GatherPress

Last updated July 11, 2026, Version 0.34

• Documentation for developers

GatherPress lets developers customize the event Duration control in the block editor through two JavaScript filters:

1. gatherpress.durationOptions — change the list of selectable durations.
2. gatherpress.durationDefault — choose which duration is selected by default.

Both are registered with wp.hooks.addFilter (the @wordpress/hooks package) and follow the JavaScript hook naming convention (gatherpress.camelCase).

When the editor shows the event date and time, it renders either the Duration select (a preset such as “2 hours”) or the Date Time End picker (an absolute end time). The Duration select is shown whenever the event’s end matches one of the duration options; picking “Set an end time…” switches to the absolute picker.

gatherpress.durationOptions

Filters the array of duration presets shown in the Duration select.

Each option is an object with:

• label (string) — the text shown in the dropdown.
• value (number | false) — the duration in hours, or false for the
  “Set an end time…” entry that switches to the absolute end-time picker.

import { addFilter } from '@wordpress/hooks';
addFilter(
    'gatherpress.durationOptions',
    'my-plugin/duration-options',
    ( options ) => [
        { label: '3 hours', value: 3 },
        { label: '6 hours', value: 6 },
        { label: 'All day', value: 24 },
        // Keep a "Set an end time…" entry if you still want the absolute
        // end-time picker to be reachable.
        { label: 'Set an end time…', value: false },
    ]
);

The value you return replaces the default list entirely, so include every option you want available (and the false entry if you want to keep the absolute end-time picker).

gatherpress.durationDefault

Filters the preferred default duration, in hours, for a new event. The default is 2.

import { addFilter } from '@wordpress/hooks';
addFilter(
    'gatherpress.durationDefault',
    'my-plugin/duration-default',
    () => 6
);

The returned value is honored only when it matches one of the available durationOptions. If it does not (for example, you return 6 but 6 is not in the list), GatherPress falls back to the first real duration in the list so the Duration select always has a matching preset. This guard prevents a default that maps to no option, which would otherwise hide the Duration select behind the absolute end-time picker.

How the two filters work together

The default duration is resolved against the (possibly filtered) options:

• If gatherpress.durationDefault returns a value that is one of the
  durationOptions, that value is the default.
• Otherwise the first option with a numeric value (skipping the
  “Set an end time…” entry) becomes the default.
• With the built-in options unchanged, the default stays 2 hours.

So if you provide a custom durationOptions list that does not include 2, you do not have to set gatherpress.durationDefault as well — the first duration in your list is used automatically. Set gatherpress.durationDefault only when you want a specific entry (other than the first) to be the default.