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Gratis Events

Overview

Gratis Events turns WordPress into an event manager. It adds an Events post type with start/end dates, a venue, attendee capacity and RSVP tracking, optional recurrence, and category terms. Visitors can RSVP through a built-in endpoint, add an event to their own calendar with a one-click iCal download, and browse upcoming events through a shortcode or the automatic /events/ archive.

Managing events

Events are a custom post type. In the WordPress admin sidebar open Events and click Add New. Give the event a title and description as usual, then fill in the Event Details box:

  • Start date / End date — the date and time the event runs, chosen with a date-and-time picker. The start date is what listings sort and filter by.
  • Venue — a free-text location shown next to the event in listings and written into the iCal export.
  • Capacity — the maximum number of RSVPs accepted. Enter 0 for unlimited; once a capped event is full, further RSVPs are rejected.
  • RSVPs — a read-only count of attendees recorded so far.
  • Recurrence — how often the event repeats: Does not repeat, Daily, Weekly or Monthly.

You can also group events with the Event Categories taxonomy and reference a category by slug in the shortcode.

Opening the settings screen

  1. In the WordPress admin sidebar, open Events.
  2. Click Settings (URL: /wp-admin/edit.php?post_type=gratis_event&page=gratis-events-settings).
  3. Adjust the options below, then click Save settings.
Gratis Events admin screen
Gratis Events admin screen

Event listing options

  • Events per archive page — how many events appear on each page of the /events/ archive before pagination kicks in. Accepts 1–100; defaults to 10.
  • Hide past events — when enabled, events whose start date has already passed are excluded from listings, so the archive only shows what is still upcoming.

Shortcodes

  • Event list — embeds a list of events anywhere with . Attributes: limit (number of events, default 10), category (an Event Category slug), and past (yes to show finished events instead of upcoming ones). Example:

    No upcoming events.

    . works as an alias.

Adding events to a calendar (iCal)

Every event can be downloaded as a standard .ics calendar file by appending ?gratis_ical=<event ID> to your site URL — for example https://example.com/?gratis_ical=42. Link to that URL from an event template to give visitors an “Add to calendar” button that works with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Outlook.

Recommended starting point

  • Create your first event under Events → Add New and set its start date, venue and capacity.
  • Leave Hide past events enabled so visitors only see upcoming dates.
  • Place on a page to publish your upcoming-events list.
  • Set a Capacity on events that need a guest limit so RSVPs close automatically when full.
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