How to Customize The Events Calendar Layouts with Eventful

🎯 Introduction

When it comes to managing events in WordPress, The Events Calendar is one of the most popular plugins available. It’s powerful, reliable, and packed with features for scheduling and ticketing. But there’s one drawback—its default layouts are visually limited.

For professional websites, plain event listings can feel too basic. Whether you’re running a conference, promoting a concert, or organizing community workshops, your events deserve a presentation that matches the quality of your brand.

That’s where Eventful steps in. With Eventful, you can customize The Events Calendar layouts with modern designs like grids, lists, and carousels—all styled to fit your branding. Best of all, it’s easy to use: create a layout, copy the shortcode, and place it anywhere on your site for a polished, professional event showcase.

💡 Why Customize The Events Calendar Layouts?

If you’re using The Events Calendar, you already know it’s a great tool for managing events. But presentation is just as important as functionality. Here’s why it’s worth taking the time to customize The Events Calendar layouts with Eventful.

🌟 First Impressions Matter

Your event pages are often the first interaction potential attendees have with your brand. A plain list of events may get the job done, but a polished, modern layout instantly communicates professionalism and quality.

🧭 Better Navigation & User Experience

Custom layouts make it easier for visitors to browse events. Whether you’re showcasing a grid of conferences, a carousel of concerts, or a simple list of workshops, better design means users can quickly find the events that interest them.

🎟️ Increased Engagement & Ticket Sales

Visual appeal translates directly into higher engagement. When events are displayed with eye-catching images, clear CTAs, and branded styling, attendees are more likely to click through, learn more, and purchase tickets.

In short, customizing your layouts isn’t just about design—it’s about creating a seamless experience that builds trust and drives conversions.

⚙️ How Eventful Works with The Events Calendar

Eventful isn’t here to replace The Events Calendar—it’s designed to enhance it. Think of Eventful as a visual add-on that makes your event pages look as good as the events themselves.

➕ An Add-On, Not a Replacement

The Events Calendar handles the core functionality: creating events, setting times, managing venues, and syncing ticketing. Eventful builds on top of that, giving you the ability to transform how those events are displayed.

🔗 ID-Based Shortcodes for Layouts

Each Eventful layout you create generates a unique shortcode, like: [ eventful id=”123″ ]

Simply place that shortcode in any page, post, or widget area, and your custom layout will appear exactly as designed—whether it’s a grid, list, or carousel.

🎨 Centralized Layout Editor

All customization happens in the Eventful layout editor. From one place, you can:

• Filter by categories, tags, or featured events.
• Control the number of events displayed.
• Style layouts with colors, fonts, and overlays.
• Add CTAs like “Buy Tickets” or “Learn More.”

This centralized system keeps your designs consistent and easy to manage—no coding required.

🛠️ Creating a Custom Eventful Layout (Step by Step)

Designing your own event showcase with Eventful is quick and beginner-friendly. Here’s how to create a custom layout that makes The Events Calendar shine.

1️⃣ Add a New Layout

From your WordPress dashboard, go to Eventful → Layouts → Add New. Choose the type of layout you want to create:

• Grid → perfect for conferences, festivals, or multi-track events.
• List → great for webinars, workshops, or chronological schedules.
• Carousel → ideal for featured or VIP events you want to highlight.

2️⃣ Configure the Event Source

Decide what events to display:

• All Events → showcase everything on your calendar.
• Category-Specific → display only selected categories (e.g., “Workshops” or “Concerts”).
• Featured Events → highlight only promoted or special events.

3️⃣ Adjust Layout & Styling

In the Eventful layout editor, fine-tune the design to match your site’s branding:

• Set columns and spacing for balance.
• Customize typography for event titles and details.
• Add image overlays for a modern touch.
• Include CTA buttons like “Buy Tickets” or “Learn More” to drive action.

4️⃣ Publish & Copy the Shortcode

Once you’re happy with the design, click Publish. Eventful will generate a unique shortcode, such as: [ eventful id=”123″ ]

Copy this shortcode—it’s what you’ll use to embed the layout anywhere on your site.

📍 Embedding Custom Layouts Anywhere

Once you’ve created and published a layout, Eventful gives you a shortcode like: [ eventful id=”123″ ]

This shortcode can be placed almost anywhere in WordPress, making your customized Events Calendar layouts both powerful and flexible.

📝 Use in Posts & Pages

Paste the shortcode directly into the content editor. Your custom grid, list, or carousel will appear wherever you place it—perfect for dedicated event pages or blog announcements.

🎨 Add to Elementor or Gutenberg

• In Gutenberg, insert a Shortcode Block and paste the [ eventful id="xxx" ].
• In Elementor, drag in the Shortcode Widget and drop the code inside.
  This makes it easy to blend event showcases with your site’s overall design.

