Insert Current Date as Widget or Variable in Magento CMS

Question

Is there a way to insert the current data in Magento CMS as variable, widget, or any other method aside from including a .phtml file with php echo of date().?

Right now what I did is include a .phtml files with this contents:

<?php
echo "Today is " . date("Y/m/d") . "<br>";
?>

But is there any better or proper way? Like {{datetoday}} or something. Just like when I'm including a URL, I just type the variable {{store url}}

Answer 1

You can do this with a custom block. Create it once and you can reuse it everywhere.

Create a module with the following config.xml:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <YourCompany_YourModule>
            <version>0.0.1</version>
        </YourCompany_YourModule>
    </modules>
    <global>
        <blocks>
            <currentdate>
                <class>Mage_Catalog_Block</class>
            </currentdate>
        </blocks>
    </global>
</config>

Install this block: in File app/code/local/YourCompany/YourModule/Block/Datetoday.php:

<?php

class YourCompany_YourModule_Block_Datetoday extends Mage_Core_Block_Text
{
    protected function _toHtml()
    {
        $date = Mage::getModel('core/date')->date('m-d-Y H:i:s');
        $this->setText($date);

        return parent::_toHtml();
    }
}

How to use

Now in your CMS pages or in a static block all you have to do is use the following short tag:

{{block type="currentdate/datetoday"}}

Answer 2

Okay there are a few things missing in phil's answer:

1. You also need a module XML file in app/etc/modules/ with the name YourCompany_YourModule.xml

   <?xml version="1.0"?>
   <config>
       <modules>
           <YourCompany_YourModule>
               <active>true</active>
               <codePool>local</codePool>
           </YourCompany_YourModule>
       </modules>
   </config>
   

2. The second half of the config.xml had an error (block class name):

   <?xml version="1.0"?> 
   <config>
       <modules>
           <YourCompany_YourModule>
               <version>0.0.1</version>
           </YourCompany_YourModule>
       </modules>
       <global>
           <blocks>
               <currentdate>
                   <class>YourCompany_YourModule_Block</class>
               </currentdate>
           </blocks>
       </global>
   

3. Lastly I found at least that the actual PHP block with the parent::_tohtml() part had a problem (checking the core code shows a check against a beforetoHTML() returning blank so I commented out the call to parent and replaced with the getText() and it all worked.

   class YourCompany_YourModule_Block_Datetoday extends Mage_Core_Block_Text
   {
     protected function _toHtml()
     {
       $date = Mage::getModel('core/date')->date('m-d-Y H:i:s');
       $this->setText($date);
   
       return $this->getText();
       //parent::_toHtml();
     }
   }
   

Answer 3

All previous answers were incomplete. Here are the complete steps.

Create the following file at app/code/local/YourCompany/YourModule/etc/config.xml:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <YourCompany_YourModule>
            <version>0.0.1</version>
        </YourCompany_YourModule>
    </modules>
    <global>
        <blocks>
            <currentdate>
                <class>YourCompany_YourModule_Block</class>
            </currentdate>
        </blocks>
    </global>
</config>

Create the following file at app/code/local/YourCompany/YourModule/Block/Datetoday.php

<?php

class YourCompany_YourModule_Block_Datetoday extends Mage_Core_Block_Text
{
    protected function _toHtml()
    {
        $date = