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The '''{{tl|Start date and age}}''' template displays the date that an event or entity started or was created. It also includes a duplicate, machine-readable date in the ISO 8601 format (which is hidden by CSS), for use inside other templates which emit microformats. The hidden date degrades gracefully when CSS is not available.

== Usage ==
;Common usage
: <code><nowiki>{{Start date and age|yyyy|mm|dd}}</nowiki></code> to display formatted as:
: {{xt|{{Start date and age|2010|03|25}}}}
: <code><nowiki>{{Start date and age|yyyy|mm|dd|df=yes}}</nowiki></code> to display formatted as:
: {{xt|{{Start date and age|2010|03|25|df=yes}}}}

;Full syntax
: <code><nowiki>{{Start date and age|yyyy|mm|dd|df=yes|p=yes|br=yes}}</nowiki></code> to display formatted as:
: {{xt|{{Start date and age|2010|03|25|df=yes|p=yes|br=yes}}}}

== Parameters ==
{| class="wikitable"
! Parameter
! Status
! Description
|-
| 1
| required
| A four-digit number indicating the year.
|-
| 2
| optional
| A number between 1 and 12 indicating the month (leading zeros in the number are ignored). The month may also be specified as a name or abbreviation (e.g. "August" or "Aug"). 
|-
| 3
| optional
| A number between 1 and 31 indicating the day of the month (leading zeros in the number are ignored).
|-
| df=
| optional
| If the parameter '''df''' equals '''yes''', '''y''', or '''1''', the date will be displayed in DMY format: {{xt|4 March 2010}}. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, the date will be displayed in MDY format: {{xt|March 4, 2010}}.
|-
| p=<br/>paren=
| optional
| If the parameter '''p''' or '''paren''' equals '''yes''', '''y''', or '''1''', the age will be displayed within parentheses. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, the date and age are separated by a semicolon and a breaking space.
|-
| br=
| optional
| If the parameter '''br''' equals '''yes''', '''y''', or '''1''', a line break will be inserted between the date and the age. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, a breaking space will be inserted between the date and the age. This does not change the separating characters between the date and age which are either a semicolon (default setting) or parentheses (if '''p=yes''').
|-
| end=
| optional
| This template includes hidden microformat {{tag|span|open|attribs=class="bday dtstart published updated"}}, similar to Template:Start date. If the parameter '''end''' equals '''yes''', '''y''', or '''1''', the template will instead use {{tag|span|open|attribs=class="dtend"}}, similar to Template:End date. This parameter is used by Template:End date and age. For more details, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Microformats. 
|}

==="df" (day first) and "mf" (month first)===
The default output of this template is to display the month before the day (MDY). This default may not be appropriate for articles about events or entities in parts of the world where dates are commonly given with the day preceding the month (DMY). To display the day first, assign the '''df''' parameter a value of '''yes''', '''y''', or '''1''' (e.g. '''df=yes''').

If the default format is preferred, the parameter '''df''' may be used with value of '''no''', '''n''', or '''0''' (e.g. '''df=no'''). These values can assist bots or other automated processing to detect the intended date format; omitting the '''df''' parameter may lead an editor or bot to change the format to an unintended value.

The preference to display the month first may also be indicated via the parameter '''mf''' (e.g. '''mf=yes'''). While not actually used by the template, this is another method of indicating that the default format is intended. Do not specify both "df" and "mf" parameters in the same use of the template.

== Examples ==
=== Default separator: semicolon ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:60%;" | Syntax
! style="width:40%;" | Result
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Full date (year, month, day)'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2010|01|02</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2010|01|02}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2008|Jan|09|df=no</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2008|Jan|09|df=no}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|January|05|mf=yes</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|January|05|mf=yes}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2010|1|2|df=yes</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2010|1|2|df=yes}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2008|Jan|9|df=y</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2008|Jan|9|df=y}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|January|5|df=1</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|January|5|df=1}}
|-
| 100 days ago:<br />{{tlx|Start date and age|{{#time:Y|now-100 days}}|{{#time:n|now-100 days}}|{{#time:j|now-100 days}}}}
| {{Start date and age|{{#time:Y|now-100 days}}|{{#time:n|now-100 days}}|{{#time:j|now-100 days}}}}
|-
| Yesterday:<br />{{tlx|Start date and age|{{#time:Y|now-1 days}}|{{#time:n|now-1 days}}|{{#time:j|now-1 days}}}}
| {{Start date and age|{{#time:Y|now-1 days}}|{{#time:n|now-1 days}}|{{#time:j|now-1 days}}}}
|-
| Today:<br />{{tlx|Start date and age|{{#time:Y|now}}|{{#time:n|now}}|{{#time:j|now}}}}
| {{Start date and age|{{#time:Y|now}}|{{#time:n|now}}|{{#time:j|now}}}}
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Year and month'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2001|9</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2001|9}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2002|09</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2002|09}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|Sep</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|Sep}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2004|September</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2004|September}}
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Year only'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2005</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2005}}
|}

