The event archive
Events have their own archive, plus archives for each event type, category and tag. These are the automatic listing pages; the search form is the curated one.
The archives that exist
| Archive | Shows |
|---|---|
| The events archive | Events, at the events base URL |
| An Event type archive | Events with that type |
| A Category archive | Events in that category |
| A Tag archive | Content with that tag — including posts, since tags are shared |
Category links on the event page and in list items point at these archives, so they are reachable even if you never link them from the navigation.
The archive is not the search form
This distinction causes most of the confusion in this chapter:
| The archive | The search form | |
|---|---|---|
| How it exists | Automatically, at its URL | A shortcode you place on a page |
| Filters | None | Date, type and category |
| Ordering | Theme-controlled | By start date, ascending |
| Past events | Included | Excluded by default |
| Rendering | The theme's archive template | The plugin's list items |
For most sites, the search form on a page is the events page visitors use, and the archives are the destinations behind category links.
Which one should be in the navigation
Put the page holding the search form in the main navigation. It gives visitors filters, chronological ordering and an upcoming-only list — which is what someone looking for events wants.
Link the archive only if your theme renders it in a way you are happy with.
Category archives are useful
A category archive is a ready-made page for a strand of programming — Concerts, Family activities, Members' events — with no shortcode to place and no page to maintain.
Two ways to use them:
- link them from the site navigation;
- let visitors reach them by selecting a category on an event page.
Their appearance is the theme's, not the plugin's.
Permalinks
Events publish under an events base, and each taxonomy has its own base. If event or archive URLs return a not-found error after activating the plugin or changing permalink settings, open Settings → Permalinks and save once to refresh the rules.
The tag archive shares with posts
The event tag taxonomy is the site's normal post tags, so a tag archive can contain both events and articles.
That is occasionally exactly what you want — everything about a campaign in one place — and occasionally surprising. Decide before tagging events heavily. See Types, categories and tags.
Past events on archives
Archives are not filtered by date, so they list past events too.
If a category archive showing old events is a problem, the alternative is a page with the search form filtered by that category — the search form excludes finished events by default. See Past and upcoming events.
Verify
- Open the events archive URL and confirm it renders.
- Open an event and select one of its categories.
- Confirm the category archive lists the events you expect.
- Confirm past events behave the way you want on archives.
- Decide which of these pages belongs in the navigation, and link it.