Using WordPress ‘get_comment_date’ PHP filter

The get_comment_date WordPress PHP filter allows you to modify the displayed date of a comment on your WordPress site.

Usage

add_filter('get_comment_date', 'your_custom_function', 10, 3);
function your_custom_function($date, $format, $comment) {
    // your custom code here
    return $date;
}

Parameters

  • $date (string|int): The formatted date string or Unix timestamp.
  • $format (string): The PHP date format.
  • $comment (WP_Comment): The comment object.

More information

See WordPress Developer Resources: get_comment_date

Examples

Change the comment date format

Change the comment date format to display in a more friendly style.

add_filter('get_comment_date', 'change_comment_date_format', 10, 3);
function change_comment_date_format($date, $format, $comment) {
    $new_format = 'F j, Y';
    return date($new_format, strtotime($date));
}

Display time ago instead of date

Show the comment date as “time ago” (e.g., “2 days ago”).

add_filter('get_comment_date', 'display_time_ago', 10, 3);
function display_time_ago($date, $format, $comment) {
    return human_time_diff(strtotime($date), current_time('timestamp')) . ' ago';
}

Add a custom prefix to comment date

Add a custom prefix to the displayed comment date, like “Posted on”.

add_filter('get_comment_date', 'add_custom_prefix', 10, 3);
function add_custom_prefix($date, $format, $comment) {
    return 'Posted on ' . $date;
}

Display the comment date in uppercase

Change the displayed comment date to uppercase letters.

add_filter('get_comment_date', 'uppercase_comment_date', 10, 3);
function uppercase_comment_date($date, $format, $comment) {
    return strtoupper($date);
}

Display comment date in a different language

Change the comment date to display in French.

add_filter('get_comment_date', 'comment_date_french', 10, 3);
function comment_date_french($date, $format, $comment) {
    setlocale(LC_TIME, 'fr_FR.UTF-8');
    return strftime('%A %d %B %Y', strtotime($date));
}

END