The HTML <time>
element represents a specific period in time. It may include the datetime
attribute to translate dates into machine-readable format, allowing for better search engine results or custom features such as reminders.
It may represent one of the following:
- A time on a 24-hour clock.
- A precise date in the Gregorian calendar (with optional time and timezone information).
- A valid time duration.
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Content categories | Flow content, phrasing content, palpable content. |
---|---|
Permitted content | Phrasing content. |
Tag omission | None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory. |
Permitted parents | Any element that accepts phrasing content. |
Implicit ARIA role | No corresponding role |
Permitted ARIA roles | Any |
DOM interface | HTMLTimeElement |
Attributes
Like all other HTML elements, this element supports the global attributes.
datetime
- This attribute indicates the time and/or date of the element and must be in one of the formats described below.
Usage notes
This element is for presenting dates and times in a machine readable format. For example, this can help a user agent offer to add an event to a user's calendar.
This element should not be used for dates prior to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar (due to complications in calculating those dates).
The datetime value (the machine-readable value of the datetime) is the value of the element’s datetime
attribute, which must be in the proper format (see below). If the element does not have a datetime
attribute, it must not have any element descendants, and the datetime value is the element’s child text content.
Valid datetime Values
- a valid year string
2011
- a valid month string
2011-11
- a valid date string
2011-11-18
- a valid yearless date string
11-18
- a valid week string
2011-W47
- a valid time string
14:54
14:54:39
14:54:39.929
- a valid local date and time string
2011-11-18T14:54:39.929
2011-11-18 14:54:39.929
- a valid global date and time string
2011-11-18T14:54:39.929Z
2011-11-18T14:54:39.929-0400
2011-11-18T14:54:39.929-04:00
2011-11-18 14:54:39.929Z
2011-11-18 14:54:39.929-0400
2011-11-18 14:54:39.929-04:00
- a valid duration string
PT4H18M3S
Examples
Simple example
HTML
<p>The concert starts at <time datetime="2018-07-07T20:00:00">20:00</time>.</p>
Output
datetime
example
HTML
<p>The concert took place on <time datetime="2001-05-15T19:00">May 15</time>.</p>
Output
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
HTML Living Standard The definition of '<time>' in that specification. |
Living Standard | No change from HTML 5.1 |
HTML 5.1 The definition of '<time>' in that specification. |
Recommendation | No change from HTML5 |
HTML5 The definition of '<time>' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Initial definition. |
Browser compatibility
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
time | Chrome Full support 62 | Edge Full support ≤18 | Firefox Full support 22 | IE No support No | Opera
Full support
49
| Safari Full support 7 | WebView Android Full support 62 | Chrome Android Full support 62 | Firefox Android Full support 22 | Opera Android
Full support
46
| Safari iOS Full support 4 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 8.0 |
datetime | Chrome Full support 62 | Edge Full support ≤18 | Firefox Full support 22 | IE No support No | Opera
Full support
49
| Safari Full support 7 | WebView Android Full support 62 | Chrome Android Full support 62 | Firefox Android Full support 22 | Opera Android
Full support
46
| Safari iOS Full support 4 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 8.0 |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support
See also
- The
<data>
element, allowing to signal other kind of values.