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Calendar plugins are in great demand among WordPress users. They help to create a plan of publications in advance, manage events and organize meetings or conferences right on your blog. To help you choose the right calendar WordPress plugin, today we offer, for your consideration events calendar widgets and editorial calendar plugins that you can use on your site for free.
WordPress has become the preferred CMS of millions of users worldwide, owing to its simplicity and high level of flexibility. It's hard to think of a web project that cannot be brought to life with WordPress. Blogs, portfolios, CVs, corporate and eCommerce websites trust their online presence to WordPress. Different web developer teams have created thousands of astonishing WordPress templates and dozens of really useful WordPress plugins. Due to its vast online community, the CMS is proud to boast a number of plugins and extensions that can be used out of the box. In addition, due to the rather tough competition, developers are trying hard to win the hearts of customers with different lucrative offers. So, coming across a cool free WordPress plugin or tool is not a problem anymore.
As with any other digital or material product, the cost and the included features vary from one plugin to another. In order to make things a bit easier, we have included free event calendars and editorial calendars on this list. Some of them are absolutely free, some others feature premium plans that offer more advanced functionality.
Let's begin the showcase with the best event calendar plugin for WordPress.
Events Calendar Widgets
Arranging events is very common these days. In that way, you organize a meeting, arrange a conference or get in touch with your followers. The best WordPress event calendar plugins include a variety of handy tools that allow you to pin a date in the calendar, add details and provide users with the opportunity to enroll, etc. Event calendars can be used to organize both small and large events, concerts, parties, and official gatherings, etc.
The functionality that each of the best WordPress event calendar plugins includes varies a lot. Some will provide you with the minimum set of features in order to create a common calendar on the site. Others will give you more advanced solutions, letting you invite people to attend the event, allow them to confirm their attendance and even charge them for the participation using a payment gateway like PayPal, for example.
As the name implies, event calendar plugins let you integrate a calendar of the upcoming events right into your WordPress site. The functionality can be inserted into blog posts, widget areas or anywhere on a page. It's up to you to decide where you want your site visitors to keep track of the events.
Event Calendar WD is an advanced tool to display one or multiple events within your site. The plugin lets you organize events using 4 elegant default views - Day, List, Week and Month. All views are mobile-friendly and will make your calendar look great on mobile devices. On top of that, this events calendar widget is SEO-friendly, features Google Map integration, social share buttons, includes support for venues and organizers, and comes with event tags and categories, etc. If you need to get more views, customizable themes, add-ons support, and map view, then you can opt for one of the three premium plans.
Highlighted features:
- Mini calendar widget
- Social share buttons
- Google map integration
- Venue, organizer views
- Day, list, week, month view
Best suited for: small blogs
The Events Calendar was developed to work out of the box. The best events WordPress plugin is simple to use. All you need to do is install and activate the tool in the dashboard, manage the settings and you are ready to start adding events in less than 5 minutes. Intended to be used by people who develop websites, this events calendar widget includes a detailed documentation folder and a rich library of code snippets on GitHub.
The free version of the plugin includes Day/List/Month view options, saved content, AJAX, events list widget, iCal & Gcal Export, and a fully responsive interface. If you wish to get more views, location search, and more advanced widgets, then premium plans are at your disposal.
Highlighted features:
- Upcoming events list (widget)
- Google Calendar and iCal exporting
- Caching Support
- Debug Mode for Developers
- Saved venues & organizers
Best suited for: people who build websites
Tockify Events Calendar is a responsive and fully customizable best event calendar plugin for WordPress that can blend seamlessly into any website. In addition to the main calendar that is intended for desktop screens, there is a minimized version of the calendar available as well. The latter ensures that all content will be displayed properly on small screens.
This events calendar widget is translation ready, letting English, German, Dutch, Spanish-speaking, and other users view all content that you share in their own language. The backup option guarantees that all events will be saved in a secure place. Premium and white label plans are available as well.
Highlighted features:
- Ticket/Call To Action buttons & RSVPs
- Mini Calendar widget
- Built-in maps and directions
- Continuous calendar backup
- Integrated image cropping
Best suited for: any WordPress site
Spider WordPress Event Calendar is a fully customizable and responsive WordPress plugin that will provide you with the ease of managing recurring events in a simple and intuitive manner. There is an option to display events in a list view.
