By default WordPress shows you publish date and there is no way for reader to know about the recent changes made to any post in your WordPress website.
You must have noticed certain news websites running over WordPress shows last modification date on their articles. In this lesson you will learn how you can easily let your visitors know that the post was modified.
Method-1 By Editing Your WordPress Theme
You can modify your theme files to show last modification date on your blog posts.
You will be needing to find the following line of code (or anything similar as there are many formats) in your theme files: single.php, page.php & index.php
<?php the_modified_time('F jS, Y');?> OR
<?php the_date(); ?> OR
<?php get_the_date(); ?>.
And replace it with:
<?php $u_time = get_the_time('U');
$u_modified_time = get_the_modified_time('U');
if ($u_modified_time >= $u_time + 86400) {
echo "and last updated on ";
the_modified_time('F jS, Y');
echo " at ";
the_modified_time();
echo ", "; } ?>
For more information, head over to WordPress Codex on Formatting Date and Time.
Method-2 By Using WordPress Plugin
WP Last Modified is a WordPress plugin that enables you to display last modification date under your articles in your WordPress website.
Although the plugin hasn’t been updated from long but it works and automatically displays ‘Last Updated Timestamp’ above or below your post content.
It tells your website visitors and search engine (like Google, Yahoo!, Bing etc.) about last update made on your webpage.
Features:
- The plugin displays Last modified or revised date information on posts and pages
- The plugin display last modified or updated date above or below your content
- It allows you to customize the verb text displayed along with the last modified date
- It allows you to add Revised Meta tags to your posts and pages
Start by installing ‘WP Last Modified’ plugin in WordPress. Upon activation visit your admin area Dashboard -> Settings -> WP Last Modified page and check to activate the ‘Last Updated Timestamp’. That’s it.