Google Sitemap Date Format

Question

I need date format for sitemaps in php.

How can i do that ?

Is this output right ?

2012-08-02EEST18:01:18+03:00
         


        

Answer 1

According to Google, he value is an optional field that, if provided, must be formatted as

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD 

The default export of an SQL datetime is dependent on the language setting for your server, and may include spaces and characterized TZD such as:

2014-09-19 10:33:05 UTC

The W3 specify that TZD can be formatted in any of three options

TZD = time zone designator (Z or +hh:mm or -hh:mm)

Any spaces from your default formatting must be stripped; the character 'T' must be inserted before time, and the TZD must match one of the supported types.

Therefore to format the current timestamp, use the following parameters.

echo date('Y-m-dTH:i:sP', time());

As of PHP5 you can also use the c format character to print the exact same string.

echo date('c',time());