the_modified_date( string $format = '', string $before = '', string $after = '', bool $display = true ): string|void

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$formatstringoptional

PHP date format. Defaults to the 'date_format' option.Default: ''

$beforestringoptional

Output before the date. Default empty.Default: ''

$afterstringoptional

Output after the date. Default empty.Default: ''

$displaybooloptional

Whether to echo the date or return it. Default true.Default: true

Return value

string|void

String if retrieving.

Performance profile

How much work a call to the_modified_date() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Heavy

Reaches the database via get_post().

Scaling

Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions

19–20

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 21.

Plugin surface

1 hook

Third-party callbacks on 'the_modified_date' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.

Called by

0

Nothing in core calls this; the cost is only what you spend yourself.

What it touches

• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()called directly
• querycontent queryget_post()one call below the_modified_date()
• optionoption read or writeget_option()one call below the_modified_date()

Further down the call graph this can also reach cache, serialize and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 1 distinct outcome

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost the_modified_date() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

Hooks and filters fired · 1

One hook fires while the_modified_date() runs, in this order:

1. 1
   apply_filters( the_modified_date )filterline 2758 (+13 into the body)

   Filters the date a post was last modified, for display.

Uses · 2

• get_the_modified_date()Retrieves the date on which the post was last modified.
• apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

2745function the_modified_date( $format = '', $before = '', $after = '', $display = true ) {2746	$the_modified_date = $before . get_the_modified_date( $format ) . $after;2747 2748	/**2749	 * Filters the date a post was last modified, for display.2750	 *2751	 * @since 2.1.02752	 *2753	 * @param string $the_modified_date The last modified date.2754	 * @param string $format            PHP date format.2755	 * @param string $before            HTML output before the date.2756	 * @param string $after             HTML output after the date.2757	 */2758	$the_modified_date = apply_filters( 'the_modified_date', $the_modified_date, $format, $before, $after );2759 2760	if ( $display ) {2761		echo $the_modified_date;2762	} else {2763		return $the_modified_date;2764	}2765}

Changelog

Introduced in 2.1.0. One change between 6.7.7 and 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.8.8 tag, from src/wp-includes/general-template.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.