Added in release v2.4.0, there is now an argument dateFormat that can be added to the codeblock for passing along a custom date format onto the events on the timeline.

There is no default format set automatically which means you can pass in any format you want (using the correct tokens, that is). For example, if you wanted to display the date in the format DD-MM-YYYY, you could pass dateFormat='DD-MM-YYYY' in the codeblock.

For more information on available tokens, see the codeblock arguments documentation.

Some examples, with values year (2024), month (1), day (10), and hour (12):

  • dateFormat=DD-MM-YYYY would display 10-1-2023
  • dateFormat=DD-MM would display 10-1
  • dateFormat=DD-MM-YYYY-HH would display 10-2-2024-12
  • dateFormat=DDDD, MMM D YYYY would display Wednesday, January 10th 2024
  • dateFormat=DD/MM/YY @ H would display 10/01/24 @ 12:00
  • dateFormat=The D day of MMM in the year YYYY would display The 10th day of January in the year 2024

Note: For users who do not set a dateFormat argument, the value specified in the settings tab (by default an empty string "") will be used. You can change this setting to be, realistically, anything you want. Leaving the default value empty will persist existing functionality of being able to pass date sections in as 0.

Please note, it is difficult to do validation on missing sections of a date format. If the section is supplied in the date format string but not supplied in the event date, it will usually throw an error and quit but can sometimes still display a malformed date on the timeline.

Example:

  • dateFormat=DD/MM/YY @ H but without a value for hour would display: 10/01/24 @

In addition to that, passing a value for era on an event will display after the formatted date which, depending on how you have formatted your date, may or may not look strange.

Example:

  • dateFormat=DD/MM/YY @ H with an era of ABC on the event would display: 10/01/24 @ 12:00 ABC
  • dateFormat=DD/MM/YY @ H with an era of ABC but without an hour on the event would display: 10/01/24 @ ABC