The events calendar widget lets you add multiple events for a single date, including events from different categories. There is an option to display the calendar in a smaller format on each page of your site owing to the Calendar Widget integration. The plugin includes multiple language support.
Highlighted features:
- Unlimited number of calendars support
- Events and their descriptions display with a click
- An option to create categories
- Possibility to include custom HTML, e.g. images in the event description.
- Fonts and colors customization
- Possibility to display events of only specific categories
Best suited for: large blogs and business sites
CP Multi View Event Calendar is a fully customizable plugin for WordPress that features multiple visualization modes and predefined styles. The tool allows you to display events by means of several views - Day, Week, Month and Multi-month. Each view is fully configurable. You can manage which navigation buttons to display/hide, configure the start of the week, add descriptions to the events and link events to other pages, etc.
Highlighted features:
- Events can have a location and an extended rich text description
- Events can be linked to other pages
- Can be set up to display only the weekdays needed
- Configurable start day of the week
Best suited for: large blogs and corporate sites
Wanted to expose the events you are launching to a bigger audience? Need a tool to manage and publish the details of those events? Timely All-in-One Event Calendar was created especially to help you fulfill those needs. After plugin installation, you have to register on the website. Timely calendar WordPress plugin connects your website to Timely, allows to create an event calendar using their resources and then promotes them to the bigger audience. Generally, it is a paid service but there’s a free trial to check if this events calendar widget suits your needs.
Highlighted features:
- Advanced filtering system
- Google calendar compatible
- Featured images for events and categories can be added
- Upcoming events widget
- Flexible appearance customization
Best suited for: all websites.
Modern Events Calendar is both feature-rich and easy to use. Even just using the free plugin makes it very easy to add events to your WordPress website then publish them in an attractive format. Features like the front-end submission forms, selection of templates and views, and the ability to store multiple event organizers and locations, make the free plugin a very powerful tool.
Upgrading to the paid version unlocks even more useful features. However, many should find that the free version delivers enough for their project if they are just starting out with basic event management. However, if you do want access to features like reminders, location directions, a ticketing system, a weather module, and an online booking system to name just a few, then upgrading to Modern Events Calendar Pro unlocks all these features plus many more.
With free and paid versions available, whether you simply want to add basic events publishing functionality to your website or you have more demanding needs, there’s a good chance this plugin will meet your requirements. Some of the highlights of these events plugin include:
- Ability to create and publish unlimited events on your WordPress website.
- Options for displaying your events in a range of different formats. (Monthly, Weekly, Daily, Agenda, Slider, Carousel, List, Masonry, Map View and etc )
- Detailed settings and options for configuring exactly how your events and calendars work and look.
- Lots of powerful features in the free version with even more functionality available from the paid version.
- Ability to implement an online booking system and sell tickets from your WordPress website with the paid version.
Editorial Calendars
Creating a plan of publications in advance is essential for strategic blogging. It enables you to schedule your posts, plot out what publications will be shared on your blog next month, determine what you will need to write about, reveal the holes and gaps in your plan, etc. In a word, having an editorial calendar integrated into your WordPress site brings you a number of benefits. Here are some of the most popular editorial calendar WordPress plugins. Most of them are free and there is a premium version for those of you who are looking for more advanced functionality.
Manage your entire WordPress blog with the help of this free Editorial Calendar plugin. Having it integrated into your site, you will have a detailed overview of the future publications. If you need to apply any changes to the schedule, you can do this directly in the calendar by simply dragging and dropping different posts. The options to edit titles, edit drafts and publish posts are also available.
Highlighted features:
- Drag and drop functionality
- The possibility to manage drafts with a new drafts drawer
- Easily see the status of your posts
- Manage posts from multiple authors
Best suited for: blogs with multiple authors
CoSchedule is a one-of-a-kind WordPress plugin that allows you to manage blog posts and social media on the same drag and drop calendar. In addition to creating a plan of the future publications on your WordPress blog, you can also set the time and date when social media messages will be automatically sent to your social profiles. When you re-schedule any post, the social media message will be automatically moved to the new publication date. CoSchedule is a premium plugin, but you can try it free for 14 days.
