timeago.js

timeago.js is a simple library (less than 2 kb) that is used to format datetime with *** time ago statement. eg: '3 hours ago'.

• Localization supported.
• Time ago and time in supported.
• Real-time render supported.
• Nodejs and browserjs supported.
• Well tested.

Official website. 中文版说明文档点这里。 React version here: timeago-react. Python version here: timeago.

Such as

just now
12 seconds ago
3 minutes ago
2 hours ago
3 days ago
3 weeks ago
6 months ago
2 years ago

in 12 seconds
in 3 minutes
in 2 hours
in 24 days
in 6 months
in 2 years

1. Usage

1. Install timeago.js

npm install timeago.js

2. Import timeago.js

ES6/commonjs import style is supported.

// ES6
import timeago from 'timeago.js';

// commonjs
var timeago = require("timeago.js");

or link as a script in an html file and access global variable timeago.

<script src="dist/timeago.min.js"></script>

or import in a typescript file.

import timeago from 'timeago.js';

// or

import timeago = require("timeago.js");

3. Use timeago factory to create a new instance

var timeagoInstance = timeago();
timeagoInstance.format('2016-06-12');

2. Detailed Usage

1. Set relative date

timeago is relative to the current date by default. You can set it yourself.

var timeagoInstance = timeago('2016-06-10 12:12:12'); // set the relative date here.
timeagoInstance.format('2016-06-12', 'zh_CN');

2. Use timestamp

timeago().format(Date.now() - 11 * 1000 * 60 * 60); // returns '11 hours ago'

3. Automatic rendering

HTML code：

<div class="needs_to_be_rendered" datetime="2016-06-30 09:20:00"></div>

js code

var timeagoInstance = timeago();
var nodes = document.querySelectorAll('.needs_to_be_rendered');
// use render method to render nodes in real time
timeagoInstance.render(nodes, 'zh_CN');
// cancel real-time render for every node
timeago.cancel()
// or for the specific one
timeago.cancel(nodes[0])

The input for render method should be DOM object/array, pure javascript DOM node or jQuery DOM object.

The cancel method clears all the render timers and release all resources of the instance. Optionally it accepts a single node to cancel timer just for it.

The DOM object should have the attribute datetime or data-timeago with date formatted string.

4. Localization

Default locale is en, and the library supports en and zh_CN.

var timeagoInstance = timeago();
timeagoInstance.format('2016-06-12', 'zh_CN');

You can change the locale in the constructor or use the setLocale method:

var timeagoInstance = timeago(currentDate, 'zh_CN');
// or
timeago(currentDate).setLocale('zh_CN');

5. Register local language

You can register your own language via a static method register. Usage example:

// the local dict example is below.
var test_local_dict = function(number, index, total_sec) {
  // number: the timeago / timein number;
  // index: the index of array below;
  // total_sec: total seconds between date to be formatted and today's date
  return [
    ['just now', 'right now'],
    ['%s seconds ago', 'in %s seconds'],
    ['1 minute ago', 'in 1 minute'],
    ['%s minutes ago', 'in %s minutes'],
    ['1 hour ago', 'in 1 hour'],
    ['%s hours ago', 'in %s hours'],
    ['1 day ago', 'in 1 day'],
    ['%s days ago', 'in %s days'],
    ['1 week ago', 'in 1 week'],
    ['%s weeks ago', 'in %s weeks'],
    ['1 month ago', 'in 1 month'],
    ['%s months ago', 'in %s months'],
    ['1 year ago', 'in 1 year'],
    ['%s years ago', 'in %s years']
  ][index];
};
// register your locale with timeago
timeago.register('test_local', test_local_dict);
// use the locale with timeago instance
var timeagoInstance = timeago();
timeagoInstance.format('2016-06-12', 'test_local');

Check out more locales.

Locale contributions are welcomed, thank you for submitting a GitHub pull request for corrections or additional languages. ^_^~

3. Contributions

1. The website is based on rmm5t/jquery-timeago which is a nice and featured project but it depends on jQuery.

2. locale translations: The library needs more locale translations. You can:

• Open an issue to write the locale translations, or submit a pull request. How to ? see en's translation.
• Please test the locale by exec npm test or node tests/locales_test.js. How to write testcase, see en's test cases.

4. LICENSE

MIT