How to format dates in Jekyll with date filter

There are various ways how to write a date all around the world. This differs from country to country, and sometimes it can be confusing. For example, you cannot say for sure what 10/10/12 means. It could be interpreted as either 10 October 2012 or as 10 November 2012 depends on the writer’s country. This article describes how to control date formatting in Jekyll.

Jekyll provides built-in filters as well as features to build your own. You can see the list of built-in filters below.

date_to_long_string filter

The filter converts date to the common format with a full month name. Use and output example:

{{ page.date | date_to_long_string }}
Output example: 22 June 2019

date_to_string filter

The filter converts date to the common format with a short month name. Use and output example:

{{ page.date | date_to_string }}
Output example: 22 Jun 2019

date_to_rfc822 filter

The filter converts date to the RFC format. Use and output example:

{{ page.date | date_to_rfc822 }}
Output example: Thu, 22 Jun 2019 21:00:00 +0000

date_to_xmlschema filter

The filter formats date for use in XML. Use and output example:

{{ page.date | date_to_xmlschema }}
Output example: 2019-06-22T21:00:00+00:00

date filter

Usually, you need more specific formats of date and Liquid gives you a hand with this. Jekyll date formatting filter converts a timestamp string into a desired date format.

Some examples and their outputs:

{{ page.date | date: "%b %d, %Y" }}
Output example: Jun 22, 2019

{{ page.date | date: "%j" }}
Output example: 173

{{ page.date | date: "%A, %B %d, %y" }}
Output example: Saturday, June 22, 2019

{{ page.date | date: "%D" }}
Output example: 22/06/19

{{ page.date | date: "%Z" }}
Output example: EGST

{{ page.date | date: "%r" }}
Output exmaple: 11:43:20 PM

{{ page.date | date: "%e %B, %Y %H:%M %Z" }}
Output example: 22 June, 2019 14:42 EEST

Jekyll date filter formatting string syntax

The filter string formatting syntax is identical with the strftime table:

Conclusion

As you can see, Jekyll provides build-in filters to format dates: date_to_long_string, date_to_string, date_to_rfc822, date_to_xmlschema, and date for custom date formatting.