{date_created} Merge Tag

The {date_created} Merge Tag allows you to display the date an entry was created.

By default, the {date_created} Merge Tag will format the entry using the WordPress “Date Format” setting from the General Options screen.

Example usage:

{date_created} will output February 21, 2016

Add the time to the output

• :time Adds “at [time] ” to the output, where [time] is formatted using the Time Format setting from the General Options screen.

Format the output using PHP date format

Use :format to define a custom format for the date output. The format must be defined after :format , then a colon, like this :format:m/d/Y .

If you want to use a colon in your output, you must escape the colon with a backslash, like this : .

Examples:

• {date_created} will output February 21, 2016
• {date_created:time} will output February 21, 2016 at 3:09 pm
• {date_created:format:m/d/Y} will output 02/21/2016
• {date_created:format:m/d/Y at H:i:s}  will output 02/21/2016 at 15:09:12 – note the additional escape character before the colons.

{date_created:human} #

Let Gravity Forms decide how to output the date for you.

If the entry is less than a day old, it will output a relative date using the [time] ago format. This cannot be overridden. If you want to customize the format, use the :diff modifier and define a custom :format instead. See “:diff Modifier” below.

If the entry is more than a day old, it will output the date using the blog’s Date Format setting. If the :time modifier is also defined, it will output “[date] at [time]” using the website’s Date Format and Time Format settings.

Examples:

• {date_created:human}
  • Older than 24 hours: February 21, 2016 . Format based on blog Date Format setting.

  • If the entry is less than 24 hours old: 14 hours ago

    Outputs using Human Time Difference format, but when using :human , the output template cannot be changed from %s ago like it can with :diff .

• {date_created:human:time}
  • If the entry is less than 24 hours old: 14 hours ago
  • Older than 24 hours will output using blog date and time format: February 21, 2016 at 3:09 pm

{date_created:diff} #

Show how long ago an entry was created, not the date itself

:diff outputs the time difference from the entry creation date.

{date_created:diff} will output different values based on how long ago the entry was created. The standard format is %s ago , where %s is replaced by the time difference.

• 3 minutes ago
• 14 hours ago
• 28 days ago
• 2 years ago

When using :diff , :time and :human modifiers will not work.

Override the format

You can use the :format parameter to change the output template. If we want to output “I submitted the form [time difference] in the past”, we would use this Merge Tag: {date_created:diff:format:I submitted the form %s in the past} :

• I submitted the form 3 minutes in the past
• I submitted the form 14 hours in the past
• I submitted the form 28 days in the past
• I submitted the form 2 years in the past

Make sure to keep the %s intact; the %s represents where the time difference will be inserted.

Additional stand-alone modifiers #

You cannot combine these modifiers with other modifiers. If they exist in the Merge Tag, they will be used in the order defined, and the other modifiers will be ignored.

• :raw Return the date_created value, as stored by Gravity Forms in the database (in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format).
  • Example: {date_created:raw} outputs 2016-02-21 15:09:24
• :timestamp Return a Unix Timestamp of the entry creation. This is useful when comparing date values using greater_than and less_than in combination with the [gvlogic] shortcode.
  • Example: {date_created:timestamp} generates 1456067364 (see here)