=== Optional separator: parentheses ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:60%;" | Syntax
! style="width:40%;" | Result
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Full date (year, month, day)'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|02|15|p=yes</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|02|15|p=yes}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|02|15|df=y|p=y</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|02|15|df=y|p=yes}}
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Year and month'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|02|p=1</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|02|p=1}}
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Year only'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|paren=yes</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|paren=yes}}
|}

=== Line break with semicolon ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:60%;" | Syntax
! style="width:40%;" | Result
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Full date (year, month, day)'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|02|15|br=yes</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|02|15|br=yes}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|02|15|df=y|br=y</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|02|15|df=y|br=y}}
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Year and month'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|02|br=1</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|02|br=1}}
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Year only'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|br=yes</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|br=yes}}
|}

=== Line break with parentheses ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:60%;" | Syntax
! style="width:40%;" | Result
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Full date (year, month, day)'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|02|15|p=yes|br=yes</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|02|15|p=yes|br=yes}}
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|02|15|df=y|p=y|br=y</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|02|15|df=y|p=y|br=y}}
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Year and month'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|02|p=1|br=1</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|02|p=1|br=1}}
|-
|colspan="2" style="background-color:#DDD" | '''Year only'''
|-
| {{tlx|Start date and age|<nowiki>2003|paren=yes|br=yes</nowiki>}}
| {{Start date and age|2003|paren=yes|br=yes}}
|}


==Usage in articles==
This template is most often used in infoboxes in articles about buildings or organizations, identifying when they were started/founded/opened or dissolved/ended/closed.

It has also been used for naval ships to indicate their commissioned age; however, several Wikipedia editors have reverted such edits. Use of this template in ship articles is therefore not recommended.

== Supporting templates ==
* Template:MONTHNAME – display name of month for a given number 1 (January) through 12 (December).
* Template:Time ago – display number of days, months, or years ago (for dates given as <code><nowiki>|yyyy|mm|dd</nowiki></code>).
* Template:Years or months ago – display number of months or years ago (for dates given as <code><nowiki>|yyyy|mm</nowiki></code> or <code><nowiki>|yyyy</nowiki></code>).
* Template:Yesno – allows optional formatting parameters to accept values other than "yes" (such as "y" or "1").

==TemplateData ==
{{collapse top|TemplateData documentation used by VisualEditor and other tools}}
{{TemplateData header|noheader=1}}
<templatedata>
{
	"params": {
		"1": {
			"label": "Year",
			"description": "A four-digit number indicating the year",
			"example": "2017",
			"type": "number",
			"required": true
		},
		"2": {
			"label": "Month",
			"description": "A number between 1 and 12 indicating the month",
			"example": "12",
			"type": "number",
			"suggested": true
		},
		"3": {
			"label": "Day",
			"description": "A number between 1 and 31 indicating the day of the month",
			"example": "31",
			"type": "number",
			"suggested": true
		},
		"df": {
			"label": "Display date first",
			"description": "If the parameter df equals yes, y, or 1, the date will be displayed in DMY format: 4 March 2010. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, the date will be displayed in MDY format: March 4, 2010.",
			"example": "no",
			"type": "boolean",
			"default": "no"
		},
		"paren": {
			"aliases": [
				"p"
			],
			"label": "Display with parentheses",
			"description": "If the parameter p or paren equals yes, y, or 1, the age will be displayed within parentheses. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, the date and age are separated by a semicolon and a breaking space.",
			"example": "yes",
			"type": "boolean",
			"default": "no"
		},
		"br": {
			"label": "Line break between date and age",
			"description": "If the parameter br equals yes, y, or 1, a line break will be inserted between the date and the age. When this parameter is not included or set to some other value, a breaking space will be inserted between the date and the age. This does not change the separating characters between the date and age which are either a semicolon (default setting) or parentheses (if paren=yes).",
			"example": "yes",
			"type": "boolean",
			"default": "no"
		},
		"end": {
			"label": "Use microformat for end date",
			"description": "This template includes hidden microformat <span class=\"bday dtstart published updated\">, similar to Template:Start date. If the parameter end equals yes, y, or 1, the template will instead use <span class=\"dtend\">, similar to Template:End date. This parameter is used by Template:End date and age. For more details, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Microformats.",
			"example": "yes",
			"type": "boolean",
			"default": "no"
		}
	},
	"description": "The Start date and age template displays the date that an event or entity started or was created."
}
</templatedata>
{{collapse bottom}}

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