[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/31061682[/vimeo]
One of BizzyWeb’s most popular website additions is the Events Calendar (see one in action here at Virtual OffiCenters). It’s a powerful events management platform with a ton of great features. It recently underwent a major upgrade to version 2.0. Both the open source version and the premium Pro version were updated. They rebuilt it from the ground up to take advantage of the new technology and some of the new features that have been part of WordPress 3.0 and subsequent versions.
I’d like walk you through the updated Events Calendar, showcase the changes and new features, and at the end go though the upgrade process.
The new version takes advantage of Custom Post Types that were introduced in WordPress 3.0 No longer are your events considered a category of Post. This was confusing for many people, especially those new to WordPress. Now Events have their own section in the Dashboard, and their own categories independent of your blog posts. This opens up many more navigation options, new functionality possibilities (especially in the Pro version) and makes using the Events Calendar 2.0 even easier than before.
It still features the Calendar view, The List View, Single Event Pages, embedded Google maps, etc. All of the same stuff the previous version did. One of the cool new features is that they have been re-optimized for SEO so Google will recognize them as actual event! and handle them accordingly. This helps give your SEO and additional boost.
The also fixed a bunch of bugs. The previous version made setting the Start and End times of your events counter intuitive. This is now fixed, and it works like you expect.
The Events Calendar Pro is no longer a separate install, but a premium add-on to the Events Calendar. It’s a bargain for the the stuff that it does!
- Recurrent events
- Saved Venues & Organizers
- Venue view (Great if you have several venues)
- Single Day view
- Calendar Widget
- Custom Event Attributes
- Advanced Upcoming Events Widget
The Events Calendar has always been one of my favorite offerings to add to a website. If you are active in the community, hold events, speaking engagements, and more it’s a must for any website.
Contact BizzyWeb today if you don’t have an Events Calendar and you would like it. Or give us a call if you already have it and need some assistance in upgrading it.
Dave says
Vince, fantastic video! Can’t wait for the next one 🙂