Template:DATE

date=April 2025

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This template should always be substituted (i.e., use

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{{DATE}}

This template uses Lua:

Module:Template link general

This template, often abbreviated as {{}}, is used to provide stylized formatting to template displays without actually using the template itself. The code generated will be displayed inline. For a multi-line output, see {{tj}}.

Parameters

With the exception of alttext, the named parameters are toggles that are either omitted (default in most cases) or activated (by being assigned a value such as "on", "yes", "true", "include", etc.). They may be included in any order (see Examples below). Certain templates have the parameter "on" by default; see the main table for all alternate options.

Parameter	Action	Use with {{example}}	Default active
	Default (without accessory parameters)	{{example}}
brace	Include braces as part of the template link	{{example}}	{{tlw}}/{{tn}}
braceinside	Include innermost braces as part of the template link	{{example}}
bold	Renders the template link/name in bold	{{example}}	{{tlb}}, {{tlxb}}
code	Display output using HTML `‎<code>...‎</code>` tags (monospaced font)	`{{example}}`	{{tlc}}, {{Template link expanded}}, etc.
italic	Display any parameters accompanying the template link/name in italics	{{example\|param}}	{{tlxi}}
kbd	Display output using HTML `‎<kbd>...‎</kbd>` tags (monospaced font)	`{{example}}`
nolink	Don't render the template name as a link	{{example}}	{{tlf}}, {{tnull}}
nowrap	Prevent the insertion of line breaks (word wrap) in the output	{{example}}
nowrapname	Prevent word wrapping in the output of template name/link (parameters will wrap if needed)	{{example}}
plaincode	Uses `‎<code style="border:none; background:transparent;">...‎</code>`	`{{example}}`	{{tltss}}
subst	Include a subst: prefix before the template link/name	{{subst:example}}	{{tls}}, {{tlxs}}, etc
alttext=`[text]`	Replace `[text]` with the actual label to be displayed for the template link	{{Other}}	{{tla}}
_show_result	Will also display the result of the template	`{{Min\|7\|-5}}` → -5
_expand	Will add a link to the expanded template page	`{{Min\|7\|-5}}` [1]

Unnamed (Positional)

This template can take any number of unnamed parameters as parameters accompanying the template link (or name); see Examples below.

Examples

Code	Output	Remarks
{{DATE\|Banner}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Template:Banner does not exist. (Non-existent template is redlinked.)
{{DATE\|Abc}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Template:Abc exists.
{{DATE\|abC}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Template names are case-sensitive
{{DATE\|abc}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	(but the first letter is case-insensitive).
{{DATE\|x0}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	no parameters
{{DATE\|x1\|one}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	one parameter
{{DATE\|x2\|one\|two}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	two parameters
{{DATE\|x3\|1\|2\|3\|4\|5\|6\|7\|8\|9\|10}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	ten parameters
`{{tlg\|convert\|<nowiki>14\|m\|ftin\|abbr=out\|sp=us</nowiki>}}`	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Unlimited parameters, as one `‎<nowiki>...‎</nowiki>` string.
{{DATE\|x2\|\|two\|\|}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Empty parameters are discarded.
{{DATE\|x0\|code=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	<code> style
{{DATE\|x0\|plaincode=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	plaincode style
{{DATE\|x0\|kbd=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	<kbd> style
{{DATE\|x0\|bold=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	bold link/name
{{DATE\|x1\|one\|italic=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	parameter(s) in italics
{{DATE\|x0\|nolink=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}
{{DATE\|x0\|subst=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}
{{DATE\|x0\|brace=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	all braces in link
{{DATE\|x0\|braceinside=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	inside braces in link
{{DATE\|x0\|alttext=x0 link}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}
{{DATE\|x0\|bold=on\|code=on\|brace=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Combine multiple parameter settings.
`{{tlg\|x1\|{{spaces}}one{{spaces}}}}`	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Using {{spaces}} before and after a parameter.
{{DATE\|x2\|bold=on\|code=on\|one\|two}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Can combine named and anonymous parameters ...
{{DATE\|x2\|one\|two\|bold=on\|code=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	... in any order ...
{{DATE\|x2\|one\|code=on\|two\|bold=on\|three}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	... even intermixed ...
{{DATE\|x2\|one\|code=on\|two\|bold=on\|three\|italic=on}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	... with many configurations.
`{{tlg\|x1\|x=u}}`	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	= won't work
`{{tlg\|x1\|x=u}}`	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	`=` is okay
`{{tlg\|x1\|x{{=}}u}}`	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	`{{=}}` is okay (see Template:=)
`{{tlg\|x1\|x<nowiki>=</nowiki>u}}`	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Sticky nowiki is okay.
{{DATE\|x2\|3=two\|2=one}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Right-to-left is okay
{{DATE}}	DATE	With no arguments, it emits the current page name without braces.
{{DATE\|x2\|3=one\|4=two}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Null parameter stops parsing.

