current_time() – Function | Developer.WordPress.org

Retrieves the current time based on specified type.

Description

The ‘mysql’ type will return the time in the format for MySQL DATETIME field.
- The ‘timestamp’ or ‘U’ types will return the current timestamp or a sum of timestamp and timezone offset, depending on $gmt.
- Other strings will be interpreted as PHP date formats (e.g. ‘Y-m-d’).

If $gmt is a truthy value then both types will use GMT time, otherwise the output is adjusted with the GMT offset for the site.

Parameters

$typestringrequired: Type of time to retrieve. Accepts 'mysql', 'timestamp', 'U', or PHP date format string (e.g. 'Y-m-d').
$gmtint|booloptional: Whether to use GMT timezone. Default false.

Return

int|string Integer if $type is 'timestamp' or 'U', string otherwise.

Source

function current_time( $type, $gmt = 0 ) {
	// Don't use non-GMT timestamp, unless you know the difference and really need to.
	if ( 'timestamp' === $type || 'U' === $type ) {
		return $gmt ? time() : time() + (int) ( get_option( 'gmt_offset' ) * HOUR_IN_SECONDS );
	}

	if ( 'mysql' === $type ) {
		$type = 'Y-m-d H:i:s';
	}

	$timezone = $gmt ? new DateTimeZone( 'UTC' ) : wp_timezone();
	$datetime = new DateTime( 'now', $timezone );

	return $datetime->format( $type );
}

View all references View on Trac View on GitHub

Uses	Description
wp_timezone()`wp-includes/functions.php`	Retrieves the timezone of the site as a `DateTimeZone` object.
get_option()`wp-includes/option.php`	Retrieves an option value based on an option name.

Used by	Description
inject_ignored_hooked_blocks_metadata_attributes()`wp-includes/block-template-utils.php`	Inject ignoredHookedBlocks metadata attributes into a template or template part.
wp_resolve_post_date()`wp-includes/post.php`	Uses wp_checkdate to return a valid Gregorian-calendar value for post_date.
wp_insert_site()`wp-includes/ms-site.php`	Inserts a new site into the database.
wp_update_site()`wp-includes/ms-site.php`	Updates a site in the database.
wp_create_user_request()`wp-includes/user.php`	Creates and logs a user request to perform a specific action.
wp_privacy_generate_personal_data_export_file()`wp-admin/includes/privacy-tools.php`	Generate the personal data export file.
WP_Customize_Manager::save_changeset_post()`wp-includes/class-wp-customize-manager.php`	Saves the post for the loaded changeset.
WP_REST_Comments_Controller::create_item()`wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-comments-controller.php`	Creates a comment.
_wp_upload_dir()`wp-includes/functions.php`	A non-filtered, non-cached version of wp_upload_dir() that doesn’t check the path.
WP_Customize_Manager::customize_pane_settings()`wp-includes/class-wp-customize-manager.php`	Prints JavaScript settings for parent window.
populate_network()`wp-admin/includes/schema.php`	Populate network settings.
wp_dashboard_recent_posts()`wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php`	Generates Publishing Soon and Recently Published sections.
wp_install_defaults()`wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php`	Creates the initial content for a newly-installed site.
touch_time()`wp-admin/includes/template.php`	Prints out HTML form date elements for editing post or comment publish date.
media_handle_upload()`wp-admin/includes/media.php`	Saves a file submitted from a POST request and create an attachment post for it.
media_handle_sideload()`wp-admin/includes/media.php`	Handles a side-loaded file in the same way as an uploaded file is handled by media_handle_upload() .
bulk_edit_posts()`wp-admin/includes/post.php`	Processes the post data for the bulk editing of posts.
post_submit_meta_box()`wp-admin/includes/meta-boxes.php`	Displays post submit form fields.
get_calendar()`wp-includes/general-template.php`	Displays calendar with days that have posts as links.
WP_Query::get_posts()`wp-includes/class-wp-query.php`	Retrieves an array of posts based on query variables.
date_i18n()`wp-includes/functions.php`	Retrieves the date in localized format, based on a sum of Unix timestamp and timezone offset in seconds.
get_month_link()`wp-includes/link-template.php`	Retrieves the permalink for the month archives with year.
get_day_link()`wp-includes/link-template.php`	Retrieves the permalink for the day archives with year and month.
get_year_link()`wp-includes/link-template.php`	Retrieves the permalink for the year archives.
WP_Date_Query::build_mysql_datetime()`wp-includes/class-wp-date-query.php`	Builds a MySQL format date/time based on some query parameters.
wp_insert_post()`wp-includes/post.php`	Inserts or update a post.
wp_update_post()`wp-includes/post.php`	Updates a post with new post data.
wpmu_log_new_registrations()`wp-includes/ms-functions.php`	Logs the user email, IP, and registration date of a new site.
wpmu_activate_signup()`wp-includes/ms-functions.php`	Activates a signup.
wpmu_signup_blog()`wp-includes/ms-functions.php`	Records site signup information for future activation.
wpmu_signup_user()`wp-includes/ms-functions.php`	Records user signup information for future activation.
wpmu_update_blogs_date()`wp-includes/ms-blogs.php`	Updates the last_updated field for the current site.
wp_xmlrpc_server::blogger_newPost()`wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php`	Creates a new post.
wp_new_comment()`wp-includes/comment.php`	Adds a new comment to the database.
wp_insert_comment()`wp-includes/comment.php`	Inserts a comment into the database.

