Eventonomy

Undated and Link-Only Events

Two options let you publish an event before it is ready for everyone: leave the date blank ("Date to be announced"), or make the event link-only so only people you send the link to can open it.

What You Will Learn

  • How to publish an event with no date and set the date later
  • What visitors see for an undated event, and where it does and does not appear
  • How to make an event link-only
  • What a link-only event shows to whom

Events with No Date ("Date to be announced")

Set It

  1. Open the event editor and go to the Date & time section.
  2. Leave Starts empty. The editor shows "No date yet. The event will show as Date to be announced."
  3. Save or publish as normal.

An undated event counts as Published, never as Past. You can clear the date on an event that already has one: the event keeps its listing and turns into an undated event.

Note: If people are already registered when you clear the date, the editor warns you first: clearing the date stops reminders and removes the event from calendars, and registered people are emailed that the date is to be announced. Their registrations stay.

Set the Date Later

Open the event again, fill in Starts (and Ends if you use it) and save. The event gets its first date and, if it repeats, its series. Nothing else about the listing changes.

What Visitors See

Where What happens
Single-event page The date line reads "Date to be announced". The date tile is empty and there is no add-to-calendar row.
Events archive and events list The event is listed after the dated events, with "Date to be announced" in place of the date.
Event admin screen Counted in the Published stage. The next-date column reads "Date to be announced".
Moderation inbox The Starts column reads "Date to be announced".

What an Undated Event Is Left Out Of

An undated event has no date to place, so it is left out of:

  • calendar views (Month, and the Pro Week and Day grids),
  • upcoming counters,
  • the calendar feed (ICS) and add-to-calendar links,
  • event reminders.

It is also left out of any list you narrow with a date range (From and To), because a date window has no day to match it to.

Importing Undated Events

In a CSV import, leave start_local blank for an event whose date is still to be announced. An iCalendar (ICS) event with no start date imports the same way. See Migrate from Another Plugin.

Link-Only (Private) Events

Set It

  1. Open the event editor.
  2. In the Visibility panel, open Who can see this event.
  3. Choose Private (only people with the link).
  4. Save.

The panel's note explains the result: private events are left out of event lists, the calendar and search, and hidden from search engines. Anyone you share the event link with can view it and register.

What Changes for Visitors

Public Private (link-only)
Events list, archive, calendar, search Listed Not listed
Search engines Indexable Told not to index or follow the page
Opening the event page by its link Yes Yes, no login needed
Registering, buying tickets, reporting the event Yes Yes, for anyone who has opened the page
Add-to-calendar (ICS) download Yes Yes, through the links on the page, which carry a private key

The key on the calendar links stops someone from guessing calendar downloads for private events by event number.

What Stays the Same

  • Visibility is still a setting on the event, not a separate status. The event's status (Draft, Pending, Published, Cancelled) works as before. A draft or pending private event is still not viewable by the public.
  • Sharing the link grants access without changing the setting. Switch the event back to Public and it is listed again with everyone else.
  • The people who can manage the event (its author, and administrators or editors who can edit others' events) still see and edit it as usual.

Note: Anyone who has the link can pass it on. If you need only signed-in people to open a private event, a developer can require login with the evnm_private_event_requires_login filter. See Hooks & Filters.

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