Creating Events

Contents

Publicize upcoming events using the “Event” page type. Features:

Each event displays on its own page with title, description, date, location, image, and status.
Recurring events are supported.
Event pages include “Add to calendar” links that work with Outlook, Apple Calendar, and Google Calendar.
The “Upcoming Events” page (/events) lists upcoming events.
The “All Events Calendar” (/calendar) displays events by month.
“Event listing” blocks can display events by specific category.

Event alternative: calendar.utexas.edu

University Events maintains a centralized event calendar at https://calendar.utexas.edu where CSUs can display organizational events. Events hosted there can also be displayed within Drupal Kit sites using embed code provided by the Localist Widget Builder. Demonstrations of different display options and integration instructions are located at https://demo.drupalkit.its.utexas.edu/localist-widgets.

Installing Add-ons

Add-ons like Events are not included with the Drupal Kit by default. Read the Add-ons page for more information about how add to this feature to your site.

Individual events 

Create new events at Content > Add Content > Event (/node/add/utevent_event).

Recurring events 

When deciding how to create an event that occurs on multiple dates or times, identify whether the specifics of the event, aside from date and time, will differ.

For a recurring event that may have different event locations or descriptions on different dates, create a separate event for each occurrence. Examples: a lecture series featuring a different speaker for each lecture; a blood bank at a different location each week.
For a recurring event where location and description remain the same across all occurrences, create one event with a recurrence rule. Example: a standing appointment, like weekly office hours, that always happens in the same location.
- If a recurring event has dates and times that do not follow a pattern, add multiple each occurrences using the “Add another item” button (shown below).
- If a recurring event has dates and times that generally follow a pattern, you can use the “Repeats” dropdown to create a recurrence rule. A recurring event entered this way may include occurrences that happen at a date and time outside the recurrence rule. Set occurrence overrides by clicking “Manage instances” (shown below).

Screenshot of the Event date widget showing Repeat dropdown, "Manage instances" and "Add another item" buttons — Event date widget showing Repeats dropdown, “Manage instances” and “Add another item” buttons

Control image display 

By default, event images will display on the individual event’s page, the “Events” page, and on any events listing blocks. To suppress the image on the individual event page, uncheck the “Display image on event” checkbox.

Screenshot of the "Display image on event" checkbox — Screenshot of the “Display image on event” checkbox

Summary and Body fields 

The Summary field displays in lists of events. The Body field displays on the individual event page.

Location field 

The event Location field displays on event pages and lists. Content editors can also use these to filter events by location in event listing blocks, as explained below.

“Event tags” and “Featured event”

These fields allow filtering events in event listing blocks, explained below.

Event status field 

The Event Status field calls out the state of the event:

“Scheduled” (default)
“Cancelled”
“Moved Online”
“Postponed”
“Rescheduled”

These states correspond to predefined metadata labels recognized and used by search engines. When an event has any status other than “Scheduled,” a visual cue will display alongside the event. Regardless of state, events will display on your site. For example, an event scheduled for tomorrow whose status has changed from “Scheduled” to “Cancelled” will still display in the listing, with a “Cancelled” visual.

If the status of an event changes, use the “Event status” field to reflect that status. As a rule of thumb, once published, an event should not be deleted or unpublished. Deleting a cancelled event risks confusing visitors who had previously viewed the event while it was active.

Event syndication on calendar.utexas.edu 

Upcoming events are syndicated in a machine-readable feed located at yoursite.utexas.edu/events/localist.csv. This feed is provided to facilitate University Events visibility into all campus events. Your site’s events will not be displayed on https://calendar.utexas.edu unless and until University Events integrates the feed. Direct questions to University Events through the calendar.utexas.edu support form.

All events default to being displayed on https://calendar.utexas.edu. To de-list specific events from public display, activate the “Do not display this event publicly on calendar.utexas.edu” checkbox the individual event’s editing form.
To group site events within a department (e.g., https://calendar.utexas.edu/department/division-of-student-affairs), users with permission can go to Configuration > Event add-on (/admin/config/content/utevent) and set an “Event department name.”

Events listing page 

All published upcoming events display the site at /events, as shown below:

Event listing page configuration 

Users with the permission “Administer event configuration” can configure global event settings at Configuration > Event add-on (/admin/config/content/utevent).

