JEM Calendar Module

Overview

The module is designed for sidebars, event landing pages, dashboards and other compact areas where visitors need to identify days containing events. A day can open the JEM day view or go directly to the event when only one event is assigned to that date.

Each active day can provide a tooltip containing event titles and, when enabled, times, categories, venues and event links. Multi-day events are represented on every applicable day in the displayed month.

Current Compatibility

JEM 5.x requires PHP 8.3 or newer. Verify the requirements of the exact package before updating a production website.

Requirements

• JEM and the Calendar Module must be installed and enabled.
• The module must be assigned to a visible template position and the required menu pages.
• Events must match the configured publication state, month, access level, category and venue filters.
• Joomla's Bootstrap tooltip/popover support and JavaScript assets must not be blocked by the template.
• The module position must provide enough width for seven day columns.

Create the Module

1. Open System → Manage → Site Modules.
2. Select New and choose JEM - Calendar Module.
3. Enter the Joomla module title and choose a template position.
4. Configure tooltip, calendar, event-selection and navigation options.
5. Select an alternative layout if required.
6. Set the Joomla menu assignment and access level.
7. Publish and save the module.

Tooltip Options

Tooltip Visibility Detail

If the tooltip title is disabled and the maximum event value resolves to zero, the supplied layouts disable tooltip output because neither a title nor event content would be available. When using tooltips, keep the title enabled or provide a positive event limit.

Calendar Display

Month Offset changes the displayed month. Time Offset changes the reference time used to calculate today. They solve different requirements.

Day Name Values

Navigation and Event Selection

Current and Archived Combinations

Link Routing

Leave Default Menu ItemID empty unless generated links use the wrong template style, module assignment, breadcrumb or SEF context. When a fixed item ID is required, enter the numeric ID of the appropriate published JEM menu item.

Category and venue filters are forwarded to the JEM day view, so a multi-event day continues to represent the same filtered calendar context.

How Tooltip and Day-link Options Work Together

The result depends on several options at once. In particular, Display Link controls links inside the tooltip, while Straight To Details controls the route assigned to the calendar day.

How Month Options Work Together

• Remember Month/Year stores the visitor's selected base month for this individual module ID.
• Month Offset is then applied to that base month every time the calendar is rendered.
• With Month Offset 0, selecting the calendar heading returns to the actual current month.
• With a non-zero Month Offset, the offset is reapplied after the heading resets the base month. For example, an offset of 1 returns to next month, not the current month.
• For a normally navigable public calendar, use Month Offset 0. Use a non-zero value when the module deliberately needs to open relative to another month.

Module Text

During an AJAX month update, JEM returns only the calendar layout. Intro and footer text are deliberately omitted from the AJAX fragment so they are not duplicated.

Advanced Options

Supplied Layouts

Layout Comparison

Frontend Behaviour

• The module displays one month at a time and highlights days containing matching events.
• Multi-day events appear on every day covered by their start and end dates within the displayed month.
• Events on the same day are ordered by their stored time.
• Straight To Details applies only when the final day contains exactly one event; otherwise, the day view is used.
• When AJAX is enabled, navigation requests only the selected module instance through Joomla com_ajax.
• Without JavaScript, the supplied layouts use normal navigation links and reload the page.
• Remember Month/Year is stored per module ID, allowing multiple Calendar instances to retain independent navigation states.
• Module caching can delay calendar or access changes until the configured cache expires.

PHP Layout Overrides

Use Joomla's module override system instead of changing JEM core files:

templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/mod_jem_cal/default.php
templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/mod_jem_cal/grid.php
templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/mod_jem_cal/my-calendar.php

1. Copy the closest supplied layout from modules/mod_jem_cal/tmpl/.
2. Place it in templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/mod_jem_cal/.
3. Use a new basename when the custom version should be selectable independently.
4. Reopen the module editor and select it under Alternative Layout.
5. When changing AJAX markup, preserve the module-specific IDs and navigation callback behaviour.

CSS Overrides

Use a stylesheet whose basename matches the selected layout:

templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/css/mod_jem_cal/default.css
templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/css/mod_jem_cal/darkblue.css
templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/css/mod_jem_cal/grid.css

CSS Resolution Order

1. templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/css/mod_jem_cal/LAYOUT.css
2. templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/html/mod_jem_cal/LAYOUT.css
3. media/mod_jem_cal/css/LAYOUT.css
4. modules/mod_jem_cal/tmpl/LAYOUT.css

The first matching file replaces the supplied Calendar stylesheet for that basename. Copy the supplied CSS first when you want to keep the original rules and adjust only selected declarations.

Additive JEM Module CSS

For small rules that should load after the module stylesheet and can be shared with other JEM modules, use:

media/com_jem/css/custom/jem-user-module.css

This file is additive. A layout-specific template CSS file is a replacement for the supplied stylesheet with the same basename.

Legacy CSS Filenames in JEM 5.0.2 Beta 1

JEM 5.0.1 already supports the current paths and filenames documented above. JEM 5.0.2 Beta 1 additionally provides temporary compatibility for these old Calendar filenames:

Configuration Examples

Troubleshooting

Appendix: What Is New in JEM 5.1.0 Beta 4

Event Hierarchy Filter

JEM 5.1.0 Beta 4 adds the Event hierarchy option to the Calendar Module. It controls which hierarchy levels can mark days and appear in tooltips:

Current CSS Filenames

JEM 5.1.0 uses the current layout filenames at runtime and does not retain the temporary legacy-filename fallback from JEM 5.0.2. The JEM Control Panel/CSS Manager detects known legacy Calendar overrides and offers an explicit migration. It does not overwrite an existing destination and reports conflicts or unwritable paths.

Related Documentation

• JEM Module Layouts
• CSS Manager and CSS overrides
• JEM system requirements
• Download JEM 5.0.1 stable
• Download JEM 5.0.2 Beta 1 or JEM 5.1.0 Beta 4

GitHub References

• JEM 5.0.1 Calendar Module source
• JEM 5.0.2 development source
• JEM 5.1.0 development source
• #1967 — Calendar layouts, overrides and event links
• #1989 — Calendar options and responsive Grid layout
• #1922 — ACL-aware module output
• #2126 — Frontend event visibility
• #2069 — Calendar date-range filtering
• #1759 — Tooltip HTML rendering