Month Calendar View
Applies to: JEM 4.5 beta 5 and JEM 5.0 beta 3, depending on the Joomla version used by the site.
The Month Calendar view displays events in a monthly grid. It is the main calendar overview for public event programmes, community agendas, venues, clubs, cultural calendars, training schedules, and event directories.
Purpose
The Month Calendar gives visitors a complete month overview with event links, category colours, venue-aware filtering, legends, month navigation, print support, archive access, and iCal/export actions where available.
It is the best frontend calendar view when users need to scan an entire month and then drill down into a specific day or event.
Menu Item Type
| Menu Type | Internal View | Layout | Main Use |
|---|
| Calendar |
calendar |
default |
Displays events in a month grid. |
URL Parameters
| Parameter | Example | Description |
|---|
yearID |
2026 |
Defines the year displayed by the calendar. |
monthID |
5 |
Defines the month displayed by the calendar. |
task=archive |
task=archive |
Displays the calendar in archive context. |
print=1&tmpl=component |
print=1&tmpl=component |
Loads the printable calendar output. |
Basic Options
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
| Intro Text |
Empty |
Optional text displayed above the monthly calendar when enabled. |
| Show Intro Text |
Hide |
Controls whether the intro text is displayed. |
| Show Archived Events |
No |
Controls whether archived events are included in the calendar output. |
| Top Category |
0 |
Limits the calendar to events assigned to a selected top category and its child categories. |
Calendar Display Options
| Option | Default | Values | Description |
|---|
| Display Legend |
Below |
No, Below, Above, Below with venues, Above with venues, Below only venues, Above only venues |
Controls whether category and/or venue legends are displayed, and whether they appear above or below the month grid. |
| Show only start day |
No |
Yes, No |
Controls whether multi-day events appear only on their start date or across every day in their date range. |
| First weekday |
Monday |
Sunday, Monday |
Controls the first day of the week in the month grid. |
| Max events per day |
10 |
Number |
Limits how many event blocks are displayed inside a single day cell before JEM shows an “and more” link to the Day View. |
Legend Options
| Value | Output |
|---|
| No |
No category or venue legend is displayed. |
| Below |
Category legend appears below the calendar. |
| Above |
Category legend appears above the calendar. |
| Below with venues |
Category and venue legends appear below the calendar. |
| Above with venues |
Category and venue legends appear above the calendar. |
| Below only venues |
Only the venue legend appears below the calendar. |
| Above only venues |
Only the venue legend appears above the calendar. |
The legend entries act as frontend filters. Category entries use category IDs, and venue entries use venue IDs. This allows users to show or hide events by category or venue directly in the calendar interface.
Action Icon Options
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
| Show Add Event Icon |
No |
Shows a small add-event action near the day number when the current user has permission to create events. |
| Show Edit Event Icon |
No |
Shows edit actions for events when enabled and when the user has permission. |
| Show Copy Event Icon |
No |
Shows copy actions for events when enabled and allowed by permissions. |
Colour and Visual Options
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|
| Event link colour |
#000000 |
Text colour used for event links in the calendar. |
| Event background colour |
#FFF8E1 |
Default background colour for event blocks. |
| Category colour marker |
Marker block |
Controls whether category colours are displayed as small blocks or as a top colour bar. |
| Use category colour |
No |
When enabled, JEM can use the category colour as the event background when exactly one category colour is available. |
| Current day colour |
#CCCC99 |
Background colour used to highlight the current day number. |
| Event and more colour |
#FFF8E1 |
Background colour used for the “and more” link when a day has more events than the configured limit. |
| Use featured border |
No |
Adds a border to featured events. |
| Featured border colour |
#000080 |
Border colour used for featured events when featured borders are enabled. |
| Recurrence icon rendering |
Font |
Controls whether multi-day indicators use icon font symbols or image icons. |
Monthly Navigation
The Month Calendar includes previous and next month navigation. The selected month is controlled by yearID and monthID. These values are also passed to print and iCal/export actions where available.
When the view is printed, JEM keeps the selected month context and loads the print stylesheet.
Event Cell Content
Each calendar event block can include several elements depending on global settings, menu options, event data, permissions, and installed Joomla integrations.
- Event title linked to the event detail page.
- Start and end time when global time details are enabled.
- Venue information.
- Category information and category colour markers.
- Venue colour bar when category colour marker mode and venue colour data are available.
- Contact names when Joomla Contacts integration is enabled and contacts are assigned.
