Template:Birth date
January 1, 1900
 | Do NOT use this template when the exact date of birth is disputed or unknown; consider {{Birth year}} instead. |
 | This template is used on approximately 388,000 pages, or roughly 1% of all pages. To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them. |
 | This template uses Lua: |
Template:Birth date will return a person's date of birth. Using this template rather than simply inserting the date into articles allows for the inclusion of hidden metadata about the date. This metadata can be used by web browsers and other software tools to extract the details, and display them using some other website or mapping tool, index, or search them.
For an article about a living person, consider using {{Birth date and age}} instead.
Usage
- Unnamed parameters for year, month, day
{{Birth date|year of birth|month of birth|day of birth|additional parameters}}
- Named parameters for year, month, day
{{Birth date|year=year of birth|month=month of birth|day=day of birth|additional parameters}}
Additional parameters
The df (day first) and mf (month first) parameters indicate the intended date format to display. The appropriate parameter should be set to "y" or "yes", e.g. |df=y or |df=yes.
The default output of this template is to display the month before the day. This default may not be appropriate for articles about people from parts of the world where the day precedes the month in a date. In such articles the parameter, "df", should be set to display the day before the month.
The parameter "mf", while not actually used by the template, will indicate that month first format is intended. Using these parameters can assist bots or other automated processing to detect which date format is intended; leaving the format as default may lead an editor or bot to change the format to an unintended value.
Do not specify both "df" and "mf" parameters in the same use of the template, as these formats are mutually exclusive.
hCard microformat
This template also returns the date, hidden by CSS, in the ISO 8601 standard.[1] [2] For example:
(<span class="bday">1993-02-24</span>)
Note: For the "foundation", "built" and similar set-up dates of companies, buildings etc., use {{start date}} (this will work for year-only or month-year dates). Because the ISO 8601 standard requires the Gregorian calendar, this template should not be used if the date is given in the Julian calendar.
For further information, visit the microformats project.
References
- ^ "Date Design Pattern". Microformats Wiki. April 7, 2013.
- ^ "hCalendar closed issues". Microformats Wiki. August 28, 2009. Specifically rejects supporting the Julian calendar.
Notes
- Do not use with non-Gregorian dates because the resulting hCard hidden date will be false.
- The template will appear broken when the parameters are left blank.
- When only the month or year of a person's birth and/or death are known, or if it is desired not to state a person's full dates of birth for privacy reasons, consider using the templates {{Birth year}} or {{Birth year and age}} instead.
Examples
Unnamed parameters for year, month, day:
{{Birth date|1993|2|24}}→ February 24, 1993
{{Birth date|1993|2|24|df=yes}}→ 24 February 1993
{{Birth date|1993|2|24|mf=yes}}→ February 24, 1993
Named parameters for year, month, day:
{{Birth date|year=1993|month=2|day=24}}→ February 24, 1993
{{Birth date|year=1993|month=2|day=24|df=yes}}→ 24 February 1993
{{Birth date|year=1993|month=2|day=24|mf=yes}}→ February 24, 1993
TemplateData
TemplateData for Birth date
This template will return a person's date of birth. Using this template rather than simply inserting the date into articles allows for the inclusion of hidden metadata about the date. This metadata can be used by web browsers and other software tools to extract the details, and display them using some other website or mapping tool, index, or search them.
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year of birth | 1 year | The year in which the person was born.
| Number | required |
| Month of birth | 2 month | The month (number) in which the person was born.
| Number | required |
| Day of birth | 3 day | The day (number) in which the person was born.
| Number | required |
| Day first | df | When set to 'y' or 'yes', the date of birth is output in a DMY format.
| String | optional |
| Month first | mf | When set to 'y' or 'yes', stresses that the default MDY date format is intended for the date of birth.
| String | optional |
Tracking categories
- Category:Pages using age template with invalid date (0)
- Category:Date of birth not in Wikidata (14,502)
- Category:Articles without Wikidata item (165)
See also
- {{Birth-date}} which accepts formats like "1 April 1990" or "April 1, 1990"
- {{Birth date and age}} or {{Birth-date and age}} for living people
- {{Death date and age}} or {{Death year and age}} for dead people
- {{Recent birth}} or {{Recent death}}