wp_date() – Function | Developer.WordPress.org

Retrieves the date, in localized format.

Description

This is a newer function, intended to replace date_i18n() without legacy quirks in it.

Note that, unlike date_i18n(), this function accepts a true Unix timestamp, not summed with timezone offset.

Parameters

$formatstringrequired: PHP date format.
$timestampintoptional: Unix timestamp. Defaults to current time.
Default:null
$timezoneDateTimeZoneoptional: Timezone to output result in. Defaults to timezone from site settings.
Default:null

Return

string|false The date, translated if locale specifies it. False on invalid timestamp input.

Source

function wp_date( $format, $timestamp = null, $timezone = null ) {	global $wp_locale;	if ( null === $timestamp ) {	$timestamp = time();	} elseif ( ! is_numeric( $timestamp ) ) {	return false;	}	if ( ! $timezone ) {	$timezone = wp_timezone();	}	$datetime = date_create( '@' . $timestamp );	$datetime->setTimezone( $timezone );	if ( empty( $wp_locale->month ) || empty( $wp_locale->weekday ) ) {	$date = $datetime->format( $format );	} else {	// We need to unpack shorthand `r` format because it has parts that might be localized.	$format = preg_replace( '/(?<!\\\\)r/', DATE_RFC2822, $format );	$new_format = '';	$format_length = strlen( $format );	$month = $wp_locale->get_month( $datetime->format( 'm' ) );	$weekday = $wp_locale->get_weekday( $datetime->format( 'w' ) );	for ( $i = 0; $i < $format_length; $i++ ) {	switch ( $format[ $i ] ) {	case 'D':	$new_format .= addcslashes( $wp_locale->get_weekday_abbrev( $weekday ), '\\A..Za..z' );	break;	case 'F':	$new_format .= addcslashes( $month, '\\A..Za..z' );	break;	case 'l':	$new_format .= addcslashes( $weekday, '\\A..Za..z' );	break;	case 'M':	$new_format .= addcslashes( $wp_locale->get_month_abbrev( $month ), '\\A..Za..z' );	break;	case 'a':	$new_format .= addcslashes( $wp_locale->get_meridiem( $datetime->format( 'a' ) ), '\\A..Za..z' );	break;	case 'A':	$new_format .= addcslashes( $wp_locale->get_meridiem( $datetime->format( 'A' ) ), '\\A..Za..z' );	break;	case '\\':	$new_format .= $format[ $i ];	// If character follows a slash, we add it without translating.	if ( $i < $format_length ) {	$new_format .= $format[ ++$i ];	}	break;	default:	$new_format .= $format[ $i ];	break;	}	}	$date = $datetime->format( $new_format );	$date = wp_maybe_decline_date( $date, $format );	}	/** * Filters the date formatted based on the locale. * * @since 5.3.0 * * @param string $date Formatted date string. * @param string $format Format to display the date. * @param int $timestamp Unix timestamp. * @param DateTimeZone $timezone Timezone. */	$date = apply_filters( 'wp_date', $date, $format, $timestamp, $timezone );	return $date; }

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Hooks

apply_filters( ‘wp_date’, string $date, string $format, int $timestamp, DateTimeZone $timezone ): Filters the date formatted based on the locale.

Uses	Description
wp_timezone()`wp-includes/functions.php`	Retrieves the timezone of the site as a `DateTimeZone` object.
wp_maybe_decline_date()`wp-includes/functions.php`	Determines if the date should be declined.
WP_Locale::get_month()`wp-includes/class-wp-locale.php`	Retrieves the full translated month by month number.
WP_Locale::get_month_abbrev()`wp-includes/class-wp-locale.php`	Retrieves translated version of month abbreviation string.
WP_Locale::get_meridiem()`wp-includes/class-wp-locale.php`	Retrieves translated version of meridiem string.
WP_Locale::get_weekday()`wp-includes/class-wp-locale.php`	Retrieves the full translated weekday word.
WP_Locale::get_weekday_abbrev()`wp-includes/class-wp-locale.php`	Retrieves the translated weekday abbreviation.
apply_filters()`wp-includes/plugin.php`	Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.

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Used by	Description
WP_Sitemaps_Posts::get_url_list()`wp-includes/sitemaps/providers/class-wp-sitemaps-posts.php`	Gets a URL list for a post type sitemap.
get_post_time()`wp-includes/general-template.php`	Retrieves the localized time of the post.
get_post_modified_time()`wp-includes/general-template.php`	Retrieves the time at which the post was last modified.
date_i18n()`wp-includes/functions.php`	Retrieves the date in localized format, based on a sum of Unix timestamp and timezone offset in seconds.
mysql2date()`wp-includes/functions.php`	Converts given MySQL date string into a different format.

Changelog

Version	Description
5.3.0	Introduced.

User Contributed Notes

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Marc Heatley 5 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 2You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
To get a translatable the_date(); equivalent, you will need:
```
echo wp_date( get_option( 'date_format' ), get_post_timestamp() ); ?>
```
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Cameron Jones 4 years ago

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Useful background information: https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/09/23/date-time-improvements-wp-5-3/

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Luiz Bills 4 years ago

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PHP Date Formats: https://www.php.net/manual/en/datetime.format.php#refsect1-datetime.format-parameters

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Rahi Saiful 2 years ago

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To get the date and time from the timestamp you can use this code
```
$dateTimeFormat = get_option( 'date_format' ) . ' ' . get_option( 'time_format' ); echo wp_date( $dateTimeFormat, get_post_timestamp() );
```
You can use your own timestamp instead of get_post_timestamp()
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Marc Heatley 5 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: -3You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
Be aware that this function returns a date, but not echoes it.

When I picked it up my muscle memory told me
- wp_date(); would echo
- and something like get_wp_date(); would just return
I think the reason is becase it’s a drop-in replacement for PHP’s date(); not WordPress’ the_date();
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wp_date( string $format, int $timestamp = null, DateTimeZone $timezone = null ): string|false

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