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Troubleshooting Common The Events Calendar Display and Functionality Issues

46 threads Sep 10, 2025 Plugin → The events calendar

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Users of The Events Calendar plugin often encounter issues where their calendar or event pages don't display correctly, appear blank, or have broken navigation. Based on community reports and common solutions, this guide will help you diagnose and resolve these frustrating display problems.

Why Do These Display Issues Happen?

The most common culprits behind these problems are conflicts with other site elements. These can include:

  • Theme Conflicts: Your active theme may have styles or scripts that interfere with the calendar's output.
  • Plugin Conflicts: Another plugin, especially those related to caching, optimization, or page builders, can cause functionality to break.
  • Caching Mechanisms: Server-level or plugin-based caching can serve outdated calendar HTML or JavaScript.
  • Permalink Problems: Outdated or incorrect permalink structures can prevent events from loading properly.
  • Resource Optimization: CSS/JS minification or concatenation plugins can break the calendar's necessary scripts.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Guide

1. Conduct a Conflict Test

This is the most critical first step. The goal is to isolate the problem by eliminating other variables.

  1. Switch to a Default Theme: Temporarily activate a standard WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Four. If the calendar works, the issue lies with your main theme.
  2. Deactivate Other Plugins: Disable all plugins except for The Events Calendar. If the problem is resolved, reactivate your plugins one-by-one to identify the conflicting one. Remember to also check for must-use plugins (mu-plugins).

Important: Always perform these tests on a staging site first. If you don't have one, use a maintenance mode plugin to hide your changes from visitors while testing.

2. Address Caching Issues

If your calendar works temporarily after saving settings or updating the plugin but then breaks again, caching is a likely cause.

  • Purge all caches from your caching plugin (e.g., FlyingPress, WP-Optimize) and any server-side cache (contact your host if unsure).
  • Consult your caching plugin's documentation on how to exclude The Events Calendar's critical pages and resources from being cached. The team behind The Events Calendar provides a knowledge base guide on caching.

3. Regenerate Permalinks

Simple but effective. Sometimes flushing the permalink structure can resolve "Page Not Found" errors and broken links.

  1. Go to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress admin.
  2. Simply click the "Save Changes" button without modifying any settings. This refreshes the rules WordPress uses to generate URLs.

4. Check Theme and Builder Settings

If the conflict test pointed to your theme, investigate further:

  • Divi Users: Ensure the builder is enabled for events in Divi > Theme Options > Builder.
  • Avada Users: Try disabling the "CSS Compiling Method" in Avada > Maintenance > Performance.
  • Elementor Users: If using a widget from "Events Widgets for Elementor," you may need to contact that widget's support for specific issues.
  • Template Setting: In Events > Settings > Display, ensure the "Default Events Template" is selected so the calendar uses your theme's standard layout.

5. Examine Resource Optimization

If your calendar's month navigation or date picker is broken, optimization plugins might be the issue.

  • Temporarily disable JS/CSS minification, concatenation, or deferral settings in plugins like WP-Optimize.
  • If the problem is fixed, reconfigure the optimization plugin to exclude The Events Calendar's scripts and styles from those processes. The plugin's resource files are already minified by default.

6. Enable Debugging for Blank Screens

If you are faced with a completely white screen, enabling WordPress debugging can reveal the underlying PHP error.

  1. Edit your wp-config.php file.
  2. Find the line define('WP_DEBUG', false);.
  3. Change it to: define('WP_DEBUG', true);

Visit the broken calendar page again; a detailed error message should now appear, giving you a direct clue about what's going wrong.

When to Seek Further Help

If these steps do not resolve your issue, the WordPress support forums for The Events Calendar can be a valuable resource. When posting, be sure to include details such as your PHP version, WordPress version, and a list of your active themes and plugins. This information helps others in the community replicate your environment and offer more targeted advice.

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