Shortcode Reference

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All shortcodes are localized via date_i18n() and output-escaped via esc_html().

These dynamic date shortcodes are the plugin’s core: year, month, full dates, seasons, ages, and countdowns, every one localized through date_i18n() and escaped on output. This reference lists each shortcode with its attributes and a rendered example.

Year Shortcodes

  • [year]: Current year → 2026
  • [year n=5]: Current year + offset → 2031
  • [year n=-10]: Current year – offset → 2016
  • [nyear]: Next year → 2027
  • [nnyear]: Year after next → 2028
  • [pyear]: Previous year → 2025
  • [ppyear]: Year before previous → 2024
    Offset attribute: The n attribute on [year] accepts any integer, positive or negative. Uses pure integer arithmetic (not strtotime), so it handles large offsets correctly:
[year n=-2003]  → 23
[year n=100]    → 2126

Month Shortcodes

  • [month]: Full month name → February
  • [cmonth]: Full month name (capitalized) → February
  • [mon]: Short month name → Feb
  • [cmon]: Short month name (capitalized) → Feb
  • [mm]: Month number (zero-padded) → 02
  • [mn]: Month number (no padding) → 2
  • [nmonth]: Next month full name → March
  • [cnmonth]: Next month capitalized → March
  • [nmon]: Next month short → Mar
  • [cnmon]: Next month short capitalized → Mar
  • [pmonth]: Previous month full name → January
  • [cpmonth]: Previous month capitalized → January
  • [pmon]: Previous month short → Jan

  • [cpmon]: Previous month short capitalized → Jan

Day Shortcodes

  • [dt]: Day of month → 18
  • [nd]: Next day → 19
  • [pd]: Previous day → 17
  • [weekday]: Full weekday name → Tuesday

  • [wd]: Short weekday name → Tue

Combined Date Shortcodes

  • [date]: Full date → February 18, 2026
  • [monthyear]: Month and year → February 2026
  • [nmonthyear]: Next month and year → March 2026

  • [pmonthyear]: Previous month and year → January 2026

Post Date Shortcodes

  • [datepublished]: Post publication date (uses WordPress date format from Settings > General)
  • [datemodified]: Post last modified date (uses WordPress date format from Settings > General)
    These work inside post/page content. Outside the loop they return empty.

Season Shortcodes

  • [season]: Current season (Northern hemisphere)
  • [season region="south"]: Current season (Southern hemisphere)
    Northern hemisphere seasons:
  • Spring: March – May
  • Summer: June – August
  • Autumn: September – November
  • Winter: December – February

Southern hemisphere seasons are reversed.

Event Shortcodes

  • [blackfriday]: Black Friday date (day after US Thanksgiving) → November 28
  • [cybermonday]: Cyber Monday date (Monday after Thanksgiving) → December 1
    Calculated dynamically based on the 4th Thursday of November each year.

Countdown & Age Shortcodes

  • [daysuntil date="YYYY-MM-DD"]: date (required) → Number of days until target date

  • [dayssince date="YYYY-MM-DD"]: date (required) → Number of days since target date

  • [age date="YYYY-MM-DD"]: date (required), format, ordinal/rank → Age from birth date
    Age format options:

  • [age date="1990-05-15"]: 35

  • [age date="1990-05-15" format="ym"]: 35 years, 9 months

  • [age date="1990-05-15" format="ymd"]: 35 years, 9 months, 3 days

  • [age date="1990-05-15" ordinal="true"]: 35th

  • [age date="1990-05-15" rank="true"]: 35th (alias for ordinal)

Quick Reference

Total shortcodes: 37

  • Year: 7 → [year], [nyear], [pyear], [nnyear], [ppyear]
  • Month: 14 → [month], [mon], [mm], [mn], [nmonth], [pmonth]
  • Day: 5 → [dt], [nd], [pd], [weekday], [wd]
  • Combined: 4 → [date], [monthyear], [nmonthyear], [pmonthyear]
  • Post Date: 2 → [datepublished], [datemodified]
  • Season: 1 (+attribute) → [season], [season region="south"]
  • Events: 2 → [blackfriday], [cybermonday]
  • Countdown/Age: 3 → [daysuntil], [dayssince], [age]

Quick answers to common questions:

What is the most-used shortcode in practice?

2026, by a wide margin: it powers evergreen titles like “Best X 2026” across this site. June 2026 is second for freshness-sensitive content, and 2025 handles “since last year” comparisons.

Do the shortcodes work in post titles?

Yes, titles, content, excerpts, and archive titles are all processed by default, and the dmyip_core_filters filter lets you disable specific contexts if a theme conflicts. SEO titles and meta need the SEO-plugin integrations, covered in their own lesson.