Simple List

The Simple List view displays JEM events in a compact list with filters, ordering, optional images, event status indicators, category and venue data, pagination, and frontend action buttons. In the Joomla menu item type this view may appear as Simplelist; internally JEM uses the eventslist view.

Simple List is usually the main event list after calendar views. It is useful for visitors who want a searchable event overview and for authorized users who need frontend access to add, edit, print, archive, or review events.

Where to Create This View

Open the Joomla administrator and create a new menu item. Select JEM → Events → Simplelist or Events List, depending on the wording used by the installed JEM version.

The menu item controls the initial list behaviour, such as archived events, featured-only filtering, date range, category restrictions, open-date events, intro text, footer text, ordering, and the optional Load More button.

When to Use Simple List

Use this view when the site needs a general event directory, a manageable overview, or a filtered event list that is easier to scan than a calendar.

Scenario	Recommended setup	Why
Main event overview	Show upcoming events, enable filters, order by date ascending.	Visitors can quickly find the next relevant event.
Frontend event management	Enable action buttons and give trusted users create or edit permissions.	Authorized users can manage events without entering the Joomla backend.
Featured programme page	Enable Featured only.	Shows a curated list while using the normal event list layout.
Archive page	Enable the archived-events option or use the archive action link.	Keeps past archived events separate from current listings.
Category-limited list	Set category IDs and optionally include subcategories.	Creates a targeted list without needing a separate category view.

What the View Can Show

The visible output depends on global JEM layout settings, menu item options, permissions, page class suffixes, and template overrides.

Page heading: Joomla page title or JEM archive heading.
Intro text: optional text shown above the list.
Button bar: Add Event, Add Venue, print, archive, and calendar actions when allowed.
Filters: search field, filter type selector, month selector, limit selector, submit, and clear buttons.
Sorting: sortable headers for date, title, venue, city, state, category, or attendees when shown.
Event rows: date, title, venue, city, state, categories, attendees, image, icons, badges, and intro text.
Pagination or Load More: normal pagination, or an AJAX Load More button when enabled.
Footer text: optional text shown below the list.
Feeds: RSS and Atom feed links can be added by the view.

Menu Item Options

The Simple List menu item has several options that change which events are loaded and how the first page is presented.

Option	Use it for	Notes
Show only archived events	Creates an archive-style Simple List.	Useful for past event records that have been archived.
Featured only	Shows only featured events.	Useful for highlighted programmes or landing pages.
Show introtext events	Shows each event intro text in the list.	Can make the list longer, but more informative.
Show icons in order, title, or event data	Controls where event state and helper icons appear.	Use fewer icons for a quieter list, more icons for management views.
Table order by	Sets the initial order: date, title, venue, city, state, or category.	Visitors can still change ordering when sortable headers are shown.
Direction order	Sets ascending or descending initial order.	Date ascending is typical for upcoming lists; date descending is useful for archives.
Filter event from	Limits the list from today minus a number of days.	Leave empty to avoid a lower date limit.
Filter event until	Limits the list until today plus a number of days.	Leave empty to avoid an upper date limit.
Display month row	Adds month separators inside the event list.	Useful when the list covers several months.
Show More button	Uses a Load More button instead of relying only on normal pagination.	Best with responsive list layouts.
Category IDs	Applies an advanced category filter to the list.	Use comma-separated category IDs and test the result after saving.
Include subcategories	Extends the category filter to child categories.	Only applies when category IDs are configured.
Show open dates	Controls events without a normal start date.	Choose none, open dates too, or open dates only.
Intro text and footer text	Adds content above or below the event list.	Useful for instructions, programme notes, or archive explanations.

Date Range Options

The Filter event from and Filter event until options are relative to today. Empty values mean no limit. A value of 0 means today.

Goal	Filter event from	Filter event until
Show all events allowed by normal visibility rules	Empty	Empty
Show only today	`0`	`0`
Show current and future events	`0`	Empty
Show events from the last 30 days and future events	`30`	Empty
Show events in the next 90 days	`0`	`90`

For the lower date limit, JEM also considers the event end date when available. This keeps ongoing multi-day events visible while they are still running.

Search and Filter Bar

The responsive layout can show a search and filter bar above or below the list. The available search fields depend on JEM global settings and the current layout.

Search text: searches the selected field.
Filter type: can search by event title, venue, city, state, or category when enabled.
Month filter: limits the list to one selected month.
Display number: controls how many events are shown per page when the limit selector is visible.
Clear: removes active search and month filters for the menu item.

Filter state is stored per menu item. If the same visitor opens a different Simple List menu item, that page can keep a separate search, month, ordering, and limit state.

Category and Subcategory Filtering

The category ID option can be used when one Simple List page should focus on a defined part of the category tree. Enter category IDs as a comma-separated list and enable Include subcategories when child categories should also be included.

Only events in categories visible to the current visitor can appear.
Unpublished, restricted, or language-mismatched categories can hide otherwise valid events.
If subcategories are enabled, JEM expands the configured IDs to their published child categories.
After changing category IDs, clear cache and test the page as a public visitor.

