Start Date, End Date, Metabox for Events Custom Post Types

Do you want to add three metaboxes to your events custom post types? While there’s probably a plugin for this, we have created a quick code snippet that you can use to add start date, end date, and location metabox for events custom post types.

Instructions:

All you have to do is add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or in a site-specific plugin:

function ep_eventposts_metaboxes() {
    add_meta_box( 'ept_event_date_start', 'Start Date and Time', 'ept_event_date', 'event', 'side', 'default', array( 'id' => '_start') );
    add_meta_box( 'ept_event_date_end', 'End Date and Time', 'ept_event_date', 'event', 'side', 'default', array('id'=>'_end') );
    add_meta_box( 'ept_event_location', 'Event Location', 'ept_event_location', 'event', 'side', 'default', array('id'=>'_end') );
}
add_action( 'admin_init', 'ep_eventposts_metaboxes' );
 
// Metabox HTML
 
function ept_event_date($post, $args) {
    $metabox_id = $args['args']['id'];
    global $post, $wp_locale;
 
    // Use nonce for verification
    wp_nonce_field( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ), 'ep_eventposts_nonce' );
 
    $time_adj = current_time( 'timestamp' );
    $month = get_post_meta( $post->ID, $metabox_id . '_month', true );
 
    if ( empty( $month ) ) {
        $month = gmdate( 'm', $time_adj );
    }
 
    $day = get_post_meta( $post->ID, $metabox_id . '_day', true );
 
    if ( empty( $day ) ) {
        $day = gmdate( 'd', $time_adj );
    }
 
    $year = get_post_meta( $post->ID, $metabox_id . '_year', true );
 
    if ( empty( $year ) ) {
        $year = gmdate( 'Y', $time_adj );
    }
 
    $hour = get_post_meta($post->ID, $metabox_id . '_hour', true);
 
    if ( empty($hour) ) {
        $hour = gmdate( 'H', $time_adj );
    }
 
    $min = get_post_meta($post->ID, $metabox_id . '_minute', true);
 
    if ( empty($min) ) {
        $min = '00';
    }
 
    $month_s = '<select name="' . $metabox_id . '_month">';
    for ( $i = 1; $i < 13; $i = $i +1 ) {
        $month_s .= "\t\t\t" . '<option value="' . zeroise( $i, 2 ) . '"';
        if ( $i == $month )
            $month_s .= ' selected="selected"';
        $month_s .= '>' . $wp_locale->get_month_abbrev( $wp_locale->get_month( $i ) ) . "</option>\n";
    }
    $month_s .= '</select>';
 
    echo $month_s;
    echo '<input type="text" name="' . $metabox_id . '_day" value="' . $day  . '" size="2" maxlength="2" />';
    echo '<input type="text" name="' . $metabox_id . '_year" value="' . $year . '" size="4" maxlength="4" /> @ ';
    echo '<input type="text" name="' . $metabox_id . '_hour" value="' . $hour . '" size="2" maxlength="2"/>:';
    echo '<input type="text" name="' . $metabox_id . '_minute" value="' . $min . '" size="2" maxlength="2" />';
 
}
 
function ept_event_location() {
    global $post;
    // Use nonce for verification
    wp_nonce_field( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ), 'ep_eventposts_nonce' );
    // The metabox HTML
    $event_location = get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_event_location', true );
    echo '<label for="_event_location">Location:</label>';
    echo '<input type="text" name="_event_location" value="' . $event_location  . '" />';
}
 
// Save the Metabox Data
 
function ep_eventposts_save_meta( $post_id, $post ) {
 
    if ( defined( 'DOING_AUTOSAVE' ) && DOING_AUTOSAVE )
        return;
 
    if ( !isset( $_POST['ep_eventposts_nonce'] ) )
        return;
 
    if ( !wp_verify_nonce( $_POST['ep_eventposts_nonce'], plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) ) )
        return;
 
    // Is the user allowed to edit the post or page?
    if ( !current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post->ID ) )
        return;
 
    // OK, we're authenticated: we need to find and save the data
    // We'll put it into an array to make it easier to loop though
 
    $metabox_ids = array( '_start', '_end' );
 
    foreach ($metabox_ids as $key ) {
        $events_meta[$key . '_month'] = $_POST[$key . '_month'];
        $events_meta[$key . '_day'] = $_POST[$key . '_day'];
            if($_POST[$key . '_hour']<10){
                 $events_meta[$key . '_hour'] = '0'.$_POST[$key . '_hour'];
             } else {
                   $events_meta[$key . '_hour'] = $_POST[$key . '_hour'];
             }
        $events_meta[$key . '_year'] = $_POST[$key . '_year'];
        $events_meta[$key . '_hour'] = $_POST[$key . '_hour'];
        $events_meta[$key . '_minute'] = $_POST[$key . '_minute'];
        $events_meta[$key . '_eventtimestamp'] = $events_meta[$key . '_year'] . $events_meta[$key . '_month'] . $events_meta[$key . '_day'] . $events_meta[$key . '_hour'] . $events_meta[$key . '_minute'];
    }
 
    // Add values of $events_meta as custom fields
 
    foreach ( $events_meta as $key => $value ) { // Cycle through the $events_meta array!
        if ( $post->post_type == 'revision' ) return; // Don't store custom data twice
        $value = implode( ',', (array)$value ); // If $value is an array, make it a CSV (unlikely)
        if ( get_post_meta( $post->ID, $key, FALSE ) ) { // If the custom field already has a value
            update_post_meta( $post->ID, $key, $value );
        } else { // If the custom field doesn't have a value
            add_post_meta( $post->ID, $key, $value );
        }
        if ( !$value ) delete_post_meta( $post->ID, $key ); // Delete if blank
    }
 
}
 
add_action( 'save_post', 'ep_eventposts_save_meta', 1, 2 );
 
/**
 * Helpers to display the date on the front end
 */
 
// Get the Month Abbreviation
 
function eventposttype_get_the_month_abbr($month) {
    global $wp_locale;
    for ( $i = 1; $i < 13; $i = $i +1 ) {
                if ( $i == $month )
                    $monthabbr = $wp_locale->get_month_abbrev( $wp_locale->get_month( $i ) );
                }
    return $monthabbr;
}
 
// Display the date
 
function eventposttype_get_the_event_date() {
    global $post;
    $eventdate = '';
    $month = get_post_meta($post->ID, '_month', true);
    $eventdate = eventposttype_get_the_month_abbr($month);
    $eventdate .= ' ' . get_post_meta($post->ID, '_day', true) . ',';
    $eventdate .= ' ' . get_post_meta($post->ID, '_year', true);
    $eventdate .= ' at ' . get_post_meta($post->ID, '_hour', true);
    $eventdate .= ':' . get_post_meta($post->ID, '_minute', true);
    echo $eventdate;
}

Note: If this is your first time adding code snippets in WordPress, then please refer to our guide on how to properly copy / paste code snippets in WordPress, so you don’t accidentally break your site.

If you liked this code snippet, please consider checking out our other articles on the site like: 15 best content marketing tools and plugins and 50+ best responsive WordPress themes to create a mobile-ready website.