[Resolved] Displaying Posted (and updated) Date on pages

[culpable]

Hi,

I feel silly asking this – but which setting enables showing the “Published on” date for a wordpress page?

I remember it always being on by default, but for some reason this time it is not showing.

(I also want to show a “Last Updated: ” date – I presume this is still the best way to do it?)

Thank you in advance for your help during this holiday period

[Leo]

Hi there,

If you want to show both dates, remove this CSS from the documentation page:

.posted-on .updated + .entry-date {
    display: none;
}

Let me know if this makes sense 🙂

[culpable]

Hi Leo,

That does make sense. But I’m wondering why neither date is appearing right now, even though I haven’t added any CSS yet? Shouldn’t the “Published Date” be showing? Is this a setting somewhere that I’m missing?

[Leo]

Is it enabled here?
https://docs.generatepress.com/article/blog-content-layout/#single

[culpable]

Yeah it is… but it’s not showing up.

There doesn’t seem to be an “entry-meta” div: https://imgur.com/a/GGcQSIO

(note that the published + updated date is showing correctly when I use WPSP plugin to display the post on another page)

[Leo]

That’s very weird.

Any custom functions added?

[culpable]

Nothing….

It’s not a child theme. And I checked the Elements tab – no custom code running on these pages.

You can see here https://imgur.com/a/DwjnFrc that they are showing with WPSP.

I’m not sure what to do – should I maybe double check the code in the Editor?

[Leo]

WPSP is separated from GP so that doesn’t tell us too much.

Can you try #1 here to eliminate any plugin conflicts first?
https://docs.generatepress.com/article/debugging-tips/

[culpable]

Ah okay, no worries. Just wanted to show that the dates actually existed.

Just to confirm before I deactivate the plugins – Will the settings all remain?

I currently have 50+ Posts under the WPSP plugin… so I’d be quite upset if that were lost :'(

[Leo]

Yes the settings should be fine 🙂

It was working before and now it’s not so something had to change.

[culpable]

Deactivated it all except for GP Premium – still not showing 😐

[Tom]

Just to confirm, are you wanting to display dates on pages as well as blog posts?

[culpable]

It’s a wordpress page (which I needed to make clearer in the OP, sorry).

Your message reminded me of this code I used in my other website to display the date:

add_action( 'generate_after_entry_header', 'tu_page_meta' );
function tu_page_meta() {
	if ( 'page' == get_post_type() ) : ?>
		<div class="entry-meta">
			<?php generate_posted_on(); ?>
		</div>
	<?php endif;
}

Can I ask a few ignorant questions related to this:
#1 Should I add this via Generatepress -> Elements -> Hook + “Execute PHP” or via a code snippet?
#2 What is the difference between using a Hook that executes PHP vs. using a code snippet or using a child theme to insert the PHP?
#3 I was currently using this plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/insert-php/). I see in your “Adding PHP” post you recommend this plugin (https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/code-snippets/). Is there any performance-related reasons as to why this is? (I don’t want to unnecessarily slow down my website)
#4 How can I adjust the code to also show the “Last Updated” date? Will it be there automatically, just hidden via CSS? So I’d just use this: https://docs.generatepress.com/article/show-the-updated-post-date/ to show it?

Thank you very much for your help 🙂

[Leo]

Ahh sorry for the whole time I thought we are talking about single posts.

Yes that code is required to display date on pages.

#1 The code in that format would need to be added using Code Snippets or function.php of your child theme.

#2 Sometimes the code won’t work in hook. In this case you can also use Hook Element but the code would be like this:

<?php if ( 'page' == get_post_type() ) : ?>
	<div class="entry-meta">
		<?php generate_posted_on(); ?>
	</div>
<?php endif; ?>

#3 Code Snippet is the one suggested. Should have minimal impact on your site.

#4 The CSS in the doc page should still work.

[culpable]

No worries Leo – I should have made it clearer.

In response to your comments:

#1 Okay, no problem.

#2 Strange… I still don’t understand the difference. Will need to read into it more. Is there a performance difference – i.e. should I implement it as a hook, or as a snippet?

#3 Okay. So should I convert all my PHP Snippets -> Code snippets then? Are you implying that PHP snippets is not as fast?

#4 Awesome.

Thank you for your help Leo! 🙂

[Author]

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