Wikivoyage:Time and date formats
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This page in a nutshell: Times should be displayed in the local timezone using the 12 or 24 hour format, whichever is the predominant local usage. Days of the week should be abbreviated to the minimum number of letters. Dates should use the format dd mmm yyyy. |
When giving times and dates, such as for opening and closing times of attractions, restaurants and bars, use the following formats.
Ranges
- Consider using an en dash rather than a hyphen: 2–5PM, rather than 2-5PM; 09:00–13:00, rather than 09:00-13:00 (en dashes can be found below the edit box in the "Wiki markup" section, typed in keyboard-setting-specific ways such as AltGr-hyphen or compose --., or written as
–. In the running text, "from X to Y" is sometimes better, such as in the rare cases where the time specifications themselves are complicated. - Omit spaces before and after the dash or hyphen: 10:30AM–5PM, not 10:30AM – 5PM; 10AM–noon, not 10AM – noon; M–F, not M – F.
Times
- Use one of these formats: 09:30–17:00 or 9:30AM–5PM. Do not use both 24- and 12-hour formats within one article. Choose between formats by following predominant local usage. Ask yourself which format visitors will see in timetables, on shop doors and in newspapers.
- It can be assumed that time is in the local time zone.
- For establishments that don't close, use: 24 hours daily
24-hour format
- Always use two digits for the hours and two digits for the minutes (hh:mm). Include a leading zero for numbers below ten: 09:00, not 9:00, 09:0 or 9:0.
- Use a colon as the separator: 17:30, not 17.30, 17-30, 1730 or 1730h.
- Use 00:00 for midnight and 12:00 for noon.
12-hour format
- Use upper case "AM" and "PM".
- Minutes are not shown for full hours: 5PM, not 5:00PM.
- Where minutes are shown, use a colon as the separator: 5:26PM, not 5.26PM or 5-26PM.
- Omit periods (full stops) in "AM" and "PM": 10:30AM–5PM, not 10:30A.M.–5P.M.
- Use noon and midnight, not 12PM and 12AM.
- Don't use a space between the number and the AM/PM sign: 2PM, not 2 PM.
- Use "AM" and "PM" only once for a range when the start and end times are both AM or both PM: 8–11AM, not 8AM–11AM.
Days of the week
- Abbreviate to the minimum number of letters – M Tu W Th F Sa Su – in lists and where space is short.
- Spell out when it is part of a named day, as, for example, Good Friday or Fat Tuesday.
- If it looks odd or ambiguous in a particular context, spell it out.
- Separate two consecutive days with a space only, as, for example: Su M, not Su–M or Su, M.
- Separate days that are not in a range (for example, when a shop is open M, W and F, and closed on Tu and Th) with spaces only. In this example: M W F 08:30–17:30 or M W F 8:30AM–5:30PM.
- When combining days with time, put the days first: M–F 10AM–2PM, not 10AM–2PM M–F.
- For establishments open all seven days of the week, use: daily, not "every day" or "Su–Sa".
- For establishments open six days a week, it is often clearer to state the day they are closed: 10AM–6PM (closed Tu), not W–M 10AM–6PM.
Dates
- Use the date format of dd Mmm yyyy, e.g., 10 Jan 2003.
- Abbreviate months to three letters—Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec—in lists, listings and where space is at a premium, such as in a table.
- Avoid using dates such as 10/1/03, 10-1-03 or 10/1/2003, as these can mean 10 Jan 2003 or 1 Oct 2003 to different people.
- Some of our Mediawiki templates, such as {{listing}} and {{warningbox}}, expect a lastedit date in a specific format (usually YYYY-MM-DD numerically). See the individual template's documentation for details.
Decades and centuries
- Decades should be shown in digits, i.e., the 1920s, and not "the twenties" or "the 1920's".
- Centuries should be shown in digits, i.e., the 19th century, and not "the XIX century", "the nineteenth century", or the "19th Century".
- Also consider whether to use, for example, "the 1800s" instead of "the 19th century".