- Event status or access indicators where relevant.
- Edit and copy icons when enabled and permitted.
Multi-Day Event Behaviour
The Month Calendar supports multi-day events. When Show only start day is disabled, JEM expands a multi-day event across each date in the month range.
| Setting | Behaviour | Best For |
|---|
| Show only start day: Yes |
The event appears only on its first day. |
Cleaner calendars where long events should not dominate the month view. |
| Show only start day: No |
The event appears on each day between its start and end date. |
Programmes where visitors need to know that the event continues over multiple days. |
Multi-day indicators can show first, middle, and last day states using either font icons or image icons, depending on the recurrence icon rendering setting.
Day Drill-Down
Day numbers and “and more” links can take users to the Day View. This is important when a day contains more events than the configured Max events per day value.
Typical day link:
index.php?option=com_jem&view=day&id=YYYYMMDD
Archive Behaviour
The Month Calendar can link to archive context. When archive mode is active, JEM updates the page title and heading with archive wording and keeps the selected month in the archive link.
If Show Archived Events is disabled, the button bar can expose an archive action so users can access archived calendar entries separately.
Permissions
The Month Calendar checks permissions before showing creation or management actions.
| Permission | Effect |
|---|
| Create event |
Required for the Add Event icon to be displayed. |
| Create venue |
Used by JEM button actions where venue creation is available. |
| Edit event |
Required for frontend edit icons to be useful. |
| Event/category/venue access |
Controls whether restricted events are visible. Events without user access can show a lock indicator depending on context. |
Responsive and Legacy Layout Behaviour
The Month Calendar supports JEM global layout handling. When the global JEM layout style is set to Responsive, JEM can use the responsive calendar layout.
Typical override paths:
templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/com_jem/calendar/default.phptemplates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/com_jem/calendar/responsive/default.phptemplates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/com_jem/calendar/default_legend.phptemplates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/com_jem/calendar/responsive/default_legend.php
Recommendation: Use Joomla template overrides for frontend customisations. Do not edit the original JEM files inside components/com_jem on production sites.
Recommended Configurations
| Scenario | Recommended Settings | Reason |
|---|
| General public event calendar |
Legend: Below; First weekday: Monday; Max events per day: 10 |
Provides a familiar monthly overview with useful category filtering. |
| Venue-heavy programme |
Legend: Below with venues; Category colour marker: Top bar |
Allows visitors to filter by venue and visually identify event location. |
| Category-driven cultural calendar |
Use category colour: Yes; Legend: Above |
Highlights event types and lets users filter categories before scanning the month. |
| High-volume calendar |
Max events per day: 4 or 5; Legend: Above with venues |
Keeps day cells readable and encourages users to open the Day View for full details. |
| Clean visitor-only calendar |
Add/Edit/Copy icons: No; Show only start day: Yes |
Reduces management controls and avoids visual overload from long multi-day events. |
Example: Community Monthly Calendar
| Menu Item Type |
Calendar |
|---|
| Show Archived Events |
No |
|---|
| Display Legend |
Below |
|---|
| First Weekday |
Monday |
|---|
| Max Events per Day |
8 |
|---|
| Use Category Colour |
Yes |
|---|
| Use Case |
A public calendar for a town, club, association, or community website. |
|---|
Example: Multi-Venue Programme
| Menu Item Type |
Calendar |
|---|
| Display Legend |
Above with venues |
|---|
| Category Colour Marker |
Top bar |
|---|
| Show only start day |
No |
|---|
| Max Events per Day |
5 |
|---|
| Use Case |
A festival, campus, conference, or cultural programme where users need both category and venue context. |
|---|
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Check |
|---|
| No events appear in the month. |
Check publication status, selected month/year, archive state, access level, category access, venue access, and Top Category filter. |
| Archived events are missing. |
Enable Show Archived Events or use the archive action from the button bar. |
| A day cell is too crowded. |
Lower Max events per day so the “and more” link appears earlier. |
| Legend filtering does not show the expected results. |
Check whether the legend is configured for categories, venues, or both. Also check whether visible events actually have category and venue data. |
| Category colours do not appear. |
Verify that categories have colours assigned and review Use category colour and Category colour marker settings. |
| Venue colours do not appear. |
Check that venues have colour values and that the legend mode includes venues. |
| Add/edit/copy icons do not appear. |
Check the menu options, user permissions, event permissions, and whether the page is in print mode. |
Related Development Notes
