Date & Time

The [date] shortcode provides flexible date and time display functionality with support for multiple formats, date sources, and timezone customization.

Basic Usage#

[date]

Output: September 22, 2025

Parameters#

format#

Customize the date/time display format using PHP date format strings.

Default: F j, Y (September 22, 2025)

source#

Choose the date source to display.

Options:

• current – Current date/time (default)
• published – Post published date
• modified – Post last modified date

timezone#

Override the default WordPress site timezone.

Example: America/New_York, Europe/London, Australia/Sydney

Format Examples#

Date Only#

[date]                           → September 22, 2025
[date format="l, F j, Y"]        → Monday, September 22, 2025
[date format="m/d/Y"]            → 09/22/2025
[date format="M j, Y"]           → Sep 22, 2025
[date format="Y-m-d"]            → 2025-09-22

Date with Time#

[date format="F j, Y g:i a"]     → September 22, 2025 10:41 pm
[date format="l, F j, Y H:i:s"]  → Monday, September 22, 2025 22:41:45
[date format="m/d/Y h:i A"]      → 09/22/2025 10:41 PM
[date format="Y-m-d H:i"]        → 2025-09-22 22:41

Time Only#

[date format="g:i a"]            → 10:41 pm
[date format="H:i:s"]            → 22:41:45
[date format="h:i A"]            → 10:41 PM

Special Formats#

[date format="c"]                → 2025-09-22T22:41:45+00:00 (ISO 8601)
[date format="r"]                → Mon, 22 Sep 2025 22:41:45 +0000 (RFC 2822)
[date format="U"]                → 1758593305 (Unix timestamp)

Source Examples#

Current Date/Time#

[date]                           → Current date
[date format="F j, Y g:i a"]     → Current date and time

Post Published Date#

[date source="published"]                    → Post publish date
[date source="published" format="M j, Y"]   → Sep 22, 2025
[date source="published" format="F j, Y \a\t g:i a"] → September 22, 2025 at 10:41 pm

Post Modified Date#

[date source="modified"]                     → Post last modified date
[date source="modified" format="M j, Y"]    → Sep 22, 2025
[date source="modified" format="F j \a\t g:i a"] → September 22 at 10:41 pm

Timezone Examples#

Custom Timezones#

[date timezone="America/New_York"]           → Eastern Time
[date timezone="America/Los_Angeles"]        → Pacific Time
[date timezone="Europe/London"]              → GMT/BST
[date timezone="Australia/Sydney"]           → Australian Eastern Time

Combined Parameters#

[date source="published" format="l, F j, Y g:i a" timezone="America/New_York"]
→ Monday, September 22, 2025 6:41 pm (if site is UTC)

Common Use Cases#

Service Times#

Sunday Service: [date format="l \a\t g:i a"]

Output: Sunday Service: Monday at 10:41 pm

Event Dates#

Published on [date source="published" format="F j, Y"]

Output: Published on September 22, 2025

Last Updated#

Last updated: [date source="modified" format="M j, Y \a\t g:i a"]

Output: Last updated: Sep 22, 2025 at 10:41 pm

Copyright Year#

© [date format="Y"] Your Church Name

Output: © 2025 Your Church Name

Full Timestamp#

Generated on [date format="l, F j, Y \a\t g:i:s a T"]

Output: Generated on Monday, September 22, 2025 at 10:41:45 pm UTC

PHP Date Format Reference#

Common Format Characters#

| Character | Description | Example | |———–|————-|———| | Y | 4-digit year | 2025 | | y | 2-digit year | 25 | | F | Full month name | September | | M | Short month name | Sep | | m | Month with leading zeros | 09 | | n | Month without leading zeros | 9 | | j | Day without leading zeros | 22 | | d | Day with leading zeros | 22 | | l | Full day name | Monday | | D | Short day name | Mon | | g | 12-hour without leading zeros | 10 | | G | 24-hour without leading zeros | 22 | | h | 12-hour with leading zeros | 10 | | H | 24-hour with leading zeros | 22 | | i | Minutes | 41 | | s | Seconds | 45 | | a | am/pm lowercase | pm | | A | AM/PM uppercase | PM |

Escaping Text#

Use backslashes to include literal text in your format:

[date format="l, F j, Y \a\t g:i a"]
→ Monday, September 22, 2025 at 10:41 pm

Error Handling#

The shortcode includes built-in error handling:

• Invalid source: Falls back to current
• Invalid timezone: Falls back to WordPress site timezone
• Invalid format: Falls back to default format (F j, Y)
• Missing post data: Falls back to current time when using published or modified outside of post context

Notes#

• The shortcode respects your WordPress site’s timezone settings by default
• Post dates are retrieved in GMT and converted to the specified timezone
• All output is properly escaped for security
• The shortcode works in posts, pages, widgets, and template files where shortcodes are processed