Overview

Using timestamp variables, you are able to render the current date and time in a message. This can either be the current server time (UTC), or the current time according to a set time zone.

Current time (server time)

This tag will print the date & time when the template is compiled using the server time (set to UTC Time).

With a specific date format applied

{$smarty.now|date_format:'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'}

{$smarty.now|date_format:'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S+0000'}

• Learn more about conversion specifiers for the date_format variable modifier.

You can also show a day in the past or future with the following tag

{"-2 days"|date_format:'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S+0000'}

This would render the current time in UTC 2 days in the past.

Example use cases

Render a copyright date in the footer of your email

©{$smarty.now|date_format:"%Y"} Example Company

Render a date in the future to alert the contact when their product warranty is going to expire

{$expiration = "+20 days"|date_format:'%A, %B %e, %Y'}
You warranty expires on {$expiration}.

Current time (for a timezone)

Using the getNow Smarty utility, you can render the current time for a timezone when the template is compiled. Smarty utilities use date format specifiers different from those used with the date_format variable modifier.

Unique to the contact

The time zone can be a variable unique to each contact if you're storing the time zone as an attribute value. Learn how to set an attribute as the primary time zone.

{$utils->getNow($contact.tz, "Y-m-d\TH:i:sO")}

Unique to the account

You can render the current time for the account time zone (defined by a Client Success Manager during account configuration).

{$utils->getNow($account.timezone, "Y-m-d H:i:s")}

Defined by a recognized time zone identifier

You can render the current time for a recognized time zone.

{$utils->getNow('America/Los_Angeles', "Y-m-d H:i:s")}

Set a variable with the current time

Using any of the methods above, you can set a variable with the current time and render it in a message.

{$current_time = $utils->getNow('America/Los_Angeles', "l, F j, Y g:i A")}
{$current_time}

Renders as: Thursday, February 22, 2018 6:16 PM

Convert time to a different timezone

The getConvertedDate Smarty utility is used to convert a given date and time to a different time zone.

{$utils->getConvertedDate(date,TOtz,FROMtz,format)}

For example, you can use the following code to convert a date from UTC to the America/Los_Angeles time zone:

{$date_in_utc = '2018-08-15 15:36:10'}
{$date_converted_to_la = $utils->getConvertedDate($date_in_utc, 'America/Los_Angeles','UTC', 'Y-m-d\TH:i:sO')}

Date in UTC: {$date_in_utc}<br>
Date Converted to LA: {$date_converted_to_la}<br>

Calculate the difference in days between two dates

{$today = $smarty.now} 
{$lastModifiedDate = $contact.lastUpdated|@strtotime} 
{$dateDiff = (($today - $lastModifiedDate)/24/60/60)|string_format:"%d"}

• $contact.lastUpdated is an example of a contact variable (type: date)
• |@strtotime is to convert a date value into a Unix timestamp
• By dividing the difference ($today - $lastModifiedDate) by 24 (24hrs), 60 (60mins), and 60 (60sec), the output is in # of days.

Date format specifiers for Smarty utilities

These are the available date format specifiers for use with getNow, getConvertedDate, and getMicroNow Smarty utilities. Full format details can be found on the main PHP website:

• https://www.php.net/manual/en/datetime.format.php

Recognized Time Zone Identifiers

Time zone's must be written in the "Area/Location" format (e.g. America/Los_Angeles). Following is a list of the recognized time zone identifiers. More information on these timezones can be found on Wikipedia.

In the next article learn about hashing algorithms.