Quick start

Create Your First Online Event

Quick Start Guide

This quick start guide helps you create your first working JEM setup in a few minutes. It covers the basic configuration, a category, an online event, a frontend menu item, and the default event menu item setting.

Important: after changing any setting or creating any item, always click Save or Save & Close before continuing.

1. Customize the Basic Settings

Open the JEM settings and review the most important global parameters before creating events.

  1. Go to Components → JEM → Settings.
  2. Open the Global Parameters tab.
  3. Select the Default Country.
  4. Select the Timezone Handling option.
  5. Select the First Day of Week.
  6. Verify that the timezone handling matches the expected behaviour for your site.
  7. Click Save.

2. Create a Category

Every event should be assigned to a category. You can create a new category or use the default uncategorised category if it already exists and is suitable for your site.

  1. Go to Components → JEM → Categories.
  2. Click New.
  3. Enter a category title.
  4. Set the category to Published.
  5. Click Save & Close.

3. Create an Online Event

Create a first test event and add an online meeting link so that you can check both the event list and the event detail page on the frontend.

  1. Go to Components → JEM → Events.
  2. Click New.
  3. Enter the event title, date, time, and other required event information.
  4. Assign the event to the category created in the previous step.
  5. Open the Advanced tab.
  6. Enter the Online Meeting URL.
  7. Enter a label for the online meeting link, for example Join online.
  8. Click Save & Close.

4. Create a Frontend Menu Item

JEM frontend pages are displayed through Joomla menu items. For a simple first test, create a menu item using the JEM Simplelist view.

  1. Go to Menus.
  2. Select the menu where the JEM page should appear.
  3. Click New.
  4. Click Select next to Menu Item Type.
  5. Select JEM → Simplelist.
  6. Enter a menu title, for example Events.
  7. Check that the menu item is set to Published.
  8. Click Save & Close.

After saving the menu item, note its Joomla menu item ID. You will need this ID for the default event menu item setting.

5. Define the Default Event Menu Item ID

The default event menu item ID tells JEM which Joomla menu item should be used when opening event detail pages.

  1. Go to Components → JEM → Settings.
  2. Open the Global Parameters tab.
  3. Find Default Event Menu Itemid.
  4. Enter the ID of the JEM menu item created in the previous step.
  5. Click Save & Close.

6. Verify the Frontend

Open the frontend page and confirm that the event appears correctly.

  1. Open the Joomla frontend.
  2. Launch the JEM menu item created in the previous step.
  3. Check that the event is displayed in the list.
  4. Click the event title to open the event detail page.
  5. Verify that the event information is correct.
  6. Verify that the online meeting link is displayed as expected.

Troubleshooting

The event does not appear on the frontend

  • Check that the event is published.
  • Check that the event category is published.
  • Check the event date, start publishing date, and finish publishing date.
  • Check the access level of the event, category, and menu item.
  • Clear the Joomla cache if caching is enabled.

The event detail page does not use the expected menu item

  • Check the value entered in Default Event Menu Itemid.
  • Make sure the ID belongs to an existing published JEM menu item.
  • Save the JEM settings again after changing the value.

The online meeting link is not displayed

  • Check that the online meeting URL was entered in the event.
  • Check that a label was entered for the online meeting link.
  • Review the JEM event page settings if the link is still hidden.

Next Steps

  • Create additional categories for your event structure.
  • Create venues if your events also use physical locations.
  • Review the event page, layout, registration, image, and attachment settings.
  • Create additional frontend menu items for calendars, categories, venues, maps, or user areas.
  • Enable only the JEM modules and plugins that are needed for your site.