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Changelog

Version	Description
5.3.0	Now returns an integer if `$type` is `'U'`. Previously a string was returned.
1.0.0	Introduced.

User Contributed Notes

Skip to note 8 content

Denis Žoljom 5 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 7You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
The Date/Time component will be updated in WordPress 5.3, and there are some things that people should be aware of:

https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/09/23/date-time-improvements-wp-5-3/

From the post:

Not recommended

Don’t retrieve time as WP timestamp:
```
current_time( 'timestamp' )
```
```
get_post_time( 'U' )
```
Don’t localize time based on WP timestamp:
```
date_i18n( DATE_RFC3339, $timestamp + $offset )
```
Don’t store WP timestamps persistently;
Don’t compare WP timestamps.

——————-

Recommended

Retrieve time as Unix timestamp or DateTimeImmutable object:
```
time()
```
```
current_datetime()
```
```
get_post_datetime()
```
```
get_post_timestamp()
```
Localize time based on Unix timestamp:
```
wp_date( DATE_RFC3339, $timestamp )
```
Store Unix timestamps or formats that are precise moment in time, such as DATE_RFC3339;
Compare Unix timestamps, DateTimeInterface objects, or string–comparable dates in same time zone.
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Codex 9 years ago

Examine the results

<?php

echo "current_time( 'mysql' ) returns local site time: " . current_time( 'mysql' ) . '<br />';
echo "current_time( 'mysql', 1 ) returns GMT: " . current_time( 'mysql', 1 ) . '<br />';
echo "current_time( 'timestamp' ) returns local site time: " . date( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', current_time( 'timestamp', 0 ) );
echo "current_time( 'timestamp', 1 ) returns GMT: " . date( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', current_time( 'timestamp', 1 ) );

?>

Skip to note 10 content

kapils003 8 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 2You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

The code snippet gives an Warning with “split” function because
the function was DEPRECATED in PHP 5.3.0, and REMOVED in PHP 7.0.0.

Alternatives to this function include:

preg_split()

On using preg_split(), we get the required output. Code snippet below:

$blogtime = current_time( 'mysql' ); list( $today_year, $today_month, $today_day, $hour, $minute, $second ) = preg_split( "([^0-9])", $blogtime ); echo $hour;

For reference:
http://php.net/manual/en/function.split.php

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Skip to note 11 content

carlosonweb 4 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 1You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
Since version 5.3, the code below is discouraged as it will not return a Unix (UTC) timestamp.
```
current_time( 'timestamp' );
```
Here’s the alternative solution:
```
$local_time  = current_datetime();
$current_time = $local_time->getTimestamp() + $local_time->getOffset();
```
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Skip to note 12 content

adiant 8 years ago

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PHP date formats accepted for $type are defined at http://php.net/manual/en/function.date.php#refsect1-function.date-parameters

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Andrei Surdu 7 years ago

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When working with time functions, you must use current_time('timestamp') NOT time().

current_time('timestamp') return blog specific timestamp that is set under Settings->General.
time() return the time based on date.timezone setting from php.ini.

Conclusion:
time() !== current_time('timestamp') // There is a big chance that they are not equal

Always use: current_time(‘timestamp’)
- Since version 5.3, this is not correct anymore.
  
  Gabriel Reguly 3 years ago
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Skip to note 14 content

Codex 9 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: -2You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
This example gets the current time and assigns the parameters to variables.
```
<?php 
$blogtime = current_time( 'mysql' ); 
list( $today_year, $today_month, $today_day, $hour, $minute, $second ) = split( '([^0-9])', $blogtime );
?>
```
Example of format of current_time( 'mysql' ):

2005-08-05 10:41:13
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current_time( string $type, int|bool $gmt ): int|string

In this article

Description

Parameters

Return

Source

Changelog

User Contributed Notes

current_time( string $type, int|bool $gmt ): int|string

In this article

Description

Parameters

Return

Source

Related

Changelog

User Contributed Notes