Highlighted features:
- Drag-And-Drop Editorial Calendar
- Automated Social Publishing
- Schedule Social Media While You Blog
- Editorial Comments
- Team Workflow Management
- Notifications And Blog Management Center
Best suited for: large blogs
Edit Flow would be the best option for editorial departments with myriads of members. The plugin enables you to collaborate with your WordPress blog by managing the calendar, creating custom statuses for publications, leaving editorial comments, gathering editorial metadata (topic overview, contact details, expected word count, etc.). The plugin is fully customizable, features a number of hooks and filters, all making it easier to manage the calendar with a little HTML help.
Highlighted features:
- Private discussion between writers and editors
- Receive timely updates on the content you're following
- Keep your users organized by department or function
Best suited for: multi-author blogs
With Oasis Workflow you can assign, review and publish content on your blog. The drag and drop interface is simple and intuitive in its work. The dashboard was organized in a way that you do not need to leave the page to check out your assignments, sign off tasks once they are completed and reassign tasks when necessary, etc. The plugin lets you manage multiple workflows at a time, translate text into multiple languages, and even do revisions of the published content.
Highlighted features:
- Process history lets users retrace their steps
- Visual Workflow Designer
- Role-Based routing definitions
- Due Date and Email reminders
- Out of the box workflow
Best suited for: multi-author blogs
Do you have a huge amount of posts and don’t want to constantly pay attention to the dashboard, publishing them? WP Scheduled Posts is an events calendar widget that helps you to plan when each of the prepared posts will be published automatically. This plugin works right from your website’s dashboard, so you won’t have to go to any other site. Besides that, you don’t need to create new posts from the dashboard and then schedule them – you can do all the actions from this events calendar widget menu.
Highlighted features:
- Adding content via drag and drop feature
- Multiple author management
- Help to deal with the missed schedule
Best suited for: high-traffic websites.
PublishPress is a little more complicated tool. It is an events calendar widget that allows you not only schedule the posts but also do some management. If you are not the only administrator of the website – this plugin can send notification about publishing some content to all other team members. Besides that, you can leave comments to the post schedule, analyze the content and add metadata to scheduled posts information.
Highlighted features:
- Multiple authors management
- Automatic reminders and notifications
- Content Overview system
- Editorial comments available
- EditFlow compatible
Best suited for: websites that are administrated by the team.
Nelio Content plugin goes even further. This event calendar widget gives you an opportunity not only to make the posting to your blog automatic but also to schedule posts to your company’s social media. And all that – from a single dashboard. With Nelio plugin help you can do some analytics to understand how is your performance going and suggest references for the posts. The plugin will make your work with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media much easier.
Highlighted features:
- Compatible with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest
- Google Analytics compatible
- Content improving suggestions
- Team-work mode available
Best suited for: all websites.
Why Do You Need to add Google Calendar to WordPress?
Google Сalendar is, probably, the most popular online app for event management. It is completely free and all you need to use it – is a Google account (and there are not too many people who hadn’t registered it yet). This app provides you with convenient calendar functionality and allows to add events, edit them and share with your friends. An additional advantage of Google calendar is that everything in it you can do online and at the same time as all the friends you allowed to join. It is very user-friendly and simple to use but why is it a good idea to add Google calendar to WordPress website of yours?
What advantages could Google calendar provide to your website?
- Events calendar widget. This app’s main feature is event tracking. Depending on what website you own, you can add to the calendar either all the public meetings or sales periods. The visitors of the website will be able to understand when is it most profitable to purchase something from you or plan their weekends for the events you do.
- Sharing function. If you will make your calendar public, the visitors of your website will be able to save the events to their own calendars or even suggest some events to yours. Depending on the goals you seek to accomplish, such a widget could help you to create a stronger connection with your audience.
- Automatic reminders. If you have lots of things on your mind, you can, literally, forget about an important event. However, that won’t happen if you use Google calendar. When you add an event there - you can also choose the system to remind you about it.
- Import the data to Google Tasks. If you use that great app to track your everyday activities, you also can import the data about some events from the Google calendar to your personal to-do list.
- Advanced customization. When you add a Google calendar to the WordPress website – it is like you add any type of calendar you want. Thanks to a flexible customization system, you can change the appearance of the calendar any way you need.
In order to pick the best event calendar and editorial calendar WordPress plugins, we recommend you undertake a bit of testing. Install some plugins on your WordPress blog, examine the dashboard, play with the features, create your first simple calendar, etc. In a word, do some quick manipulations in order to understand if the tool meets your needs. The best thing about all of the aforementioned solutions is that they are either totally free or feature free trial versions.
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