Template:Start date/doc

Usage
These templates (Start date and End date) return a date, or date-time. They also include the same date (and time) duplicated in a hidden (by CSS) ISO date format, for use in microformats. This hidden date degrades gracefully when CSS is not available.

Syntax



 * HH:MM:SS, (TimeZone) (MM and SS are optional; TimeZone may be a numerical value, or "Z" for Coordinated Universal Time; see examples)

or



Examples:


 * 1993 returns "1993"


 * February 1993 returns "February 1993"


 * February 24, 1993 returns "February 24, 1993"


 * 08:30, February 24, 1993 returns "08:30, February 24, 1993"


 * February 24, 1993 (+01:00) returns "February 24, 1993 (+01:00)"


 * February 24, 1993 (-07:00) returns "February 24, 1993 (-07:00)"


 * 08:30:23, February 24, 1993 returns "08:30:23, February 24, 1993"


 * 08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (UTC) returns "08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (UTC)"


 * 08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (+01:00) returns "08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (+01:00)"


 * 08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (-07:00) returns "08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (-07:00)"


 * February 24, 1993 returns "February 24, 1993"


 * 08:30, February 24, 1993 returns "08:30, February 24, 1993"

An optional parameter, df, can be set to "yes" to display the day before the month. This is primarily used in articles about events in parts of the world where the day precedes the month in a date.

Examples:


 * February 24, 1993 returns "February 24, 1993"


 * 08:30, February 24, 1993 returns "08:30, February 24, 1993"


 * February 24, 1993 returns "February 24, 1993"

(users who have already set date preferences will need to be logged out to see the difference).

Note: The template will appear broken when the parameters are left blank (as seen above).

Use in microformats
Start date also returns the date, hidden by CSS, in the ISO 8601 format needed by hAtom, hCalendar and hCard  microformats - usually, but not always, within infobox or similar templates, or tables.

Its use in hCard is for organisations, venues and similar; use Birth date or Birth date and age for people.

Similarly, End date returns the date as hCalendar's. For example:


 * ( 1993-02-24 ) and ( 1993-02-24T08:30 )

and:


 * ( 1993-02-24T08:30 )

(disable CSS or view source to see the hidden ISO-formatted output).

Note: due to the requirement exclusive "dtend" in hCalendar, and the accessibility problems that presents when a date is rendered (as seen without CSS) as 28 March 1999 (1999-03-29) or even 28 February 1999 (1999-03-01) or 31 December 1999 (2000-01-01), the Date end template should not be used for whole-day dates and should have a time of 23:59:59.