🗂️ Place in Sidebars, Footers, or Landing Pages

Want to show “Upcoming Events” in your sidebar or highlight featured events in your footer? Just paste the shortcode into a Text Widget or Custom HTML Widget and it will display seamlessly.

💻 Developers: Call Shortcodes in Templates

For developers or advanced users, you can embed Eventful layouts directly into your theme or template files with: echo do_shortcode(‘[ eventful id=”123″ ]’);

This allows you to hard-code event layouts into headers, landing pages, or custom templates while still keeping the layout design managed through the Eventful editor.

With this flexibility, your events can appear anywhere on your WordPress site—always styled, branded, and easy to update.

🎨 Styling & Branding Options

Customizing The Events Calendar layouts isn’t just about structure—it’s about making sure your events look like an extension of your brand. With Eventful, you can design layouts that blend seamlessly into your WordPress site and reflect your event’s personality.

🎨 Match Layouts to Brand Colors & Fonts

Inside the Eventful layout editor, you can easily adjust colors, typography, and spacing. This ensures your event grids, lists, or carousels align with your brand identity—whether that means bold, vibrant colors for concerts or clean, minimalist designs for corporate events.

💻 Add Custom CSS for Advanced Control

For users who want extra precision, Eventful supports custom CSS classes. This allows you to fine-tune every detail, from hover effects on event cards to custom button styles. It’s the perfect balance between beginner-friendly controls and advanced customization.

🖌️ Maintain Consistency with Event Promotions

Consistency builds trust. By applying the same styles across all Eventful layouts, your events feel cohesive with your posters, email campaigns, and social media graphics. Visitors instantly recognize your branding and associate it with professionalism.

With Eventful, customizing layouts goes beyond aesthetics—it creates a branded event experience that feels polished from start to finish.

⚡ Advanced Customization Tips

Once you’ve mastered the basics of Eventful, you can unlock even more flexibility by tailoring your customized Events Calendar layouts to specific use cases. These pro tips will help you create layouts that are not only beautiful but also highly strategic.

🗂️ Build Category-Specific Grids

Want to separate Workshops from Concerts or Webinars? With Eventful, you can filter layouts by categories or tags, creating dedicated grids for each type of event. This keeps your content organized and makes it easier for visitors to find what matters most to them.

🎠 Use Carousels for Featured or Seasonal Events

Carousel layouts are perfect for drawing attention to limited-time or high-profile events. Showcase seasonal highlights like Summer Festivals or emphasize Featured Events to keep them front and center on your site.

📸 Create “Past Events” Archives

Don’t let your events disappear once they’re over. Build a “Past Events” layout to display recaps, highlight reels, and testimonials. This not only adds credibility but also serves as social proof for future attendees.

♻️ Duplicate Layouts for Quick Variations

Need a similar layout with slight tweaks? Eventful makes it easy to clone existing layouts. Adjust categories, styles, or filters, then publish it with a new shortcode. This saves time and ensures consistency across your event pages.

With these advanced tips, Eventful becomes more than a design tool—it’s a strategy engine for showcasing your events in smarter, more impactful ways.

🚫 Common Mistakes to Avoid

Customizing The Events Calendar layouts with Eventful is simple, but there are a few pitfalls that can undermine your results. Here’s what to watch out for:

📌 Forgetting to Publish Layouts

It’s an easy mistake—copying a shortcode from a draft layout. If the layout isn’t published, nothing will display. Always double-check that your layout is live before embedding it.

⚠️ Overloading Pages with Too Many Showcases

Just because you can embed multiple grids, lists, and carousels doesn’t mean you should. Too many showcases on one page can overwhelm visitors and slow down your site. Focus on clarity and highlight only the most relevant events.

📱 Ignoring Mobile Responsiveness

Most users browse events on their phones. If your layouts look great on desktop but break on mobile, you risk losing attendees. Always preview layouts on different screen sizes to ensure a smooth, responsive experience.

Avoiding these mistakes will keep your customized Events Calendar layouts professional, user-friendly, and optimized for conversions.

Conclusion

Customizing The Events Calendar layouts doesn’t have to be complicated. With Eventful, you can turn plain event listings into polished grids, lists, or carousels that match your branding and engage your audience.

Instead of settling for default layouts, Eventful gives you the freedom to create professional event showcases with just a few clicks—no coding required. From filtering by category to adding branded styling and CTAs, everything is handled in one easy-to-use editor.

👉 Ready to upgrade your event pages? Try Eventful today and see how easy it is to customize The Events Calendar for your site.

FAQs – Customize The Events Calendar Layouts with Eventful