Template:Date
| 40px | This template is used on approximately 45,000 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.
Transclusion count updated automatically (see documentation). |
Contents
Description
This template converts a date to one of the standard date formats used on the English Wikipedia.
This template should only be used internally in other templates.
If you want sortable dates for a table, use {{date table sorting}} instead.
Syntax
This template takes up to two parameters, both of which are optional:
{{date|<date to be formatted>|<date formatting style>}}
- <date to be formatted> is an (optional) date to be formatted.
- If no date is specified, the template emits the current date.
For example,{{date}}produces Template:Tfm
- If no date is specified, the template emits the current date.
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace {{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|*error*}}|| }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}}. To avoid emitting the current date if none is input, use Template:fdate.
- If a date is provided, but is not recognized as one, the text is just returned as is. Most dates will however be recognized as such, including all the formats typically used on Wikipedia. Numerous variations thereof are also supported, including abbreviated or lower-case month names; ordinal "st", "nd", "rd", "th"; extraneous white space; missing comma, etc.
- Notes:
- Some dates are converted even if they are not real dates, and some dates are not converted even though they are real dates. See known issues below.
- Only dates within the range Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace {{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|January 1, 1000}}||January 1, 1000 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}} and Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace {{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|December 31, 9999}}||December 31, 9999 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}} are supported. Dates with two-digit years will have the years from 1970 to 2069. Other dates outside the range 1000–9999 will be treated as if the second parameter were "none".
- when using month numbers in numeric, the valid formats are MM/DD/YYYY, DD-MM-YYYY, DD.MM.YYYY, YYYY/MM/DD, YYYY-MM-DD, MM/DD/YY, YY-MM-DD, DD.MM.YY, the invalid formats are DD/MM/YYYY, MM-DD-YYYY, MM.DD.YY, YYYY.MM.DD, MM.DD.YYYY, DD-MM-YY, YY/MM/DD, DD/MM/YY, YY.MM.DD
- <date formatting style> controls the date format in which the result is to be emitted. Recognized values for the second parameter are:
DMYgives d mmmm yyyy (e.g. Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace {{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|2007-05-31}}||2007-05-31 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:DMY}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:DMY}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}}). This is the default format.
MDYgives mmmm d, yyyy (e.g. Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace {{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|2007-05-31}}||2007-05-31 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:MDY}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:MDY}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}})
YMDgives yyyy mmmm d (e.g. Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace {{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|2007-05-31}}||2007-05-31 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:YMD}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:YMD}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}})
ISOgives an ISO 8601 style yyyy-mm-dd (e.g. Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace {{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|2007-05-31}}||2007-05-31 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:ISO}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:ISO}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}})
noneapplies no formatting whatsoever
- If a date to be formatted is provided but no style is specified, the template emits a date in "d month yyyy" format, as it appears (for example) on discussion pages. When no date is specified, then the current date is emitted with no year, either in "d month" format for formatting style
DMY, or in "month d" format for formatting stylesMDY,YMDandISO. - Notes:
- Although these are the four formats supported by MediaWiki's date autoformatting mechanism, only
DMY/lDMYandMDY/lMDYare in accordance with the English language Wikipedia's Manual of Style. The use ofISO/lISO(ISO 8601) format within article prose is expressly discouraged by the Manual of Style; this format should only be used in tables, lists, or references. - In each case, the result is exactly the same as what would be emitted by MediaWiki's date autoformatting mechanism.However, dates are not manipulated by MediaWiki's date autoformatting mechanism even when linked. This permits dates to have a consistent appearance regardless of whether they are linked or not.
- Wikipedia caches the current version of pages, and the template may display the date that the page was cached, rather than the current date.
- Although these are the four formats supported by MediaWiki's date autoformatting mechanism, only
Examples
With valid input
| Format | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| not specified | {{date|2006-08-04}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|Aug 4, 2006}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August 2006}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|Aug 4}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|2=}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
| DMY format | {{date|2006-08-04|DMY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|Aug 4, 2006|DMY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August 2006|DMY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August|DMY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|Aug 4|DMY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date||DMY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|2=DMY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|{{date}}|DMY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
| MDY format | {{date|2006-08-04|MDY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|Aug 4, 2006|MDY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August 2006|MDY}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August|MDY}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|Aug 4|MDY}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date||MDY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|2=MDY}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|{{date}}|MDY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
| YMD format | {{date|2006-08-04|YMD}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|Aug 4, 2006|YMD}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August 2006|YMD}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August|YMD}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|Aug 4|YMD}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date||YMD}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|2=YMD}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|{{date}}|YMD}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
| ISO format | {{date|2006-08-04|ISO}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|Aug 4, 2006|ISO}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August 2006|ISO}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August|ISO}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|Aug 4|ISO}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|{{#time: --m-d}}|ISO}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|2=ISO}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|{{date}}|ISO}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
| none format | {{date|2006-08-04|none}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|Aug 4, 2006|none}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August 2006|none}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|4 August|none}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|Aug 4|none}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date||none}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|2=none}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace | |
{{date|{{date}}|none}}
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Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
Other acceptable input
A wide variety of other input formats are handled correctly by the template:
| Input | Output |
|---|---|
{{date|1st December 2008}} (ordinal 'st')
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|June 24 2006}} (missing comma)
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|24 june 2006}} (lowercase month name)
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|24 jun}} (abbreviated month name)
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|June 2006}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|2006 June}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|05/31/2012}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|31-05-2012}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
Invalid input
Input strings that the template cannot format are returned unaltered. This includes strings containing characters such as square brackets, so any links will result in unformatted output.
| Input | Output |
|---|---|
{{date|23007-031-24}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|[[1 December]] [[2008]]|YMD}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|1 December [[2008 in film|2008]]|MDY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|2008 December 1|DMY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|2008 December 1|MDY}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|2008 December 1|ISO}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|June 2006|ISO}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|--08-24}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|-08-24}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|08-24}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|2006-08--}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|2006-08-}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|32 Aug}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|932 Aug}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|0932 Aug}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|Aug 32}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|Aug 932}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|Aug 0932}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|31/05/2012}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
{{date|05-31-2012}}
|
Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace |
Known issues
- Out-of-range values are "fixed"
- The PHP library, that this template ultimately depends on, converts out-of-range values to the next-best in-range values. As a result, some date-like values that are not actually valid dates get converted anyway. These include...