Sorting and Event Rows

Simple List can start with the order configured in the menu item, and visitors can change the order when sortable headers are shown.

Date: usually the best order for upcoming lists.
Title: useful for directories and alphabetical programmes.
Venue, city, or state: useful for location-focused lists.
Category: useful when events from several categories are mixed.
Attendees: can be shown when attendance display is enabled.

Event rows can also show featured markers, recurrence indicators, publication-state icons, event status labels, ticket availability information, event type labels, images, linked venues, linked categories, and read-more links.

Frontend Management

Simple List is not only a public browsing view. With the right permissions, it can also act as a lightweight frontend management page.

Add Event: shown when the visitor can create events.
Add Venue: shown when the visitor can create venues.
Edit actions: shown for events the visitor can edit.
Unpublished events: may be visible to users who can edit or manage their own or group events.
Archive action: opens the archive version of the list when enabled.
Print action: opens a print-friendly version of the list.
iCal/feed actions: can be available depending on global settings and output buttons.

Do not use frontend permissions casually. If users can create or edit events from Simple List, review category permissions, publication permissions, upload permissions, and registration settings before making the page public.

Open-Date, Featured, and Archived Events

Simple List has several special filters that are useful for event workflows.

Filter	What it does	Typical use
Open dates	Controls whether events without a normal date are hidden, included, or shown alone.	Call-for-participation pages, ongoing notices, or events without a fixed date.
Featured only	Shows only events marked as featured.	Highlights, frontpage programmes, or editorial selections.
Archived events	Shows archived event records instead of the normal active list.	Past event archive pages.

Pagination and Load More

By default, Simple List uses Joomla-style pagination. When the Show More button is enabled, the responsive list can load more events through the JEM Load More script.

Use normal pagination for predictable page numbers and classic list navigation.
Use Load More for long responsive lists where visitors should keep scrolling in the same page.
If JavaScript is disabled, pagination fallback can still be used.
If Load More does not appear, check the layout type, pagination limit, and whether more events exist.

Visibility Rules

A saved event only appears in Simple List when it passes all relevant visibility rules.

The event publication state must match the current list mode.
The event access level must be visible to the visitor.
The event language must match the current site language rules.
The event publish up and publish down dates must allow display.
The event date must pass the menu item date range and month filter.
The category and venue must also be published, accessible, and visible when required by the query.
Frontend managers may see additional unpublished records when permissions allow it.

Styling and Overrides

Most visual changes should be made with JEM settings, menu item options, custom CSS, or Joomla template overrides.

Use JEM layout settings to show or hide columns, images, filters, icons, categories, venues, and attendees.
Use menu item options for date range, featured-only, archived mode, intro text, footer text, and ordering.
Use page class suffixes such as jem-hidefilter, jem-showfilter, or jem-filterbelow to influence filter placement.
Use custom CSS for classes such as jem_eventslist, jem-events-filter, eventlist, jem-event, and jem-featured.
Use a Joomla template override only when the HTML structure must change.

Common Configuration Examples

Main Upcoming Event List

Set Show only archived events to No.
Set Filter event from to 0.
Leave Filter event until empty, or use a number such as 365.
Order by date ascending.
Enable filters and month rows if the list is long.

Featured Events Page

Enable Featured only.
Show event images and intro text if the page is editorial.
Use footer text to link to the full event calendar or full Simple List page.

Frontend Management Page

Give trusted users create and edit permissions.
Show filters, publication icons, event status icons, and attendees where useful.
Use date filters that include recent past events if editors need to update ongoing or recently finished events.
Check upload permissions if frontend users can add images or attachments from the event form.

Archive Page

Enable the archived-events option.
Order by date descending.
Use intro text to explain that the page contains archived past events.
Hide management buttons if the page is only for public browsing.

Troubleshooting

No events are shown

Check the menu item date range, month filter, featured-only setting, and archived-events setting.
Check that events are published and assigned to published, accessible categories.
Check access levels, language settings, publish up/down dates, and category restrictions.
If only open-date events are expected, review the Show open dates option.

Ongoing multi-day events disappear too early

Check that the event has a correct end date.
Check the Filter event from setting.
Clear old filters from the frontend list.
Review template overrides if the query has been customized.

Filters are missing

Check global JEM filter display settings.
Check the page class suffix for jem-hidefilter or jem-showfilter.
Check whether a template override has removed the filter block.
Clear Joomla cache after changing layout options.

Load More does not appear

Enable Show More button in the menu item.
Check that the responsive list layout is used.
Check that the number of matching events is greater than the current page limit.
Check browser console errors if the button appears but does not load more events.

Users see unpublished events

Check whether the user has event edit, publish, or management permissions.
Check JEM user-control settings for own or group event editing.
Test the page as a public visitor, not only as a logged-in administrator.

Related Project Notes

#2121 discusses the Simple List date range options for days before today and days after today.
#2078 documents behaviour around ongoing events in Simple List.
#2014 relates to the Load More button and layout support.
#1965 covers the request for a Load More button in Simple List.
#1327 adds the Include subcategories option for Simple List.