This is How to Add Minutes to the Publish Time in WordPress
As a WordPress developer, you may occasionally need to adjust the publish time of a post by a few minutes. Perhaps you scheduled a post to go live at 9am, but realized it would be better to publish it at 9:05am instead. Or maybe you want to backdate a post to make it appear that it was published earlier than it actually was.
Fortunately, there's a simple way to accomplish this using a couple of built-in WordPress functions. In this article, we'll walk through the step-by-step process of adding minutes to the publish time of a WordPress post.
Understanding get_the_time() and date()
The key to adjusting the publish time of a WordPress post lies in the get_the_time()
and date()
functions.
get_the_time()
is a WordPress function that retrieves the time of a post, page, or comment. By default, it returns the time in the format specified by the WordPress admin settings (e.g. "January 1, 2023 at 12:00 am").
However, get_the_time()
also accepts an optional second argument that allows you to specify the format of the time output. One of the most useful formats is "U", which returns the time as a Unix timestamp (the number of seconds since January 1, 1970).
Once you have the post time in Unix timestamp format, you can use the date()
function to format the time however you'd like. In our case, we'll use date('H:i', $timestamp + $offset)
to add the desired number of minutes to the original publish time.
Step-by-Step: Adding Minutes to the Publish Time
Let's walk through a concrete example of how to add 10 minutes to the publish time of a WordPress post.
First, we need to get the post's original publish time in Unix timestamp format:
// Get the post object
$post = get_post($post_id);
// Get the post time in Unix timestamp format
$timestamp = get_the_time('U', $post->ID);
Next, we'll calculate the offset in seconds that we want to add to the original publish time. In this case, we want to add 10 minutes, so the offset will be 600 seconds (60 seconds per minute x 10 minutes):
// The offset in seconds
$offset = 60 * 10;
Finally, we'll use the date()
function to format the new publish time, adding the offset to the original Unix timestamp:
// Format the time and add the offset
$date = date('H:i', $timestamp + $offset);
Putting it all together, the complete code would look like this:
// Get the post object
$post = get_post($post_id);
// Get the post time in Unix timestamp format
$timestamp = get_the_time('U', $post->ID);
// The offset in seconds
$offset = 60 * 10;
// Format the time and add the offset
$date = date('H:i', $timestamp + $offset);
// Output the new publish time
echo $date; // Outputs "09:10"
This code will output the new publish time of the post, which is 10 minutes later than the original publish time.
Real-World Examples and Use Cases
Adjusting the publish time of a WordPress post can be useful in a variety of situations. Here are a few examples:
-
Scheduling Posts: If you're scheduling a post to go live at a specific time, you may need to adjust the publish time by a few minutes to account for any delays or discrepancies between your local time and the server's time.
-
Backdating Posts: Sometimes, you may want to backdate a post to make it appear that it was published earlier than it actually was. This can be useful for maintaining a consistent publication schedule or for ensuring that your content appears in the correct chronological order.
-
Fixing Mistakes: If you accidentally publish a post with the wrong publish time, you can use this technique to quickly correct the issue without having to unpublish and republish the post.
-
Coordinating Multiple Posts: If you're publishing multiple posts at the same time, you may need to adjust the publish time of each post slightly to ensure that they don't all go live at the exact same moment, which could create a traffic spike or other issues.
By understanding how to use the get_the_time()
and date()
functions in WordPress, you can easily add or subtract minutes from the publish time of your posts, giving you greater control over the timing and presentation of your content.
Conclusion
In this article, we've shown you how to easily add minutes to the publish time of a WordPress post using a few simple lines of code. By leveraging the get_the_time()
and date()
functions, you can adjust the publish time of your posts with precision, whether you're scheduling content, backdating posts, or fixing mistakes.
Remember, the key to this technique is first getting the post's publish time in Unix timestamp format using get_the_time('U', $post->ID)
. From there, you can simply add or subtract the desired number of seconds (or minutes) to the timestamp and use date()
to format the new publish time.
If you're a WordPress developer or content creator, this is a helpful technique to have in your arsenal. With the ability to fine-tune the publish time of your posts, you can ensure that your content is always presented in the most optimal way for your audience.
For more tips and tricks on optimizing your WordPress site, be sure to check out Flowpoint.ai. Flowpoint's AI-powered analytics and recommendations can help you identify and fix technical, UX, and content-related issues that may be impacting your site's performance and conversion rates.
Get a Free AI Website Audit
Automatically identify UX and content issues affecting your conversion rates with Flowpoint's comprehensive AI-driven website audit.