Configure past events to be archived 

Use this global configuration option to automatically archive past events. Archiving will unpublish the event, removing it from public display, but the event will remain in the system, accessible by content editors.

Event listing blocks 

Many sites will need to display a subset of upcoming events alongside other page content. For example, a college/department site may want to list only faculty training events in the sidebar of the site’s faculty landing page. To achieve this, use Event listing blocks.

Each event listing block has Header and Footer fields for adding text above and below a list respectively. There is also a “Display link back to main events page” checkbox which toggles the presence of a “View all events” button at the bottom of a listing block. When present, this button links back to the main events list page (/events).

Event listings can display in 1, 2, 3, or 4 items per row. See Control items per row (multi-item block types) for more detail.

Inline or site-wide listing 

Sites usually only need to display event listings on individual pages:

Create a Flex Page.
Navigate to that page’s Layout tab.
Choose Add block in the region the list should appear
Select Create content block > Event listing in the settings tray.

Sometimes sites need a listing to display on multiple pages. To do this, go to Content > Blocks > Add content block > Event listing (/block/add/utevent_event_listing). Once created, this event listing will be available in the Block library placed on existing pages. For example, page types with flexible layouts (like the Flex Page) will now show this as a placeable block in the settings tray.

Filtering by and tags, location and “featured”

Control which events display in a listing by adding “Event tags” or “Event location” filters. Accounts with elevate permissions can manage event tags and locations at Structure > Taxonomy (/admin/structure/taxonomy).

The “Featured event” checkbox provides an additional way to create targeted event listings for, say, the site homepage.

Reminder: Content editors must assign tags to individual events to make them function as filter criteria on listings.

Screenshot showing Location, "Event tags" and "Featured event" fields for filtering event listing blocks — Location, “Event tags” and “Featured event” fields for filtering event listing blocks

Importing Events from other Drupal Kit sites 

As of Drupal Kit 3.26.0 (September 2025), the Event add-on includes a new module, “Event Import,” which allows importing events from other Drupal Kit sites. When this module is enabled, site managers can configure the site to periodically import upcoming events from one or more sites, displaying events chronologically among the site’s own events.

To determine whether another site’s events are eligible for import, see Locating events to be imported from other Drupal Kit sites below.

Enable the “Event Import” module

If you want to use the event import module but do not have access to the URL yoursite.utexas.edu/admin/content/feed, email drupal-kit-support@utlists.utexas.edu.

To import an event feed:

Go to yoursite.utexas.edu/admin/content/feed and click Add feed.
Select Events import JSON or Events import XML.
Enter a title to identify the import.
Add the feed URL from the source site (e.g., othersite.utexas.edu/events?_format=json; see detailed explanation Locating events to be imported from other Drupal Kit sites).
Click Save and import to import immediately, or Save to import during the next hourly process.

Behavior of import:

The importer checks for new or updated events once every hour
Imported events will be retained indefinitely on your site, even if they are no longer listed in the feed.
Recurring events from the source site are created as individual event instances. The imported recurring event does not provide recurrence information. A single source event that has an occurrence on Monday and Wednesday, for example, will be provided as two events in the feed.

A list of all event feeds is available at yoursite.utexas.edu/admin/content/feed.

Locating events to be imported from other Drupal Kit sites 

If you are unsure whether a site’s events can be imported and how to import them, email drupal-kit-support@utlists.utexas.edu. A self-service explanation follows.

Identify whether a site supports importing its events

Navigate to the site’s main web page, and add /events?_format=json to the URL (e.g., othersite.utexas.edu/events?_format=json). If that URL shows a machine-readable feed of event data, you can import events from the site.

The export of non-filtered upcoming events is available in either JSON or XML format:

othersite.utexas.edu/events?_format=json
othersite.utexas.edu/events?_format=xml

The event export can be filtered by the same tag names shown on the site’s event listing page (othersite.utexas.edu/events). Once you have identified one or more tags to filter by, you can refine the event export using the following syntax:

/events?_format=<json|xml>&tags=<tag>

where <tag> is the tag name:

Single tag example:
```
/events?_format=json&tags=Demo Tag 1
```

Multiple tags example:

/events?_format=json&tags=Demo Tag 1,Demo Tag 2