Template:Start date/doc

Usage
This purpose of the Start date template is to return a the date (or date-time) that an event or entity started or was created. It also includes duplicate, machine-readable date (or date-time) in the ISO date format (which is hidden by CSS), for use inside other templates (or table rows) which emit microformats. It should not be used outside such templates. The hidden date degrades gracefully when CSS is not available.

When not to use this template
Do not use this template for:


 * dates that are uncertain e.g. "before 4 April 1933"; "around 18 November 1939".
 * dates outside the range given under "Limitation", below.
 * other, secondary dates
 * outside microformat-emitting templates - if in doubt, see the parent template's documentation

Syntax

 * HH:MM:SS, (TimeZone) (MM and SS are optional; TimeZone may be a numerical value, or "Z" for UTC; see examples)
 * HH:MM:SS, (TimeZone) (MM and SS are optional; TimeZone may be a numerical value, or "Z" for UTC; see examples)


 * Examples


 * 1993 returns "1993"
 * February 1993 returns "February 1993"
 * February 24, 1993 returns "February 24, 1993"
 * 08:30, February 24, 1993 returns "08:30, February 24, 1993"
 * February 24, 1993 (+01:00) returns "February 24, 1993 (+01:00)"
 * February 24, 1993 (-07:00) returns "February 24, 1993 (-07:00)"
 * 08:30:23, February 24, 1993 returns "08:30:23, February 24, 1993"
 * 08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (UTC) returns "08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (UTC)"
 * 08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (+01:00) returns "08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (+01:00)"
 * 08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (-07:00) returns "08:30:23, February 24, 1993 (-07:00)"

An optional parameter, df, can be set to "y" or "yes" (or indeed any value) to display the day before the month. This is primarily used in articles about events in parts of the world where the day precedes the month in a date.


 * Examples:


 * February 24, 1993 returns "February 24, 1993"
 * 08:30, February 24, 1993 returns "08:30, February 24, 1993"

Note: The template will appear broken when the parameters are left blank (as seen hereinbefore).