NSC’s standard date format for website posts and pages is yyyy-mm-dd, as in “Page Updated: 2022-06-15”, when presented in numerical format. This format avoids the ambiguity and confusion between the formats dd-mm-yyyy and mm-dd-yyyy for dates in the first 12 days of the month; a text sort of such dates will also sort in chronological order.

Appropriate date & time formats for post titles:

When the date is included in the title or the body of a post, it is appropriate and common practice to spell out the month. In that case:

  • The day follows the month.
  • The month is not abbreviated.
  • Ordinal numbers (e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) are not used.
  • The year is not normally included, as the current year is usually implied/obvious.
  • If the day of the week is included, it precedes the date, and is followed by a comma.
  • The day of the week is not abbreviated.
  • The date may be preceded by a dash, comma or appropriate text.
  • If a time is included, it follows the date, is in 12-hour format, and may be preceded by @ or “at”, and is not followed by “Hours”.
  • If an event is for a specified duration, it may be shown as, for example, “2:00-4:00 p.m.”

Examples:

  • Fall Information Meeting – Wednesday, December 6 @ 7:30 p.m.
  • Commercial Launch – Saturday, May 7
  • Join us for NOD – June 18-19
  • PHRF Sail Measuring & Racing Q&A Session – Sunday, April 24, 1 – 4:00 p.m.
  • Race Practice Sessions – Fridays, May 20, 27 and June 3

Examples of how multi-day events may be shown include:
“June 18-19”; “May 20, 27 and June 3”; “April 15 – May 20”.

Less appropriate date & time formats for post titles:

  • Spring Information Meeting – Wednesday, 11 May @ 7:30 p.m.
  • Annual General Meeting – Wednesday, Dec. 7 @ 7:00 p.m.
  • Spring Information Meeting – Wednesday, May 11th @ 7:30 p.m.
  • Spring Information Meeting – Wednesday, May 11, 2022 @ 7:30 p.m.
  • Spring Information Meeting – Wednesday May 11 @ 7:30 p.m.
  • Spring Information Meeting – Wed., May 11 @ 7:30 p.m.
  • Spring Information Meeting – Wednesday, May 11 @ 1930 Hours
  • Spring Information Meeting – Wednesday, May 11 @ 7:30 P.M.

While there is nothing wrong or grammatically incorrect with some alternate date and time formats, we strive to be consistent, as inconsistent formatting does not present the professional look that we desire for our website.

Update log
2022-06-15, HM: Page created.

2023-11-27 SK: Removed “Note that WordPress capitalizes the first letter of all words in a title, so @ is recommended in the title, whereas “at” looks better in the body of the post.” since this is no longer the case.
2023-11-27 SK: Converted 24 hour clock times to 12 hour times and added a.m./p.m. as per clock time page instructions

NOTE: Update the publish date and time when updating page.