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This is essentially a very simple script, to show when a page was last updated.

The following basic formats are available:

"shortUK" 05/02/01

"shortUS" 02/05/01

"longUK" 5 February 2001

"longUS" February 5 2001

"longUKend" 5th February 2001

"longUSend" February 5th 2001

"sentence" 5th of February 2001

"daysUK" Monday 5th February 2001

"daysUS" Monday February 5th 2001

"bluntUK" Monday 5 February 2001

"bluntUS" Monday February 5 2001

"sentenceUK" Monday the 5th of February 2001

"sentenceUS" Monday February the 5th 2001

"biblical" Monday, the fifth day of February, in the year of Our Lord two thousand and one

"casual" last month

"mysterious" a mystic cycle of rotations fore

"literal" 3 weeks, 6 days, 12 hours, 14 minutes and 11.685 seconds ago

"random" ...

You can choose whether to display the year, by setting the variable

var showyear = true (or false)

but this will have no effect if you choose "casual", "mysterious", "literal", or "random".

You can also customise the initial message - Last updated: - and then specify the font, size, color and boldness.

Please note:

"biblical" format will only work until the year 3000
"literal" format uses weeks as its largest unit
If your pages use server-side includes, as this one does, the script will only return the date and time the page was parsed, because such pages don't have a client-accessible last modified header. I got round this, for the purpose of demonstrating the script, by displaying the examples inside iframes/layers drawn from a non-parsed page. If you use SSI on your site, you have no need for this script anyway because you can query environment variables to achieve the same result - Check this out for more information.

Paste this code into the <BODY> section, wherever you want the date to appear

<script language="JavaScript1.2">
// Original Script by Brothercake -- http://www.brothercake.com/

//*** MODIFY THIS SECTION ************************************

var message = "Last updated:";   // the text before the date

var fontF = "arial";   // font-face

var fontS = "16";   // font-size (in pixels)

var fontC = "#339900";   // color

var fontW = "bold";   // font weight - acceptible values are:
                      // "normal"
                      // "bold"

var format = "random";   // format - acceptible values are

                         // "shortUK"      05/02/01
                         // "shortUS"      02/05/01
                         // "longUK"       5 February 2001
                         // "longUS"       February 5 2001
                         // "longUKend"    5th February 2001
                         // "longUSend"    February 5th 2001
                         // "sentence"     5th of February 2001
                         // "daysUK"       Monday 5th February 2001
                         // "daysUS"       Monday February 5th 2001
                         // "bluntUK"      Monday 5 February 2001
                         // "bluntUS"      Monday February 5 2001
                         // "sentenceUK"   Monday the 5th of February 2001
                         // "sentenceUS"   Monday February the 5th 2001
                         // "casual"       last month
                         // "biblical"     Monday, the fifth day of February,
                         //                in the year of Our Lord two thousand and one
                         // "mysterious"   a mystic cycle of rotations fore
                         // "literal"      3 weeks, 6 days, 12 hours, 14 minutes and 11.685 seconds ago
                         // "random"       a random choice each time

var showyear = true;   // in addition to formats above, specify whether the year is shown
                       // true = shown
                       // false = not shown

//************************************************************






var selector = new Array('shortUK','shortUS','longUK','longUS','longUKend','longUSend','sentence','daysUK','daysUS','bluntUK','bluntUS','sentenceUK','sentenceUS','biblical','casual','mysterious','literal');
var mNAMES = new Array('January','February','March','April','May','June','July','August','September','October','November','December');
var dNAMES = new Array('Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday');
var units = new Array('one','two','three','four','five','six','seven','eight','nine','ten','eleven','twelve','thirteen','fourteen','fifteen','sixteen','seventeen','eighteen','nineteen','twenty');
var unitsend = new Array('first','second','third','fourth','fifth','sixth','seventh','eight','ninth','tenth','eleventh','twelfth','thirteenth','fourteenth','fifteenth','sixteenth','seventeenth','eighteenth','nineteenth','twentieth','thirtieth');
var tens = new Array('twenty','thirty','forty','fifty','sixty','seventy','eighty','ninety');
var hundred = 'hundred';
var thousand = 'thousand';
var luSTR = '';

function getMOD() {

	var dateObj = 0; var cdateObj = 0;

		 // random format selector
		if (format == 'random') {
		var rnd = Math.round(16*Math.random());
		var Yrnd = Math.round(2*Math.random());
		if (Yrnd==1) { showyear = true; } else { showyear = false; }
		format = selector[rnd];
		if (format == "casual" || format == "mysterious") { showyear = true; }
		}

	 // get last modified date
	dateObj = new Date(document.lastModified);

	 // extract date values
	var year = dateObj.getYear();
	var month = dateObj.getMonth();
	var date = dateObj.getDate();
	var day = dateObj.getDay() - 1;
	if (day<0) { day = 6; }

	 // make date endings
	var endSUF = 'th';
	if (date == 1 || date == 21 || date == 31) { endSUF = 'st'; }
	if (date == 2 || date == 22) { endSUF = 'nd'; }
	if (date == 3 || date == 23) { endSUF = 'rd'; }

