Date Variable Formatting¶

format=¶

The format= parameter enables you to format the date using the Date Formatting Codes listed below. Each code letter is always preceded by a percent sign. The example:

{current_time format="%F %d %Y"}

would be rendered like this:

January 15 2006

You are allowed to use any character you want within the format parameter, except a percent sign. For example, this:

{current_time format="%D, %F %d, %Y - %g:%i:%s"}

Would be rendered like this:

Mon, January 15, 2006 - 10:23:45

{current_time format="{DATE_ATOM}"}

2006-01-15T20:23:45-06:00

timezone=¶

The timezone= parameter will convert the date to the specified timezone:

timezone="America/Los_Angeles"

This will override the timezone specified in the localization settings in the control panel, and the member’s localization settings. PHP.net has a list of supported timezones.

about=¶

The about= parameter determines what text to use when the date has been rounded. The default is “about”. For example, assuming a date 1 hour and 50 minutes ago this:

{entry_date:relative about="nearly"}

Would be rendered like this:

nearly 2 hours ago

depth=¶

The depth= parameter determines how many calculated units to display, starting from the largest non zero unit to the smallest. The default is “1”. When depth is 2 we will join the two units with “and”. For example, assuming a relative date 4 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes, and 1 second in the past this:

{entry_date:relative depth="2"}

Would be rendered like this:

4 days and 3 hours ago

When the depth is greater than 2 the units are displayed with commas. Using the same date as above this:

{entry_date:relative depth="3"}

Would be rendered like this:

4 days, 3 hours, and 2 minutes ago

future=¶

The future= parameter determines what text is wrapped around the relative date when the date is in the future. Any text is allowed, and all copies of %s will be replaced with the relative date. The default is “in %s”. For example, assuming a date 2 days into the future, this:

{entry_date:relative future="%s until"}

Would be rendered like this:

2 days until

Another example:

{entry_date:relative future="in %s time"}

Would be rendered like this:

in 2 days time

less_than=¶

The less_than= parameter determines what text to use when the relative date is below the threshold of the smallest unit. The default is “less than”. For example, assuming a date only seconds old this:

{entry_date:relative units="minutes" less_than="not quite"}

Would be rendered like this:

not quite one minute ago

past=¶

The past= parameter determines what text is wrapped around the relative date when the date is in the past. Any text is allowed, and all copies of %s will be replaced with the relative date. The default is “ago”. For example, assuming a date 2 days ago, this:

{entry_date:relative past="%s in the past"}

Would be rendered like this:

2 days in the past

singular=¶

The singular= parameter determines what text to display when the value of a given unit is 1. The default is “one”. For example, assuming a date 1 day in the past this:

{entry_date:relative singular="1"}

Would be rendered like this:

1 day ago

stop=¶

The stop= parameter determines when to stop calculating a relative date and instead display a standard date. When this happens the format= and timezone= parameters will be processed. Any valid date/time string parameter for PHP’s strtotime() function is acceptable. ExpressionEngine will compute a timestamp based on the date and the provided stop= value. When the current timestamp is greater than or equal to the computed timestamp the date will be displayed as a standard date.

For example, if you want relative dates but only for one day:

{entry_date:relative stop="+1 day" format="%F %d %Y"}

Or perhaps you would rather show relative dates until midnight:

{entry_date:relative stop="tomorrow" format="%F %d %Y" timezone="Pacific/Tahiti"}

If an invalid value is used for stop= a relative date will be displayed.

units=¶

The units= parameter determines which parts of a relative date are calculated prior to displaying them. The following units are available:

• years
• months
• weeks
• days
• hours
• minutes
• seconds

When a unit is omitted the next smallest unit will reflect it. For example, assuming a date 8 days old this:

{entry_date:relative units="weeks|days"}

Would be rendered like this:

one week ago

But this:

{entry_date:relative units="days"}

Would be rendered like this:

8 days ago

The default is equivalent to:

units="years|months|weeks|days|hours|minutes|seconds"