Wrapping of long names (default)
Code	Output
{{DATE\|long template name that would wrap to new line\|this is a long value for the 1st parameter that would wrap}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}

Wrapping of long names (`nowrap=on`)
Code	Output
{{DATE\|nowrap=on\|long template name that would wrap to new line\|long value for the 1st parameter that would wrap}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}

Wrapping of long names (`nowrapname=on`)
Code	Output
{{DATE\|nowrapname=on\|long template name that would wrap to new line\|long value for the 1st parameter that would wrap}}	date={{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}

Comparison of template-linking templates according to the styles of generated text and link produced
Text style ↓	`{{tlg}}` options^{[note 1]} to achieve text style	Link style
Text style ↓	`{{tlg}}` options^{[note 1]} to achieve text style	Linked	Unlinked	Linked with subst	Unlinked with subst	Linked including braces	Linked with alternative text
`{{tlg}}` options^{[note 1]} to achieve link style	—	DEFAULT	`nolink=yes`	`subst=yes`	`nolink=yes\|subst=yes`	`braceinside=yes`	`alttext=Foo` `2=Foo`
normal	DEFAULT	{{tlg}}^{[note 1]} {{tl}} {{tlp\|1\|2\|...}}^{[note 2]} {{Template:tlu}}^{[note 3]}	{{tlf}}^{[note 2]} ^{<template link>}	Template loop detected: Template:Tls {{subst:Template:tlsu}}^{[note 3]}	{{subst:tlsf}}^{[note 2]} ^{<template link>}	{{tn}}	{{tla}}
`code`	`code=yes`	`{{tl2}}` `{{tlx}}` `{{Template:tlxu}}`^{[note 3]}	`{{tlc}}`^{[note 2]} ^{<template link>} `{{tnull}}`^{<template link>}	`{{subst:tlxs}}`	`{{subst:tlsc}}`^{[note 2]} ^{<template link>}	—
monospace	`plaincode=yes`^{[note 4]}	—		{{subst:tltss}}^{[note 5]}	—
`kbd`	`kbd=yes`^{[note 5]}	—		{{subst:tltss}}^{[note 5]}	—
bold	`bold=yes`	{{tlb}}	—
`bold+code`	`bold=yes\|code=yes`	`{{tlxb}}`
`italic+code`	`italic=yes\|code=yes`	`{{tlxi}}`

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 {{tlg}} is the most general template, allowing any combination of text style and/or link style options.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Prevents wrapping of text by placing it inside ‎<span class="nowrap">...‎</span> tags.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Allows links to templates in any namespace.
↑ {{tlg|plaincode=yes}} uses ‎<code style="border:none; background-color:transparent;">...‎</code>.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Displays monospaced font using ‎<span style="font-family:monospace;">...‎</span>.

