JEM - Acymaiiling Plugin

Overview

The JEM Events add-on connects JEM with the AcyMailing 10 email editor. It can insert a specific JEM event into an email or generate a group of events dynamically from one or more JEM categories.

The generated email content can include the event title, date and time, venue, image, introduction and read-more link. Automatic content can be limited by category, date range, featured state and open-date status, making the add-on suitable for newsletters and recurring event campaigns.

Requirements

• Joomla 5.4 or Joomla 6.
• JEM 5.0.1 Beta 1 installed and enabled.
• AcyMailing 10 installed and working.
• PHP 8.3 or newer.
• At least one published JEM event for individual insertion.
• Published JEM categories and events for category-based insertion.

Installation

1. Uninstall the former AcyMailing - JEM or tagjem Joomla plugin, if it is installed.
2. Extract acym_jem.zip. The archive contains a directory named jem.
3. Copy the complete jem directory into administrator/components/com_acym/dynamics.
4. Confirm that the following file exists:

administrator/components/com_acym/dynamics/jem/plugin.php

5. Open AcyMailing and edit an email.
6. Open the dynamic-content integrations and confirm that JEM Events is available.

How the Integration Works

1. The email editor creates a JEM dynamic-content tag containing the selected event or category options.
2. When AcyMailing prepares the email, the add-on reads the matching published events from JEM.
3. JEM formats the event date and time, while the add-on builds the event route, venue text and image path.
4. AcyMailing applies the selected content layout, picture settings, truncation and column layout.
5. For an automatic campaign, the event query is executed again when the campaign content is generated.

Add-on Configuration

The add-on exposes the following general settings to AcyMailing. The menu item can also be overridden for each inserted block.

Inserting One Event

1. Open or create an email in AcyMailing.
2. Add dynamic content and select JEM Events.
3. Open the One by one tab.
4. Optionally search by event ID, title, alias, introduction or venue.
5. Optionally select a JEM category to narrow the event list.
6. Select the event to insert.
7. Choose the display and link options described below.
8. Insert the content and verify it in the email preview.

Individual and Group Display Options

Inserting Events by Category

The By category tab creates dynamic content from one or more JEM categories. It is useful for a block such as “Next events”, “Featured concerts” or a recurring weekly agenda.

1. Open the JEM Events dynamic-content integration.
2. Select the By category tab.
3. Select one or more JEM categories. If no category is selected, all published categories can contribute events.
4. Choose the event order, date range, open-date behaviour and featured filter.
5. Set the maximum number of events and the column layout.
6. Choose the same title, date, venue, image, description and link options used for individual events.
7. Insert the generated block and test it with current JEM data.

Category and Automatic Content Options

Event Selection Rules

The add-on applies the following rules when it resolves dynamic event content:

• Only published JEM events are inserted.
• The JEM publication start and publication end dates are respected for category-generated content.
• Selected JEM categories are matched through the event-category relations.
• The From date defaults to the current date for dated events.
• The To date is optional.
• Open-date events are controlled separately by the Open-date Events option.
• The featured filter is applied only when Featured Events Only is enabled.
• The Only Newly Created filter uses the JEM event creation date.

Event Links and Joomla Menu Context

The add-on first checks the JEM Menu Item ID stored in the inserted block. If it is empty, it uses the add-on's general menu item setting. If neither value is available, it asks the JEM route helper to build the event URL.

A correct Itemid is useful when the destination event page must:

• Use a particular Joomla menu alias or SEF route.
• Display modules assigned to a specific JEM menu item.
• Preserve the expected template style and breadcrumb context.

Custom Layouts

AcyMailing can replace the standard event card with a custom HTML view. The main JEM placeholders are:

Raw JEM event fields detected by the add-on can also be available to the custom-view editor. Prefer the documented placeholders above for layouts that should remain stable across JEM updates.

Basic Custom Layout Example

<div class="jem-newsletter-event">
  <h2><a href="/{link}">{title}</a></h2>
  {date}
  {venue}
  <div class="jem-newsletter-description">{wrappedText}</div>
  {readmore}
</div>

Common Use Cases

Single Event Announcement

• Use One by one.
• Enable title, date, venue, image, description and read more.
• Use a JEM Itemid if the event page requires a particular menu context.

Weekly Upcoming Events Newsletter

• Use By category.
• Set From to the current date and To to seven days later.
• Order by date ascending and set a suitable maximum number of events.
• Exclude open-date events unless they belong in the agenda.

Featured Events Campaign

• Select the relevant categories.
• Enable Featured Events Only.
• Use a two-column layout when event images are suitable for narrower cards.

Open-date Events Block

• Set Open-date Events to Only.
• Consider disabling the date display because these events do not have a fixed start date.
• Use the description to explain how the reader can obtain scheduling information.

Operational Recommendations

• Send a test email as well as checking the browser preview; email clients can render columns and images differently.
• Keep the maximum number of generated events reasonable to avoid oversized emails.
• Use event introduction text rather than very long descriptions in newsletters.
• Verify that event and venue images use paths accessible from the public website.
• Test generated links with Joomla SEF enabled and disabled if the site configuration is changing.
• After updating AcyMailing, confirm that administrator/components/com_acym/dynamics/jem still exists and that JEM Events remains available in the editor.

Troubleshooting

Alternative Module Integration

JEM also includes an AcyMailing-oriented layout for the JEM Basic Module. That method remains useful when an email should reproduce a module's configured output. The JEM Events add-on is preferable when editors need to select events directly, filter categories, or generate automatic event content inside AcyMailing.

Related Documentation

• AcyMailing: Making a custom add-on
• AcyMailing: Insert a custom block in a Joomla email
• JEM forum: JEM, AcyMailing and Joomla 5/6 compatibility case