I wrote a plugin to customize the Events List widget that ships with Modern Tribe’s The Events Calendar Pro plugin. The widget has an option to hide completely when there are no upcoming events. The alternative displays the dreaded “There are no upcoming events at this time” in an otherwise empty Events List widget. I love the idea of not including the widget at all if there are no events, but what if this is the only widget in a sidebar or widget area? Sometimes, I want to display something in place of the widget instead of leaving the space empty. Here’s a plugin that does exactly that.
Download plugin
https://github.com/csalzano/the-events-calendar-list-widget-replacement
Where does the replacement content live?
Create a file at wp-content/themes/your-theme/tribe-events/pro/widgets/list-widget-replacement.php that contains the content you wish to display in place of the Events List widget when there are no upcoming events.
If you’re using the free version of The Events Calendar, create the file at wp-content/themes/your-theme/tribe-events/widgets/list-widget-replacement.php
(This file sits right next to list-widget.php, the template you might create to modify the output of the Events List widget. I chose these locations in the spirit of The Events Calendar Themer’s Guide.)
Here’s what my file looks like–I wrote some HTML that mimics a widget so I didn’t have to write any additional CSS styles for the replacement content. My client is a local municipality, so I put together some numbers that describe the size and age of a small Pennsylvania township.