First we need to breifly go over how the date function works. It is fairly straightforward:
string date ( string format [, int timestamp] )
You simply pass a string containing the date format, and a timestamp if you don’t want to use the current time. Something to note: Any character that isn’t recognized by the date function will be displayed as is.
| Character | Description |
| F | Full text of month (January) |
| n | Number of the month (1) |
| j | Number of day (1) |
| d | Number of day (01) |
| Y | Full year (2005) |
With the individual characters you can create full formats. Below are the formats that I use most frequently:
| Format | Example | PHP Code |
| n/j/Y | 10/8/2005 |
date(“n/j/Y”) |
| F j Y | October 8 2005 |
date(“F j Y”) |
For a full list of all the recognized characters visit the PHP: date – Manual. This list is only a list of the characters I use frequently myself.