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Looking for EVENTS plugin with RSVP's, custom fields, front end publishing

Hey everyone!

I’m trying to find the right FREE Events plugin for one of my BuddyPress sites.

I just need something that shows various events (shows, conventions, etc.) that would be of interest to my users (NOT events that I do myself — and so payment gateway options are completely useless and not needed).

Currently, the site uses the Events Calendar plugin, which is pretty good — it formats and styles the events quite nicely, and has ALL of the fields I need, including several required ones: the cost of the event (if any), organizer, event website, etc.

It’s missing two things that I want, though:

(1) A way for members to say “I’m going,” and then for it to display all members who are planning to attend.

(2) A way for members to add their own events on the front end, if possible. (Right now I have a form that people can submit an event with, but it’s not ideal — I have to manually enter all the info again, and I’d rather just “approve” an event with one click).

I looked at this site’s EVENTS+ plugin, which seems to handle both of these needs beautifully! Unfortunately it’s missing a lot of additional fields that I require, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to add them without a rather complicated system that hurts my brain to think about. I’m looking for easy, built-in-to-the-plugin-already stuff, if possible.

Also, I’m not really a fan of how the events look in EVENTS+ when they’re displayed, to be honest…

Does anyone know of a good, free, easy to use Events plugin that would already have the required fields I listed above (or at least a way to add custom fields), plus a way for members to add events on the front end, and an RSVP-function to show Buddypress members that are attending? The plugins I’ve seen so far seem to have just some of these features, or ones like Events Manager can only show RSVP’s through a “booking” system for events that are done by the person adding them (again, the majority of the events I want to list are NOT my own).

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated — thanks!!

Fri, 29 May 2015 22:20:06
  • Michelle Shull
    • DEV MAN’s Apprentice

    Hello, Anton!

    Events Manager and Events Calendar are the two free competitors to Events+ that I’m aware of. There are a number of premium options, but it looks like there isn’t currently a free plugin that matches your exact needs out of the box.

    Is this the solution you’re speaking of? https://wpmudev.com/forums/topic/add-additional-fields-for-events#post-718111, if so, we can help you get that set up. The Amazing @Jose created that tidbit as a plugin, so you can use our CustomPress to add custom fields to your Event creation form. You’ll need to add some shortcodes to a template, and adjust a little CSS, but both of those are way simpler than they sound. We’d be more than happy to walk you through!

    To get started, all you need to do is install the mu plugin Jose created, as he explains here:

    This is a must-use plugin, so you only need to download the attachment and place the file EAB_Custom_Press_Integration.php into the folder ../wp-content/mu-plugins/. (you must create the folder if it doesn’t exists).

    Once you are done with this, you can create custom fields and associate it to ‘incsub_event’ post type. (see image attached)

    All the fields associated to events should now render into the Front Editor Form.

    Now, to print the fields in your templates, you just need to use the shortcodes as a regular CustomPress field.

    Before that, actually, install CustomPress, which is our Custom Post Type Wonder Tool.

    In custom press, you’re going to go to the custom fields tab, create any additional fields you want on the Events creation form on the front end, and connect them to the eab_events custom post type.

    Next, as Tyler and Jose explain in that thread, you’re going to open up a template file, and add a shortcode CustomPress will create for you to the template.

    Once that template file is saved and uploaded, all the functionality will be there, we’ll just need to do a little CSS magic to clean it up. When you get to this step, if you choose this path, I’m happy to help whip that up.

    Does this make it sound a little less intimidating? I know that thread looks like a lot, but it’s essentially three steps. :slight_smile:

    Thanks for your question, Anton!

  • Anton
    • The Incredible Code Injector

    Hi @Michelle!

    Still intimidated, to be honest, but…willing to give it a shot. :wink:

    I think I’ll need plenty of time with this, which I don’t have at the moment — but once I do, I’ll go through the steps, and if I hit any snags I will let you know (because I predict I will need some help!).

    Thanks.

  • Anton
    • The Incredible Code Injector

    Thank you for your faith. :wink:

    1). So I added the custom fields and linked them to 'incsub_event' post type. DONE.

    2). I put Jose's mu plugin in the mu-plugin folder that I created in wp-content. DONE.

    3). Next was adding embed codes to templates. I wasn't sure WHERE to put these codes, though…

    When I looked at the edit event screen (before adding embed codes), the fields were showing up anyway at this point. (See attached — which is just a test example of 2 fields on a test site, not what I want to do on the final site).

    Is that supposed to happen? Does the third step simply allow it to be printed on published event? I'm supposed to be adding these embed codes to single-incsub_event.php and/or archive-incsub.php, right? (Should I just do both?)

