The {{Start date and age}} template displays the date that an event or entity started or was created. It is also modified to calculate lore time in Dyson Sphere Program. It also includes a duplicate, machine-readable date in the 
Usage
- Common usage
{{Start date and age|yyyy|mm|dd}}to display formatted as:- March 25, 2010
{{Start date and age|yyyy|mm|dd|df=yes}}to display formatted as:- 25 March 2010
- Displayling in Dyson Sphere Program time
{{Start date and age|yyyy|mm|dd|sctime=yes}}to display formatted as:- March 25, 2772
- Full syntax
{{Start date and age|yyyy|mm|dd|df=yes|p=yes|br=yes}}to display formatted as:- 25 March 2010
Parameters
| Parameter | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | required | A four-digit number indicating the year. |
| 2 | optional | A number between 1 and 12 indicating the month (leading zeros in the number are ignored). The month may also be specified as a name or abbreviation (e.g. "August" or "Aug"). |
| 3 | optional | A number between 1 and 31 indicating the day of the month (leading zeros in the number are ignored). |
| sctime= | optional | If the parameter sctime equals yes, y, or 1, the current Dyson Sphere Program in-universe time will be used. |
| df= | optional | If the parameter df equals yes, y, or 1, the date will be displayed in DMY format: 4 March 2010. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, the date will be displayed in MDY format: March 4, 2010. |
| p= paren= |
optional | If the parameter p or paren equals yes, y, or 1, the age will be displayed within parentheses. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, the date and age are separated by a semicolon and a breaking space. |
| br= | optional | If the parameter br equals yes, y, or 1, a line break will be inserted between the date and the age. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, a breaking space will be inserted between the date and the age. This does not change the separating characters between the date and age which are either a semicolon (default setting) or parentheses (if p=yes). |
"df" (day first) and "mf" (month first)
The default output of this template is to display the month before the day (MDY). This default may not be appropriate for articles about events or entities in parts of the world where dates are commonly given with the day preceding the month (DMY). To display the day first, assign the df parameter a value of yes, y, or 1 (e.g. df=yes).
If the default format is preferred, the parameter df may be used with value of no, n, or 0 (e.g. df=no). These values can assist bots or other automated processing to detect the intended date format; omitting the df parameter may lead an editor or bot to change the format to an unintended value.
The preference to display the month first may also be indicated via the parameter mf (e.g. mf=yes). While not actually used by the template, this is another method of indicating that the default format is intended. Do not specify both "df" and "mf" parameters in the same use of the template.
Examples
Default separator: semicolon
| Syntax | Result |
|---|---|
| Full date (year, month, day) | |
{{Start date and age|2010|01|02}}
|
January 2, 2010 |
{{Start date and age|2008|Jan|09|df=no}}
|
January 9, 2008 |
{{Start date and age|2003|January|05|mf=yes}}
|
January 5, 2003 |
{{Start date and age|2010|1|2|df=yes}}
|
2 January 2010 |
{{Start date and age|2008|Jan|9|df=y}}
|
9 January 2008 |
{{Start date and age|2003|January|5|df=1}}
|
5 January 2003 |
100 days ago:{{Start date and age|2024|9|14}}
|
September 14, 2024 |
Yesterday:{{Start date and age|2024|12|22}}
|
December 22, 2024 |
Today:{{Start date and age|2024|12|23}}
|
December 23, 2024 |
| Year and month | |
{{Start date and age|2001|9}}
|
September 2001 |
{{Start date and age|2002|09}}
|
September 2002 |
{{Start date and age|2003|Sep}}
|
September 2003 |
{{Start date and age|2004|September}}
|
September 2004 |
| Year only | |
{{Start date and age|2005}}
|
2005 CE |
Optional separator: parentheses
| Syntax | Result |
|---|---|
| Full date (year, month, day) | |
{{Start date and age|2003|02|15|p=yes}}
|
February 15, 2003 |
{{Start date and age|2003|02|15|df=y|p=y}}
|
15 February 2003 |
| Year and month | |
{{Start date and age|2003|02|p=1}}
|
February 2003 |
| Year only | |
{{Start date and age|2003|paren=yes}}
|
2003 CE |
Line break with semicolon
| Syntax | Result |
|---|---|
| Full date (year, month, day) | |
{{Start date and age|2003|02|15|br=yes}}
|
February 15, 2003 |
{{Start date and age|2003|02|15|df=y|br=y}}
|
15 February 2003 |
| Year and month | |
{{Start date and age|2003|02|br=1}}
|
February 2003 |
| Year only | |
{{Start date and age|2003|br=yes}}
|
2003 CE |
Line break with parentheses
| Syntax | Result |
|---|---|
| Full date (year, month, day) | |
{{Start date and age|2003|02|15|p=yes|br=yes}}
|
February 15, 2003 |
{{Start date and age|2003|02|15|df=y|p=y|br=y}}
|
15 February 2003 |
| Year and month | |
{{Start date and age|2003|02|p=1|br=1}}
|
February 2003 |
| Year only | |
{{Start date and age|2003|paren=yes|br=yes}}
|
2003 CE |
Supporting templates
- Template:MONTHNAME – display name of month for a given number 1 (January) through 12 (December).
- Template:Time ago – display number of days, months, or years ago (for dates given as
|yyyy|mm|dd). - Template:Years or months ago – display number of months or years ago (for dates given as
|yyyy|mmor|yyyy). - Template:Yesno – allows optional formatting parameters to accept values other than "yes" (such as "y" or "1").
TemplateData
The Start date and age template displays the date that an event or entity started or was created.
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1 | A four-digit number indicating the year
| Number | required |
| Month | 2 | A number between 1 and 12 indicating the month
| Number | suggested |
| Day | 3 | A number between 1 and 31 indicating the day of the month
| Number | suggested |
| Lore time | sctime | If the parameter df equals yes, y, or 1, the template will use lore time instead of real life time.
| Boolean | optional |
| Display date first | df | If the parameter df equals yes, y, or 1, the date will be displayed in DMY format: 4 March 2010. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, the date will be displayed in MDY format: March 4, 2010.
| Boolean | optional |
| Display with parentheses | paren p | If the parameter p or paren equals yes, y, or 1, the age will be displayed within parentheses. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, the date and age are separated by a semicolon and a breaking space.
| Boolean | optional |
| Line break between date and age | br | If the parameter br equals yes, y, or 1, a line break will be inserted between the date and the age. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, a breaking space will be inserted between the date and the age. This does not change the separating characters between the date and age which are either a semicolon (default setting) or parentheses (if paren=yes).
| Boolean | optional |
| Use microformat for end date | end | This template includes hidden microformat <span class="bday dtstart published updated">, similar to Template:Start date. If the parameter end equals yes, y, or 1, the template will instead use <span class="dtend">, similar to Template:End date. This parameter is used by Template:End date and age. For more details, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Microformats.
| Boolean | optional |