KD Kumar

Hi Gasoj,

Thanks for clarifying the requirement. We understand the use case now — you want a simple datetime value available in standard WordPress post meta so that tools using get_posts() / WP_Query can sort Eventixa events without needing to know about Eventixa’s custom tables.

We have a compatibility solution you can use right away.

Add the following snippet to your active theme’s functions.php file or, preferably, a small custom plugin. It hooks into Eventixa’s existing event-settings save action and creates synchronized datetime compatibility metadata whenever an event is saved.

It creates the following post meta values:

• _evx_start_datetime → 2026-08-20 19:00:00
• _evx_end_datetime → 2026-08-20 21:00:00
• _evx_start_datetime_utc → UTC equivalent
• _evx_end_datetime_utc → UTC equivalent
• _evx_duration → duration in seconds
• _evx_all_day → 1 or 0

add_action(
	'eventixa_event_settings_saved',
	'my_eventixa_sync_datetime_compatibility_meta',
	30,
	2
);

function my_eventixa_sync_datetime_compatibility_meta( $post_id, $values ) {

	$post_id = absint( $post_id );

	if ( ! $post_id ) {
		return;
	}

	$post = get_post( $post_id );

	if ( ! $post || 'eventixa_event' !== $post->post_type ) {
		return;
	}

	if ( wp_is_post_revision( $post_id ) ) {
		return;
	}

	if ( defined( 'DOING_AUTOSAVE' ) && DOING_AUTOSAVE ) {
		return;
	}

	$start_date = isset( $values['start_date'] )
		? trim( (string) $values['start_date'] )
		: '';

	$start_time = isset( $values['start_time'] )
		? trim( (string) $values['start_time'] )
		: '';

	$end_date = isset( $values['end_date'] )
		? trim( (string) $values['end_date'] )
		: '';

	$end_time = isset( $values['end_time'] )
		? trim( (string) $values['end_time'] )
		: '';

	$all_day = ! empty( $values['all_day'] );

	if ( empty( $start_date ) ) {
		my_eventixa_delete_datetime_compatibility_meta( $post_id );
		return;
	}

	if ( empty( $start_time ) ) {
		$start_time = '00:00';
	}

	if ( empty( $end_date ) ) {
		$end_date = $start_date;
	}

	if ( empty( $end_time ) ) {
		$end_time = $all_day ? '23:59:59' : $start_time;
	}

	$start_time = my_eventixa_normalize_time( $start_time );
	$end_time   = my_eventixa_normalize_time( $end_time );

	if ( false === $start_time || false === $end_time ) {
		my_eventixa_delete_datetime_compatibility_meta( $post_id );
		return;
	}

	$start_datetime_string = $start_date . ' ' . $start_time;
	$end_datetime_string   = $end_date . ' ' . $end_time;

	$timezone = \Eventixa\Support\DateTimeFormatter::timezone();

	try {
		$start_local = new DateTimeImmutable(
			$start_datetime_string,
			$timezone
		);

		$end_local = new DateTimeImmutable(
			$end_datetime_string,
			$timezone
		);
	} catch ( Exception $exception ) {
		my_eventixa_delete_datetime_compatibility_meta( $post_id );
		return;
	}

	$start_local_string = $start_local->format( 'Y-m-d H:i:s' );
	$end_local_string   = $end_local->format( 'Y-m-d H:i:s' );

	$utc_timezone = new DateTimeZone( 'UTC' );

	$start_utc = $start_local->setTimezone( $utc_timezone );
	$end_utc   = $end_local->setTimezone( $utc_timezone );

	$start_utc_string = $start_utc->format( 'Y-m-d H:i:s' );
	$end_utc_string   = $end_utc->format( 'Y-m-d H:i:s' );

	$duration = max(
		0,
		$end_utc->getTimestamp() - $start_utc->getTimestamp()
	);

	update_post_meta(
		$post_id,
		'_evx_start_datetime',
		$start_local_string
	);

	update_post_meta(
		$post_id,
		'_evx_end_datetime',
		$end_local_string
	);

	update_post_meta(
		$post_id,
		'_evx_start_datetime_utc',
		$start_utc_string
	);

	update_post_meta(
		$post_id,
		'_evx_end_datetime_utc',
		$end_utc_string
	);

	update_post_meta(
		$post_id,
		'_evx_duration',
		$duration
	);

	update_post_meta(
		$post_id,
		'_evx_all_day',
		$all_day ? 1 : 0
	);
}

/**
 * Normalize an Eventixa time value.
 */
function my_eventixa_normalize_time( $time ) {

	$time = trim( (string) $time );

	if ( '' === $time ) {
		return false;
	}

	if ( preg_match( '/^\d{2}:\d{2}$/', $time ) ) {
		return $time . ':00';
	}

	if ( preg_match( '/^\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}$/', $time ) ) {
		return $time;
	}

	if ( preg_match( '/^\d{1,2}$/', $time ) ) {
		$hour = absint( $time );

		if ( $hour > 23 ) {
			return false;
		}

		return sprintf( '%02d:00:00', $hour );
	}

	return false;
}

/**
 * Delete all Eventixa datetime compatibility metadata.
 */
function my_eventixa_delete_datetime_compatibility_meta( $post_id ) {

	$meta_keys = array(
		'_evx_start_datetime',
		'_evx_end_datetime',
		'_evx_start_datetime_utc',
		'_evx_end_datetime_utc',
		'_evx_duration',
		'_evx_all_day',
	);

	foreach ( $meta_keys as $meta_key ) {
		delete_post_meta( $post_id, $meta_key );
	}
}

For existing events, after adding the snippet, open the event in WordPress and click Update once. That will generate the compatibility metadata for that event.

After that, a standard query can sort events by the combined datetime value.

Because the values are stored in Y-m-d H:i:s format, their lexical order is also their chronological order.

The local datetime values use Eventixa’s configured timezone, while the _utc variants are available when an integration needs timezone-neutral values.

Eventixa’s normalized event/occurrence tables would still remain the canonical source for Eventixa itself, especially for recurring events. These post-meta values are intended as a compatibility layer for standard WordPress queries and third-party integrations.

Your feedback around WP_Query, migration tools and ElasticPress has been very useful, and we’re also considering whether a small compatibility layer like this would make sense as part of Eventixa itself in a future update.

Thanks again for explaining the use case in detail.

Hi Gasoj,

You’re very welcome — and that sounds like a useful migration tool! 🙂

Yes, once you get into Eventixa’s data structure, you’ll notice that the dedicated evx_* tables handle much of the data that would otherwise require more complex postmeta queries, especially for occurrences, bookings, attendees, and related event data.

We’re glad the explanation helped simplify your implementation.

If you run into any questions while working on the migration from The Events Calendar (tribe_events) to Eventixa, feel free to open another topic. We’ll be happy to clarify how Eventixa stores or expects particular data.

Thanks again for taking the time to explore Eventixa – events calendar, tickets and booking in depth and for sharing your feedback with us!