress

• Shortcodes for All the Things

• Approval of tickets, earlybirdtickets and multiple ticket types.

• Custom fields and custom registration forms

• Templates for All the Things

• Hooks for All the Things

Cons

• Not enough payment gateways. In particular, no Stripe.

• Very little documentation.

Event Espressohttps://eventespresso.com/

Event Espresso (Amanda McCoy)

Pros

• LOTS of payment gateways

• Able to create event packages

• Multiple dates for a single event.

• Fantastic ticketing & attendee management options

• Integrates w/ MailChimp & LearnDash

• People add-on for event speakers

Cons

• Free “Decaf” version lacks most of the features that make the plugin stand out

• Payment gateways are paid add-ons, not included in Pro

• Calendar & grid view are both paid add-ons ($40 each or $299 for package with all add-ons)

Stress Care Training (Amanda McCoy)

For a course that repeats at different locations, a page with the course description and a widget listing all upcoming occurrences.

https://stresscaretraining.org/8-week-course/

Stress Care Training Single Event

Single event page includes ticket purchase on a sliding scale, map & venue info, and listing of all the different class times.

https://stresscaretraining.org/events/2018-8-week-winter-orinda/

All-in-One Event Calendarhttps://time.ly/

All in One Event Calendar (Carol Hatcher)Pros

• Handles any kind of event feed for import (Carol created a custom feed)

• Works with membership & content restriction plugins

• Posterboard, tile, stream,agenda, week, and monthviews

• Superwidget lets you showone site’s calendar on another

Cons

• Tickets not included in $99 Core+ bundle

• Venues are a pro add-on (included in Core+)

• Tickets add-on only workswith PayPal

• Confusing website!

AIO on Flying Docs (Carol Hatcher)

One calendar for members, one for the public. Shown in agenda view.

https://www.flyingdocs.org/calendar/

Which Plugin Is Best for What?Sell with WooCommerce, Eventbrite, & EDDThe Events Calendar by Modern Tribe

Ticketing & Attendee ManagementEvent Espresso

Bang-for-the-Buck Event Display FlexibilityEvents Manager

Cool Add-ons and Slick VisualsEventON These are not affiliate links and none of the

presenters has a commercial connection with any of the plugins discussed.

The Presenters

Sonja London, Zosime

Amanda McCoy, Amanda McCoy Design

Carol Hatcher, Los Médicos Voladores

Sallie Goetsch, WP Fangirl

You can reach any of us through Meetup.com