How to Add an Events Calendar to WordPress (Step by Step)

Whether you run a church, a school, a venue or a club, an events calendar is the page people come back to most. This guide shows how to add an events calendar to WordPress properly — the planning, the setup and the small details that make visitors trust it.

Step 1: Choose how you’ll run the calendar

There are three common ways to show events on a WordPress site:

Approach	Good for	Watch out for
An events plugin	Most sites: events live in WordPress with their own pages	Pick one that doesn’t slow your site down
An embedded Google Calendar	A calendar already maintained in Google by someone else	No event pages, so search engines and visitors get very little
A static page or table	Two or three events a year	Goes out of date quickly; nothing to click or save

For most sites a plugin is the right answer, because each event gets its own page that Google can find and people can share. If your events already live in Google Calendar, read our comparison of embedding Google Calendar vs using a plugin first.

This guide uses Monthly Events Calendar, our free plugin, but the steps are similar for any events plugin. If you’re still comparing, use our checklist on how to choose an events calendar plugin.

Step 2: Install the plugin

1. In your dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin.
2. Search for Monthly Events Calendar.
3. Click Install Now, then Activate.

A new Events Calendar menu appears. Before adding events, open Events Calendar → Settings and set your date format, time format and timezone, so every event starts with the right defaults.

Step 3: Add your first events

Go to Events Calendar → Add new Event. Give it a short title, a description that answers “what, who for, and how do I take part”, and then fill in the Event Details box:

• Date and time — pick the start and end in the date range picker, or tick All-day event.
• Timezone — leave it on your site’s default unless the event happens elsewhere.
• Venue and organizer — add them once; next time you just pick them.
• Highlight Color — one colour per kind of event makes the month easy to scan.

Add a featured image and an event category, then publish. Add at least three or four events before you show the calendar to anyone — an empty calendar looks abandoned. Our guide to creating events explains every field.

Step 4: Put the calendar on a page

Create a new page called Events (or Calendar, What’s on — whatever your visitors would look for).

• Block editor: add the Monthly Events Calendar block and choose the default view in the sidebar.
• Page builders and classic editor: paste the shortcode [wp_monthly_events]. See where to paste it in each page builder.

Publish the page, then set it as your calendar page under Events Calendar → Settings → Select Calender Page, so category pages link back to it.

Step 5: Choose the right view

View	Use it when
Month	People plan ahead and want to see the whole month — clubs, schools, venues
List	You have a few events a month and want each one to have room — homepages, small organisations
Day	Lots happens on the same day — conferences, festivals, class timetables

Visitors can always switch views with one click, so this only sets where they start. Try them on the live demo.

Step 6: Make it easy to find

A calendar nobody can find doesn’t help anyone. Before you call it done:

• Add it to your main menu. “Events” is the label most people look for.
• Show what’s next on your homepage with the list view. How to show upcoming events
• Link to the event page, not the calendar, when you post a specific event on social media or in a newsletter.
• Check it on your phone. Most visitors will see it there first.

Step 7: Keep it fresh

The calendar only stays useful if it’s current. Put a 10-minute slot in your week to add new events, fix changed times and mark cancellations. Rescheduling? Change the dates on the existing event rather than creating a new one, so links people already shared keep working.

For more ideas on getting people from the calendar to the door, read how to promote events on your website.

Keep reading

• How to Add an Events Calendar in Elementor (Free)
• How to Add an Events Calendar to a Divi Site
• How to Add an Events Calendar in Avada