HappenBoard installs like any other WordPress plugin. Check that your site meets the requirements, then install it from your WordPress admin or from a zip file.
Check the requirements
- WordPress 6.9 or later
- PHP 8.2 or later
- MySQL 5.7 or later, or MariaDB 10.3 or later
To see what your site runs, go to Tools → Site Health → Info. The WordPress section shows your WordPress version, Server shows the PHP version, and Database shows MySQL or MariaDB.
If a version is too old, WordPress refuses to activate HappenBoard and tells you why. Update WordPress from Dashboard → Updates. For PHP, ask your host to move your site to PHP 8.2 or later: most hosting control panels offer it as a setting.
Install from your WordPress admin
- Go to Plugins → Add Plugin.
- Search for
HappenBoard. - Click Install Now, then Activate.
Install from a zip file
- Go to Plugins → Add Plugin and click Upload Plugin.
- Choose the HappenBoard zip file and click Install Now.
- Click Activate Plugin.
After activation
A HappenBoard entry, with the HappenBoard ticket icon, appears in your WordPress menu. Click it: the setup wizard opens and sets your calendar and email defaults in three short steps.
Activation also gives Administrators and Editors access to HappenBoard. Editors can manage events, venues, organizers, attendees and bookings, but not the settings. Roles and permissions explains who can do what.
Your events get addresses such as example.com/events/summer-fair/. To use another word than events, change Event base in the Optional section of Settings → Permalinks. Choose it early: changing it later moves every event to a new address.
On a multisite network, network activation sets up every site, including the sites you create later.
Update HappenBoard
Updates arrive in Dashboard → Updates like any plugin update. The changelog lists what each version changes.
Version 0.2.0 updates your database on the first page load after the update: recurring events are rebuilt in your site’s time zone. Back up your site before you update.
Add HappenBoard Pro
HappenBoard Pro is a separate plugin, installed from a zip file on top of the free one. WordPress only activates it while HappenBoard is active. Installing HappenBoard Pro covers the steps and the licence key.
Next steps
- The setup wizard: set your calendar and email defaults.
- Create your first event: publish an event and see it on your site.
- Touring the admin interface: find your way around HappenBoard.