	 // make sentence includes
	var of = 'of ';
	var the = 'the ';

	 // save numeric values separately
	var monthNUM = month;
	var dateNUM = date;
	monthNUM+=0;
	dateNUM+=0;

	 // convert to two-digit strings
	month+=1;
	if (month<=9) { month = '0'+month; }
	if (date<=9) { date = '0'+date; }

	 // save long year number separately
	var longyear = year;
	longyear+=0;

	 // Y2K fix
	if (year <= 2000) { year+=1900; }if (year <= 2000) { year+=100; }
	if (longyear <= 2000) { longyear+=1900; }if (longyear <= 2000) { longyear+=100; }
	if (!showyear) { year = ''; }

	 // convert year to two-digit format
	year-=2000; if(year<=9) year="0"+year;
	if (!showyear) { year = ''; }


	 // choose format and compile
	var fslash = '/'; if (!showyear) { fslash = ''; }
	if (!showyear) { longyear = ''; }
	if (format == "shortUK") {
		luSTR = message + ' ' + date + '/' + month + fslash + year;
		}
	else if (format == "shortUS") {
		luSTR = message + ' ' + month + '/' + date + fslash + year;
		}
	else if (format == "longUK" || format == "longUKend" || format == "sentence" || format == "daysUK" || format == "bluntUK" || format == "sentenceUK") {
		if (format == "longUK" || format == "bluntUK") { endSUF = ''; }
		if (format != "sentence" && format != "sentenceUK") { of = ''; }
		if (format != "sentenceUK") { the = ''; }
		var dayWORD = ''; if (format == "daysUK" || format == "bluntUK" || format == "sentenceUK") { dayWORD = dNAMES[day] + ' '; }
		luSTR = message + ' ' + dayWORD + the + dateNUM + endSUF + ' ' + of + mNAMES[monthNUM] + ' ' + longyear;
		}
	else if (format == "longUS" || format == "longUSend" || format == "daysUS" || format == "bluntUS" || format == "sentenceUS") {
		if (format == "longUS" || format == "bluntUS") { endSUF = ''; }
		if (format != "sentenceUS") { the = ''; }
		var dayWORD = ''; if (format == "daysUS" || format == "bluntUS" || format == "sentenceUS") { dayWORD = dNAMES[day] + ' '; }
		luSTR = message + ' ' + dayWORD + mNAMES[monthNUM] + ' ' + the + dateNUM + endSUF + ' ' + longyear;
		}
	else if (format == "biblical") {

		dayWORD = dNAMES[day];
		if (dateNUM<=20) {
				dateNUM = unitsend[(dateNUM-1)];
				}
		else if (dateNUM>=21 && dateNUM<=29) {
				dateNUM = dateNUM - 20;
				dateNUM = tens[0] + '-' + unitsend[(dateNUM-1)];
				}
		else if (dateNUM==30) {	dateNUM = unitsend[20]; }
		else if (dateNUM==31) { dateNUM = tens[1] + '-' + unitsend[0]; }
		else if (dateNUM>=32) { dateNUM = 'final'; }

		luSTR = message + ' ' + dayWORD + ', ' + the + dateNUM + ' day of ' + mNAMES[monthNUM];

		if (showyear) {
			luSTR+= ', in the year of Our Lord ';

			var yFIRST = ''; var ySECOND = '';
			longyear = longyear - 2000;

			if (longyear>=0 && longyear<=99) {
					yFIRST = units[1] + ' ' + thousand;
					var shortyear = longyear;
					var sDIG = shortyear % 10;
					var fDIG = (shortyear - sDIG)/10;
					if (fDIG >= 2) { fDIG = tens[(fDIG-2)]; }
					else if (fDIG == 1) { fDIG = units[(sDIG+9)]; sDIG = 0; }
					else if (fDIG == 0) { fDIG = ''; }
					if (sDIG != 0) { sDIG = units[(sDIG-1)]; }
					else { sDIG = ''; }
					var blSP = ' '; if (fDIG == 0) { blSP = ''; }
					luSTR+= yFIRST + ' and ' + fDIG + blSP + sDIG;
					}
			else if (longyear<=999) {
					var shortyear = longyear % 100;
					var midyear = longyear - shortyear;
					midyear = midyear / 1;
					var sDIG = shortyear % 10;
					var fDIG = (shortyear - sDIG)/10;
					yFIRST = tens[0] + ' ';
					yFIRST+= units[((midyear/100)-1)] + ' ' + hundred;
					if (fDIG >= 2) { fDIG = tens[(fDIG-2)]; }
					else if (fDIG == 1) { fDIG = units[(sDIG+9)]; sDIG = 0; }
					else if (fDIG == 0) { fDIG = ''; }
					if (sDIG != 0) { sDIG = units[(sDIG-1)]; }
					else { sDIG = ''; }
					var blSP = ' '; if (fDIG <= 0) { blSP = ''; }
					var andd = ' and '; if (fDIG == 0 && sDIG == 0) { andd = ''; }
					luSTR+= yFIRST + andd + fDIG + blSP + sDIG;
					}
			else if (longyear >= 1000) {
					luSTR+= 'three thousand';
					}
			}
		}

	else if (format == "casual" || format == "mysterious" || format == "literal") {

		cdateObj = new Date();
		var cyear = cdateObj.getYear();
		var cmonth = cdateObj.getMonth();
		var cdate = cdateObj.getDate();