    And WHERE in those templates do I put the code? And if they're already displaying in the edit event screen, how do I ensure WHERE on the form they are placed? ('Cuz I'd like them to be in specific places, and not just randomly placed anywhere).

    Any help on WHERE the embed codes should go, and how I can get them to be placed in specific places, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

    [attachments are only viewable by logged-in members]

  • Anton
    • The Incredible Code Injector

    Also, I’m not sure if it’s the theme I’m using, or the wrong appearance I’m selecting for single event view — but the “featured image” I’ve chosen isn’t showing up in the printed version of the event…

    Now sure how to make that happen!

  • Anton
    • The Incredible Code Injector

    Hi again, @Michelle Shull!

    Here is the template code for “single-incsub_event.php”:

    <?php
    
global $blog_id, $wp_query, $booking, $post, $current_user;
    
$event = new Eab_EventModel($post);
    

    
get_header( );
    
?>
    
<div id="primary">
    
<div id="content" role="main">
    
<div class="event <?php echo Eab_Template::get_status_class($post); ?>" id="wpmudevevents-wrapper">
    
<div id="wpmudevents-single">
    

    
<?php
    
the_post();
    

    
$start_day = date_i18n('m', strtotime(get_post_meta($post->ID, 'incsub_event_start', true)));
    
?>
    

    
<div class="wpmudevevents-header">
    
<h2><?php echo $event->get_title(); ?></h2>
    
<div class="eab-needtomove"><div id="event-bread-crumbs" ><?php Eab_Template::get_breadcrumbs($event); ?></div></div>
    
<?php
    
echo Eab_Template::get_rsvp_form($post);
    
echo Eab_Template::get_inline_rsvps($post);
    
?>
    
</div>
    

    
<hr />
    
<?php
    

    
if ($event->is_premium() && $event->user_is_coming() && !$event->user_paid()) { ?>
    
<div id="wpmudevevents-payment">
    
<?php _e('You haven't paid for this event', Eab_EventsHub::TEXT_DOMAIN); ?>
    
<?php echo Eab_Template::get_payment_forms($post); ?>
    
</div>
    
<?php } ?>
    

    
<?php echo Eab_Template::get_error_notice(); ?>
    

    
<div class="wpmudevevents-content">
    
<div id="wpmudevevents-contentheader">
    
<h3><?php _e('About this event:', Eab_EventsHub::TEXT_DOMAIN); ?></h3>
    

    
<div id="wpmudevevents-user"><?php _e('Created by ', Eab_EventsHub::TEXT_DOMAIN); ?><?php the_author_link();?></div>
    
</div>
    

    
<hr />
    
<div class="wpmudevevents-contentmeta">
    
<?php echo Eab_Template::get_event_details($post); //event_details(); ?>
    
</div>
    
<div id="wpmudevevents-contentbody">
    
<?php
    
add_filter('agm_google_maps-options', 'eab_autoshow_map_off', 99);
    
the_content();
    
remove_filter('agm_google_maps-options', 'eab_autoshow_map_off');
    
?>
    
<?php if ($event->has_venue_map()) { ?>
    
<div class="wpmudevevents-map"><?php echo $event->get_venue_location(Eab_EventModel::VENUE_AS_MAP); ?></div>
    
<?php } ?>
    
</div>
    
<?php comments_template( '', true ); ?>
    
</div>
    
</div>
    
</div>
    
</div>
    
</div>
    
<?php get_footer('event'); ?>

    Now, let’s say I have the custom field “Event Website’s URL” with the following embed code:

    <?php echo do_shortcode('[ct id="ct_Event_Webs_text_085f" property="title | description | value"]'); ?>

    If I wanted this field to appear inbetween the “Venue” and “Category” fields of the form, where should I place the embed code in the template?

    Also…if we want to change the name of a default field (“Venue” to “Address” for example), how could we do that?

    Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated – thanks!!

  • Michelle Shull
    • DEV MAN’s Apprentice

    Hey, Anton!

    Yep, step three, adding them to the template, is only if you want the contents of that field to show on the front end. If you don’t, than no worries, you’re already done. Woo hoo!

    If you do want them on the front end, you’re on the right track. This template code you pasted is for the view on the front end of your site. This shortcode would need to go after this line:

    <?php echo Eab_Template::get_event_details($post); //event_details(); ?>

    if you want it in the post meta itself, or under this line:

    <div id="wpmudevevents-contentbody">

    If you want it at the top of the main content field itself.

    To change the language, we’ve got a very handy tool, Ultimate Branding, which has a site-wide/network-wide text change tool that’s a huge life-saver, and it’s as easy to use as any plugin you’ve ever tried. https://wpmudev.com/project/ultimate-branding/

    Does this help?

    Thanks, Anton!