What is the date format on WordPress?
The date format on your WordPress site decides how dates show up across your site. WordPress gives you a few preset formats to choose from, or you can create your own. The date format is displayed in multiple places on your site. The publish dates on posts and pages, comment timestamps, archive pages, widgets, and even theme elements.
If the format looks wrong to your visitors, it can cause confusion. Nobody likes wondering if 07/09/2025 means July 9 or September 7.
Why should you set the date format?
Clarity matters. The right date format avoids mix-ups and makes sure everything that depends on dates shows them correctly. It should also match what your audience expects. In the US, people read dates as month/date/year. In other places, it’s day/month/year.
Want to be extra clear? Spell out the month. “July 9, 2025” is much easier to read than “07/09/2025.” It keeps your site professional and easy to follow, no matter where your visitors are from.
How do you set the date format?
You can set the date format by completing Ravi’s Recommendation in your backend or do it yourself by following these steps:
- Go to your WordPress dashboard
- Navigate to Settings -> General
- Choose one of the preset formats or enter a custom one
- Click “Save Changes”
How WordPress date formats work
When you create a custom date format in WordPress, you’ll use letters that stand for parts of the date. For example, writing F j, Y will show up as July 9, 2025, on your site.
Here you can see what each letter stands for, so you can put them together in the format that works best for your audience.
| Day of Month | ||
|---|---|---|
| d | Numeric, with leading zeros | 01-31 |
| j | Numeric, without leading zeros | 1-31 |
| S | English suffix for the day of the month | st, nd, th in the 1st, 2nd, 3th |
| Weekday | ||
| l | Full name | Monday – Sunday |
| D | Three letter name | Mon – Sun |
| Month | ||
| m | Nummeric, with leading zeros | 01-12 |
| n | Nummeric, without leading zeros | 1-12 |
| F | Textual full | January – December |
| M | Textual three letters | Jan – Dec |
| Year | ||
| Y | Nummeric, 4 digits | 2003 |
| y | Nummeric, 2 digits | 03 |
Why is this a recommendation?
Ravi’s Recommendations are here to keep your site running smoothly. Setting the right date format makes your content clear, avoids confusion, and builds trust with your visitors.