Add admin setting to change default Calendar view (Month / Week / Year)

Contribute Feature
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AI-generated summary

Ethsim2 requested an admin setting to configure the default view for the /upcoming-events page, noting that many communities prefer a weekly view for timetables and shift patterns. The current default is the Month view, which requires users to switch views repeatedly. While a Theme Component could force a redirect, it is considered hacky and lacks granular control.

Ethsim2 initially submitted a pull request (#35861) to hardcode the default to Week. Ethsim2 clarified that this should be a proper site setting rather than an app.yml variable, as Ember requires declared settings. manuel suggested using generic URLs for sidebar links, but Ethsim2 argued for a centralized admin setting to manage user preferences globally.

Following a request from j.jaffeux, yuriy implemented the feature in pull request #36014. The new setting, Calendar upcoming events default view, allows admins to set the default to Month, Week, or Year.

Ethsim2 suggested a follow-up enhancement: allowing users to override the site default with a personal preference, establishing a precedence of explicit URL > user preference > site default. lindsey closed the topic as the original request is complete but offered to move the follow-up suggestion to a new feature topic if desired.

1

Hi there :waving_hand:

For sites that rely heavily on the Upcoming Events page, many community members prefer a weekly view by default. Currently, /upcoming-events always loads the Month view first, even if a user prefers Week (or Day, Year).

Feature request

Add a simple admin site setting to configure which view /upcoming-events loads by default:

upcoming events default view:
  - /upcoming-events/month   (current default)
  - /upcoming-events/week
  - /upcoming-events/year

Why this matters

  • Weekly view is more practical for teaching timetables, shift patterns, and events-dense communities
  • Reduces repeated switching every time users visit the page
  • Improves UX parity with mobile calendar apps that default to Week view

Current workaround

Admins can force redirect to /upcoming-events/week (prior to upcoming-events/week/2025/10/27) with a Theme Component, but that:

  • is hacky
  • applies to everyone globally (hard to scope)
  • doesn’t give true admin UX control

Thank you! This would be a small change with a big usability improvement for event-focused communities :raising_hands:

2 Likes
Discourse Events
2

this is to hard code the default to Week, rather than Month. It’s simple, but not yet a site-setting - it lays the foundation for the more acceptable improvement

https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/35861

3

Why not just an app.yml var?

Ember code doesn’t read arbitrary env vars. Discourse only exposes declared site settings (config/settings.yml, client: true) to the client. That’s why you either:

  • add the setting in core (then set via app.yml), or
  • avoid settings and use a theme component redirect.
5

How about rather resolving generic urls, so you could use a custom link on the sidebar?

Right now these wouldn’t work:

/upcoming-events/day 
/upcoming-events/week 
/upcoming-events/month
/upcoming-events/year
1 Like
6

i’m “used to” upcoming events button that can’t be configured on the sidebar.

Furthermore, an admin setting could set the default of a user preference. Rather than all users being forced to set-up their own sidebar button/section, or accept a global section.

I hope i have changed the correct code in my PR, that we simply need to toggle what i changed based on a setting?…

8

@yuriy can you add a site setting for this please? Should be easy.

4 Likes
10

@Ethsim2, you actually did :smiley:

The new setting Calendar upcoming events default view is available now. The changes were implemented in:

https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/36014

5 Likes
11

Thanks again for getting this landed - the admin default view setting is a big UX win :+1:

Now that this exists, it might be worth considering a small follow-up enhancement: allowing users to optionally override the site default with a personal preference, while keeping the admin setting as the fallback.

That would give sites a strong default identity (Week vs Month), but still let individuals choose what works best for them - similar to how most calendar apps behave. A simple precedence like

explicit URL → user preference → site default

would keep behaviour predictable and backwards-compatible.

Not suggesting this replaces the current setting - just a possible next step if you think it fits the broader UX direction.

1 Like
Bug calendar event on mobile
12

Since the original request is complete, I’m going to close this topic.

@Ethsim2 if you would like to continue looking into that follow up request, I can move that into a new Contribute > Feature topic — just let me know!

1 Like
14

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