		 // Y2K fix
		if (cyear <= 2000) { cyear+=1900; }

		var yearVAR = cyear - longyear;
		var monthVAR = cmonth - monthNUM;
		var dateVAR = cdate - dateNUM;

		if (format == "casual") {
			var comments = new Array('at some point in the future ... strangely enough','today','yesterday','a few days ago','last week','earlier this month','last month','the month before last','a few months ago','last year');
		} else {
			var comments = new Array('in the morrow twinkling of an eternal neverness','in the sacred space of our nowness','when the bird flew in anticipation of this','as the silver sky did wane in a fewness','a mystic cycle of rotations fore','when the two suns were high and there were dogs','when the moon was as it is','many a time and chance ago','when the sun was as far as the eagle sees today','in a pleasant and hazy nostalgia');
		}

		if (format != "literal") {
			if (cyear < longyear) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[0]; }
			if (cyear == longyear) {
				if (cmonth < monthNUM) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[0]; }
				if (cmonth == monthNUM) {
					if (cdate < dateNUM) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[0]; }
					if (cdate == dateNUM) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[1]; }
					if (dateVAR == 1) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[2]; }
					if (dateVAR > 1 && dateVAR < 8) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[3]; }
					if (dateVAR >= 8  && dateVAR < 15 && monthVAR == 0) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[4]; }
					if (dateVAR >= 15  && monthVAR == 0) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[5]; }
					}
					else {
					if (monthVAR == 1 && yearVAR == 0) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[6]; }
					if (monthVAR == 2 && yearVAR == 0) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[7]; }
					if (monthVAR >= 3) { luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[8]; }
					}
				}
				else if (cyear > longyear) {
				luSTR = message + ' ' + comments[9];
				}
			} else {

			var ss = 's';
			var millisecsAGO = 0; var secsAGO = 0;
			var minsAGO = 0; var hoursAGO = 0;
			var daysAGO = 0; var weeksAGO = 0;

			millisecsAGO = cdateObj.getTime() - dateObj.getTime();

			millisecsAGO = millisecsAGO * 1;

			secsAGO = millisecsAGO / 1000;
			secsAGO = Math.round(secsAGO);
			millisecsAGO = millisecsAGO - (secsAGO * 1000);
			if (millisecsAGO <=0) { millisecsAGO = 0; }
			if (secsAGO >= 60) {
				minsAGO = Math.round(secsAGO / 60);
				secsAGO = secsAGO % 60;
				}
			if (minsAGO >= 60) {
				hoursAGO = Math.round(minsAGO / 60);
				minsAGO = minsAGO % 60;
				}
			if (hoursAGO >= 24) {
				daysAGO = Math.round(hoursAGO / 24);
				hoursAGO = hoursAGO % 24;
				}
			if (daysAGO >= 7) {
				weeksAGO = Math.round(daysAGO / 7);
				daysAGO = daysAGO % 7;
				}

			luSTR = message + ' ';
			if (weeksAGO != 0) {
				if (weeksAGO == 1) { ss = ''; } else { ss = 's'; }
				luSTR+= weeksAGO + ' week' + ss + ' ';
				}
			if (daysAGO != 0) {
				if (daysAGO == 1) { ss = ''; } else { ss = 's'; }
				luSTR+= daysAGO + ' day' + ss + ' ';
				}
			if (hoursAGO != 0) {
				if (hoursAGO == 1) { ss = ''; } else { ss = 's'; }
				luSTR+= hoursAGO + ' hour' + ss + ' ';
				}
			if (minsAGO != 0) {
				if (minsAGO == 1) { ss = ''; } else { ss = 's'; }
				luSTR+= minsAGO + ' minute' + ss + ' and ';
				}
			luSTR+= secsAGO + '.' + millisecsAGO + ' seconds ago';

			}
		}
	}


 // write it to the page


function writeMOD() {
var bTAG = ''; if (fontW == "bold") { bTAG = '<B>'; }
document.write('<font face="' + fontF + '" color="' + fontC + '"><span style="font-family:' + fontF + '\;font-size:' + fontS + 'px\;color:' + fontC + '\;">' + bTAG + luSTR + '</b></span></font>');

dateObj = 0; cdateObj = 0;
}

getMOD();
writeMOD();

</script>

You might be thinking this is rather a lot of code just to write one line. And you'd be right - it's 11½ K.

So here's the options - if your existing page can handle the extra load, you can use the code above and retain all formatting options. However if you only want a single, fixed format, then use the code wizard below to get the necessary script. You will still be able to change the display characteristics afterwards.

Code wizard

Paste it into the <BODY> section, wherever you want the date to appear

If you prefer, you can get these scripts directly from their directory. Each is available as a .htm file, with the script written into the page, or as a plain text file which Internet Explorer will execute, and other browser simply display. Click here for that.