Other formatting templates

Templates producing specialised formatting effects for given templates, modules or parameters
Code example	Effect	Notes
`{{Tj\|Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref: yes\|category: no\|lang: fr}}`	{{Hatnote \| Some text \| selfref = yes \| category = no \| lang = fr }}	Supports colors, placeholder texts, named and unnamed parameters
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext"> {{Hatnote \| Some text \| selfref = yes \| category = no \| lang = fr }} </syntaxhighlight>	{{Hatnote \| Some text \| selfref = yes \| category = no \| lang = fr }}	Same as above
`{{Tji\|Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref: yes\|category: no\|lang: fr}}`	{{Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref=yes\|category=no\|lang=fr}}	Supports colors, placeholder texts, named and unnamed parameters
`<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>{{Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref=yes\|category=no\|lang=fr}}</syntaxhighlight>`	`{{Hatnote\|Some text\|selfref=yes\|category=no\|lang=fr}}`	Same as above
`{{tl2\|Hatnote\|lang=fr}}`	`{{hatnote}}`	Supports linking to sister projects (e.g., fr:Hatnote)
`{{demo\|<nowiki>{{Hatnote\|lang=fr\|Some text}}</nowiki>}}`	{{hatnote\|lang=fr\|Some text}} Some text	Shows code and example
`{{tln\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote	Produces a normal link to the template
`{{elc\|Template:Hatnote}}` `{{elc\|Template:Hatnote\|Hatnote}}`	`[[Template:Hatnote]]` `[[Template:Hatnote\|Hatnote]]`	Formats wikilink, with optional piped link text and blended suffix
`{{ml\|Example\|hello}}`	{{#invoke:Example\|hello}}	Counterpart to {{tl}} for linking to Lua modules
`{{mfl\|Example\|hello}}`	{{#invoke:Example\|hello}}	Similar to {{ml}}, but expects the function to be documented and creates a link to the corresponding section
`{{mlx\|Example\|hello}}`	`{{#invoke:Example\|hello}}`	Counterpart to {{tlx}} for linking to Lua modules
`{{ml-lua\|Module:Example\|hello}}`	`require('Module:Example')`	Link to Lua modules and built-in libraries, showing Lua code.
`{{para\|title\|<var>book title</var>}}`	`\|title=book title`	Formats template parameters for display, with or without values
`{{sclx\|LASTING}}`	`[[WP:LASTING]]`	Takes a shortcut suffix in project namespace and displays it with brackets and the WP: alias in a `‎<code>...‎</code>` tag.
`{{tag\|ref}}` `{{xtag\|templatedata}}`	`‎<ref>...‎</ref>` `<templatedata>`	Formats [X]HTML tags; can add content, choose opening, closing, or self-closing
`{{dtl\|Ping project}}`	{{d:Ping project}}	Wikidata counterpart to {{tl}}
`{{pf\|if}}` `{{pf\|if\|{{{1}}}\|true\|false}}`	{{#if}} {{#if:{{{1}}}\|true\|false}}	Parser function equivalent to {{tl}}
`{{magic word\|uc:}}`	{{uc:}}	Magic word links

With utility links

Templates producing utility links for a given template (Hatnote used here as example)
Code example	Effect
`{{lt\|Hatnote}}`	[[Template:]]
`{{lts\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote(edit talk links history)
`{{t links\|Hatnote}}`	{{Hatnote}} (edit talk history links # /subpages /doc /doc edit /sbox /sbox diff /test)
`{{tfd links\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote (talk · history · transclusions · logs · subpages)
`{{tetl\|Hatnote}}`	{{Hatnote}} links talk edit
`{{tsetl\|Hatnote}}`	{{subst:Hatnote}} links talk edit
`{{ti\|Hatnote}}`	{{Hatnote}}
`{{tic\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote (talk links edit)
`{{tim\|Hatnote}}`	m:Template:Hatnote (backlinks edit)
`{{tiw\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote (backlinks edit)
`{{tlt\|Hatnote}}`	{{Hatnote}} (talk)
`{{ttl\|Hatnote}}`	{{Hatnote}} (t/l)
`{{twlh\|Hatnote}}`	Template:Hatnote (links, talk)

