Difference between revisions of "Wikitravel:Time and date formats"

Revision as of 23:50, 12 November 2012

When giving times and dates, such as for opening and closing times of attractions, restaurants and bars, use the following formats:-

Times

Use the 24 hour clock eg: 10:30-17:00
It can be assumed that times are given in the local timezone.

In 24-hour format, always show minutes using a colon as the separator; eg: 17:00, not 17.00 nor 17-00 and not just 17 and never 17:0.

AM/PM alternative

For articles about topics where the AM/PM system (or 12-hour format) is prevalent, the following format can be used as an alternative: 10:30AM-5PM.

Choose to deviate from our 24 hour standard format only to follow predominant local usage. Ask yourself: which format will visitors see in newspapers, on shop doors, and on train schedules?

• In this alternative AM/PM system, use "noon" and "midnight", not 12AM and 12PM.
• In this alternative 12-hour format, minutes are not shown when not required, eg: 5PM, not 5:00PM.
• Spaces and periods (full stops) should be left out, eg: 10:30AM-5PM, not 10:30 A.M. – 5 P.M.
• Spaces should be left out for noon and midnight too, eg: 10AM-noon.

Days of the week

Abbreviate to the minimum number of letters, ie: M Tu W Th F Sa Su.

Note:

• Spell out when it is part of a named day, eg: Good Friday, Fat Tuesday.
• If it looks odd or ambiguous in a particular context, spell it out.
• Spaces should be left out, eg: M-F not M - F or M thru F.
• Leave the dash out for a pair of days, eg: Sa Su not Sa-Su.
• When combining days with time, put the days first, e.g., M-F 10:00-14:00 rather than 10:00-14:00 M-F.
• For all seven days, use "daily". Do not use "every day" or "Su-Sa".

Dates

Use the date format of 10 Jan 2003.

Abbreviate months to three letters, ie: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec.

Avoid using dates such as 10/1/03, 10-1-03 or 10/1/2003 as this can mean 10 Jan 2003 or 1 Oct 2003 to different people.

Duration

• Year or years: yr
• Week or weeks: wk
• Hour or hours: hr
• Minutes: min

See also

• Wikitravel:When to use dates
• Wikitravel:Abbreviations