Timestamp

The “Timestamp” attribute stores date, time, or both as a Unix timestamp (bigint). In the backend, a date picker with the configured Contao date format is displayed. Typical use cases:

• Publication date, event date, expiry date

• Opening hours (time only)

• Booking period with start and end date (two timestamp attributes)

• Timestamps for events

Note

Date values are stored as Unix timestamps. For custom SQL filters or queries, conversions may be necessary (e.g. FROM_UNIXTIME() in MySQL).

See also

For a modern date picker in the frontend: Simple Date Picker for the From-To Filter Rule via Flatpickr Integration

Installation

The attribute is installed via the Contao Manager or Composer:

composer require metamodels/attribute_timestamp

Settings when Creating the Attribute

In addition to the general attribute settings (name, column name, description, override variants), the timestamp attribute offers the following specific option:

Option	Description
Schema	Defines which input type is used in the backend: Date — Date only (without time) Date and time — Date together with time Time — Time only (without date)

Settings in Render Settings

The timestamp attribute has its own render setting:

Option	Description
Format	Custom date format for the output, formatted with the PHP function date() (e.g. d.m.Y, H:i, d.m.Y H:i). If the field is left empty, the default format configured in the Contao system is used.
Template	Selection of a custom template for the output of the date value.
CSS class	Optional CSS class added to the output element.

Settings in the Input Form

When the timestamp attribute is added to an input form, the following options are available:

Display

Option	Description
Backend class	CSS classes for the display of the field in the backend form (e.g. w50 for half width).
Template for backend	Selection of a custom widget template for the backend form.
Template for frontend	Selection of a custom widget template for frontend editing (only available if the “Frontend Editing” extension is installed).

Functions

Option	Description
Required field	Makes the field a required field.
Date and time handling	Defines which part of the timestamp is set to 0 when saving. Important for correct filtering: Store date only without time — The time is reset to 00:00:00. Useful for pure date filters. Store time only without date — The date is reset to the Unix epoch start day (01.01.1970).

Overview (backend filter and search)

Option	Description
Filterable	The attribute is available in the backend as a filter criterion.
Searchable	The attribute is available in the backend as a search field.

Filter Rules

The timestamp attribute can be used with the following filter rules:

Filter rule	Note
Value from/to for one date field	From/to range filter for a single timestamp attribute; e.g. all events within a time period. Custom template: mm_filteritem_datepicker.html5 for an HTML5 date picker (format YYYY-MM-DD).
Value from/to for two date fields	Range filter across two timestamp attributes; e.g. when start and end date are stored as separate attributes.

Special Functions

Database storage

Date and time values are stored as Unix timestamps in a bigint(10) NULL field. An empty value is stored as NULL.

Formatting

The output is controlled via the Contao event ParseDateEvent. The format from the render settings takes precedence over the system-wide Contao format. In templates, the formatted value is directly available as $arrData['html5'] or $arrData['text'].