Semantic markup templates

Template	Example output	Use
{{strong}}	Important!	To indicate <strong> importance, seriousness, or urgency instead of just simple typographical boldfacing
{{strongbad}}	"Never use ..."	Same as {{strong}} but in red
{{stronggood}}	"Only use ..."	Same as {{strong}} but in green
{{em}}	"An emphatic phrase"	To indicate <em> stress emphasis (not just purely typographical italicization like for book titles or foreign terms)
{{var}}	`strPrefix`	To indicate text is a variable name. Use for any variable names except those including "I" (uppercase i) and/or "l" (lowercase L); for these, {{var serif}} should be used to ensure a noticeable distinction
{{var serif}}	`strIllustratePrefix`	(see {{var}} above)
{{tld}}	`{{DEFAULTSORT:Y, X}}`	To display wikicode variables and magic words as they would appear in code
{{para}}	`\|year=2008`	To display template parameters with or without values
{{param}}	`{{{title\|alt}}}`	To display parameters as used in code (i.e. with triple braces), especially to indicate relationships between them. May be combined with {{para}} above
{{tjp}}	\|selfref=yes	To display template parameters with colors (as they would appear in the {{tj}} and {{tji}} templates)
{{param value}}	`··2·blanks·fore·and·aft··`	To display parameter values lightly bordered; replaces <code>...</code>, especially when value contains embedded or leading/trailing blanks; visualized here with middot (·) but can use ␠, ▯, or any character.
{{tlx}} etc.	`{{Template\|1\|2\|...\|10}}`	To display a template call (with or without parameters and values) as code
{{tji}}	{{hatnote\|Hello\|selfref=yes\|category=no}}	To showcase with colors in horizontal format the syntax of any template, while providing an easy way to display placeholder texts using colons as separators
{{tag}}	"The `‎<img>...‎</img>` tags ..."	To render HTML elements ("tags") in prose
{{code}}/{{codett}}	"Ensure the `alt=` parameter ..."	To indicate text is source code. To nest other templates within {{code}}, use `‎<code>...‎</code>`. {{codett}} differs only in styling: `someMethod` becomes `someMethod`
Template loop detected: Template:Tls	`{{small\|small text}}`	To wrap example code in `<code><nowiki>...</nowiki></code>`
Template loop detected: Template:Tls	`{{large\|large text}}`	To wrap example code in `<kbd><nowiki>...</nowiki></kbd>`
{{syntaxhighlight}}	_{[this is a block template]}	( or `{{sxhl}}` ) Wrapper for `‎<syntaxhighlight>...‎</syntaxhighlight>`, but will wrap overflowing text
{{deprecated code}}	"Do not use `‎<blink>`."	( or `{{dc}}` ) To indicate deprecated source code in template documentation, articles on HTML specs, etc. The `{{dc2}}` variant uses strike-through (`‎<blink>`) while `{{dcr}}` uses red (`‎<blink>`).
{{pre}}	_{[this is a block template]}	For larger blocks of source code and other pre-formatted text
{{tj}}	_{[this is a block template]}	To showcase with colors and multiple lines (vertical format) the syntax of any template, while providing an easy way to display placeholder texts using colons as separators
{{quote}}	_{[this is a block template]}	For block quotations (only – never for non-quotations)
{{block indent}}	_{[this is a block template]}	For indented blocks of material; visually identical to `{{quote}}` but without quote markup
{{kbd}}	`user input`	To indicate user input
{{key press}}	`Ctrl`+`x`	To indicate specific-keystroke input, including combinations
{{key top}}	`Left shift`	Similar; includes more symbols, but does not directly support combinations
{{button}}	`Don't save`	To indicate a button in a user interface
{{samp}}	`example output`	To indicate sample or example output

Usage

This template will create the date= parameter in the proper format needed by most maintenance and clean-up templates that auto-include maintenance categories with the tags.

Example use:

{{unreferenced|{{subst:DATE}}}}

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 OODA WIKI articles)
Timestamp		{{Timestamp}} (Format YYYYMMDDhhmmss)

Unit of time	Adjustable	Current	Last	Next
SECOND		{{CURRENTSECOND}}
MINUTE		{{CURRENTMINUTE}}
HOUR		{{CURRENTHOUR}}
WEEK		{{CURRENTWEEK}} {{CURRENTWEEKOFMONTH}}
Day of Week	{{DAYOFWEEK}}	{{CURRENTDAYNAME}} {{CURRENTWEEKDAYABBREV}} {{CURRENTWEEKDAY}}
MONTH	{{MONTHNAME}} {{MONTHABBREV}} {{MONTHNUMBER}} {{MONTH}} (zero padded)	{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTMONTHABBREV}} {{CURRENTMONTH1}} {{CURRENTMONTHDAYS}}	{{LASTMONTHNAME}}	{{NEXTMONTHNAME}}
Day of Month		{{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTDAY2}} (zero padded)
YEAR		{{CURRENTYEARCC}} {{CURRENTYEARYY}} {{CURRENTISOYEAR}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}	{{LASTYEAR}}	{{NEXTYEAR}}
Day of Year		{{CURRENTDAYOFYEAR}}
DECADE	{{DECADE}}	{{CURRENTDECADE}}
CENTURY	{{CENTURY}}	{{CURRENTCENTURY}}
MILLENNIUM	{{MILLENNIUM}}

Parameters

Unnamed (Positional)

Examples

See also

General-purpose formatting

Other formatting templates

With utility links

Usage

See also

Multiple units of time

Single units of time

Date and time templates made for substitution:

Individual templates

Categories of templates