- all dates with zero day-of-the-month. Such a "zero-th" day of a month gets converted into the last day of the previous month.For example,
{{date|June 0, 2006}}results inTemplate:Tfm
- all dates with zero day-of-the-month. Such a "zero-th" day of a month gets converted into the last day of the previous month.
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace {{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|June 0, 2006}}||June 0, 2006 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}}.{{date|0 January 2006}} becomes Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace {{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|0 January 2006}}||0 January 2006 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}}.- all dates with day-number values that exceed the number of days in the specified month cause the date to be incremented into the next month.For example,
{{date|31 November 2008}}results inTemplate:Tfm
- all dates with day-number values that exceed the number of days in the specified month cause the date to be incremented into the next month.
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace , since November has only 30 days.{{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|31 November 2008}}||31 November 2008 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}}
{{date|February 29, 2007}} results in Template:Tfm
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace {{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|February 29, 2007}}||February 29, 2007 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}}, since 2007 was not a leap year.- Non-Gregorian dates are treated as Gregorian
- The PHP library that this template ultimately depends on assumes that all dates, irrespective of context, are Gregorian calendar dates. Consequently:
- some dates that would be valid in a non-Gregorian context are treated as out-of-range dates and converted to the next-best in-range values. For example,
{{date|30 February 1712}}results inTemplate:Tfm
- some dates that would be valid in a non-Gregorian context are treated as out-of-range dates and converted to the next-best in-range values. For example,
{{subst:empty template|This template must be substituted. Replace because – even though 30 February 1712 is a valid date in the Swedish calendar – February 1712 had only 29 days in the Gregorian calendar.
{{ with {{subst:.}}{{date|{{subst:#time:j F Y|{{subst:#iferror:{{subst:#time:Y|30 February 1712}}||30 February 1712 }}}}|{{subst:#switch:{{subst:lc:}}|none|asis|mdy|lmdy|ymd|lymd|iso|liso|ldmy={{subst:lc:}}|dmy|#default=dmy}}}}
- ten dates are not reformatted. These are 29 February & 1 March of the years 1000, 1100, 1300, 1400, 1500. The cause of this is the same as that of the Swedish 30 February 1712.
- some dates that would not be valid in some contexts are converted normally. For example, 29 February 1912 or 1 February 1918 are not valid in a Russian context, but perfectly valid in the Gregorian one.
- ISO 8601 format not suitable for years before 1583
The ISO 8601 standard requires mutual agreement between those using the format to use years earlier than 1583. Since no agreement has been obtained from our readers, that format should not be used for such years, nor for any date not in the Gregorian calendar.
- Output provided for ISO dates when year is missing
The current 2004 version of ISO 8601 does not permit omitting the year, but this template will produce a supposedly ISO output when the year is missing.
- Does not provide Microformats
- hCalendar and hCard microformats have various date properties, which are not emitted by this template. Use {{Start date}}, {{End date}}, {{Birth date}} or one of their variants, as necessary, in infoboxes which allow microformat-compatible date templates.
See also
| 40x40px | This template does not put a working clock on your page. The clock will not update the time on your screen every minute. Instead, it records the date and time that the page was most recently edited or purged. If you want a clock that constantly updates, then go to Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets and enable the Appearance item, "Add a clock to the personal toolbar that displays the current time in UTC and provides a link to purge the current page". |
Multiple units of time
| Type | Adjustable | Current | Last | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and time | {{time}} | {{Currentdate}} (MDY) {{Plain now}} (DMY) {{Now}} (DMY in a complete sentence) {{Simple now}} |
||
| Date only | {{Dateonly}} {{Datedow}} (Has the day of the week) |
{{Date}} (Chose format) {{DATE}} (prefixed by date=) {{TODAY}} (DMY) |
{{Yesterday}} {{Day-1}} |
{{Tomorrow}} {{Day+1}} |
| Time only | {{Timeonly}} | {{CURRENTTIME}} (12 h format) {{CURRENTTIME24}} (24 h format) |
||
| Banners | {{Right now}} (Blue with time and number of Wikipedia articles) |
|||
| Timestamp | {{Timestamp}} (Format YYYYMMDDhhmmss) |
Single units of time
Date and time templates made for substitution:
Month:
{{Lmonth}} produces Feb
{{Nmonth}} produces Apr
{{LastMonth}} produces February 2026
{{NextMonth}} produces April 2026
Individual templates
- {{Calendar}}
- {{Calendar clock with Wikipedia stats}}
- {{Clock}}
- {{Digital clock}}
- {{Digital clock and date}}
Categories of templates
- Category:Time, date and calendar templates
- Category:Date-computing templates
- Category:Date-computing templates based on current time
- Category:ISO date templates
- Category:Calendar templates
No description.
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| date | 1 | Date to be formatted
| Date | suggested |
| format | 2 | controls the date format for the result
| String | suggested |
| The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Date/doc. (edit | history) Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox (edit | diff) and testcases (edit) pages. Please add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template. |