// Tutorial //

How To Use the Time Element in HTML5

Published on August 26, 2016 · Updated on September 24, 2020
    Default avatar

    By Alligator.io

    How To Use the Time Element in HTML5

    Introduction

    The <time> element is new to HTML5. It makes it easier to markup time information. Let’s examine some scenarios and use <time> in practice.

    Prerequisites

    Using the Time Element in HTML5

    <time> allows you to markup date and/or time information in a format that’s easy to understand for both humans and machines. For example, if you want to markup time that’s already in a machine-readable format, you use <time> like this:

    <p>
      Meet me at <time>11:59</time> at the dock.
    </p>
    

    Or, if the date/time information is not machine-readable, you’d mark it up like this with the datetime attribute:

    <p>
      Last updated
      <time datetime="2015-11-03">
        November 3rd 2015
      </time>.
    </p>
    

    The value for the datetime attribute takes one of the following formats:

    • date: YYYY-MM-DD
    • datetime (with time zone): YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.Z (e.g.: 2016-06-30T03:37:56-0800)
    • datetime-local (no time zone): YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss
    • time: hh:mm:ss
    • month: YYYY-MM

    This is how you can use the new <time> element.

    Conclusion

    <time> is an important new element in HTML5.

    For a more comprehensive review of the HTML5 markup language, explore our series, How To Build a Website in HTML.

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    About the authors
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    Alligator.io

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