PHP Date and Time
The PHP date() function is used to format a date and/or a time.
The PHP Date() Function
The PHP date() function formats a timestamp to a more readable date and time.
Syntax
date(format,timestamp)
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| format | Required. Specifies the format of the timestamp |
| timestamp | Optional. Specifies a timestamp. Default is the current date and time |
A timestamp is a sequence of characters, denoting the date and/or time at which a certain event occurred.
Get a Date
The required format parameter of the date() function specifies how to format the date (or time).
Here are some characters that are commonly used for dates:
- d - Represents the day of the month (01 to 31)
- m - Represents a month (01 to 12)
- Y - Represents a year (in four digits)
- l (lowercase 'L') - Represents the day of the week
Other characters, like"/", ".", or "-" can also be inserted between the characters to add additional formatting.
The example below formats today's date in three different ways:
Example
<?php
echo "Today is " . date("Y/m/d") . "<br>";
echo "Today is " . date("Y.m.d") . "<br>";
echo "Today is " . date("Y-m-d") . "<br>";
echo "Today is " . date("l");
?>
Try it Yourself »
PHP Tip - Automatic Copyright Year
Use the date() function to automatically update the copyright year on your
website:
Get a Time
Here are some characters that are commonly used for times:
- H - 24-hour format of an hour (00 to 23)
- h - 12-hour format of an hour with leading zeros (01 to 12)
- i - Minutes with leading zeros (00 to 59)
- s - Seconds with leading zeros (00 to 59)
- a - Lowercase Ante meridiem and Post meridiem (am or pm)
The example below outputs the current time in the specified format:
Note that the PHP date() function will return the current date/time of the server!
Get Your Time Zone
If the time you got back from the code is not correct, it's probably because your server is in another country or set up for a different timezone.
So, if you need the time to be correct according to a specific location, you can set the timezone you want to use.
The example below sets the timezone to "America/New_York", then outputs the current time in the specified format:
Example
<?php
date_default_timezone_set("America/New_York");
echo "The time is " . date("h:i:sa");
?>
Try it Yourself »
Create a Date With mktime()
The optional timestamp parameter in the date() function specifies a timestamp. If omitted, the current date and time will be used (as in the examples above).
The PHP mktime() function returns the Unix timestamp for a date. The Unix timestamp contains the number of seconds between the Unix Epoch
(January 1 1970 00:00:00 GMT) and the time specified.
Syntax
mktime(hour, minute, second, month, day, year)
The example below creates a date and time with the
date() function from a number of parameters in the
mktime() function:
Example
<?php
$d=mktime(11, 14, 54, 8, 12, 2014);
echo "Created date is " . date("Y-m-d h:i:sa", $d);
?>
Try it Yourself »
Create a Date From a String With strtotime()
The PHP strtotime() function is used to convert a human readable
date string into a
Unix timestamp (the number of seconds since January 1 1970 00:00:00 GMT).
Syntax
strtotime(time, now)
The example below creates a date and time from the strtotime() function:
Example
<?php
$d=strtotime("10:30pm April 15 2014");
echo "Created date is " . date("Y-m-d h:i:sa", $d);
?>
Try it Yourself »
PHP is quite clever about converting a string to a date, so you can put in various values:
Example
<?php
$d=strtotime("tomorrow");
echo date("Y-m-d h:i:sa", $d) . "<br>";
$d=strtotime("next Saturday");
echo date("Y-m-d h:i:sa", $d) . "<br>";
$d=strtotime("+3 Months");
echo date("Y-m-d h:i:sa", $d) . "<br>";
?>
Try it Yourself »
However, strtotime() is not perfect, so remember to check the strings you put in there.
More Date Examples
The example below outputs the dates for the next six Saturdays:
Example
<?php
$startdate = strtotime("Saturday");
$enddate = strtotime("+6 weeks", $startdate);
while ($startdate < $enddate) {
echo date("M d", $startdate) . "<br>";
$startdate = strtotime("+1 week", $startdate);
}
?>
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The example below outputs the number of days until 4th of July:
Example
<?php
$d1=strtotime("July 04");
$d2=ceil(($d1-time())/60/60/24);
echo "There are " . $d2 ." days until 4th of July.";
?>
Try it Yourself »
Complete PHP Date Reference
For a complete reference of all date functions, go to our complete PHP Date Reference.
The reference contains a brief description, and examples of use, for each function!