WPDT: date_i18n Function Reference and Usage

WordPress Development Tip

WordPress includes functions to assist in making your WordPress Plugins properly localized. One of the functions is the date_i18n function. This function has no example however, and in this post I will explain how to use it:

To get the information on which settings the blog has, you need to include the wp_locale as a global in the function you use it in:

global $wp_locale;

Now you can get the date format by calling ‘date_format’ via the get_option function like this:

$dateformat=get_option('date_format');

To convert and display a date properly, you can now call the date_i18n-function using the value in the $dateformat variable, along with a unix timestamp as the time you want to display.

Remember you must provide a unix timestamp for the function to return a proper value, and in the following example I convert a date using PHP’s built in function strtotime.

In the example I put all the function calls into one line.

Single Line Example:

echo date_i18n(get_option('date_format') ,strtotime("11/15-1976"));

Depending on your blog settings you will see the date displayed in your local format, for example: 15. november 1976.

1. Posts about plugins as of June 25, 2009 | All About WordPress says:

   25/06/2009 at 10:06

   [...] fans and users ou&#114&#115&#101lves, we’re always interested to hear about plug&#105&#110&#115 WPDT: date_i18n Function Reference and Usage – mywordpress.co&#109&#10&#486/25/2009 Join the forum discussion on this post – (1) [...]

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2. Sapan says:

   24/07/2009 at 10:54

   Thanks for the lucid explanation of the function…
   It helped me to solve one of my problems..

   btw, can u pls. tell me which plugin do u use to Welcome the user, i.e. the one which shows ‘Welcome Googler! If you find this page useful, ….’

   Thanks.

   Reply
   • myWordPress says:

     25/07/2009 at 00:20

     Hi Sapan

     I use the WP Greet Box for that functionality … http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-greet-box/

     Remember to read one of my first posts here on this blog, http://mywordpress.com/optimize-the-wp-greet-box-plugin-for-better-seo/, for better SEO with WP Greet Box.

     Thank you for visiting!

     Reply
     • Sapan says:

       25/07/2009 at 22:55

       Thanks a lot…

       Reply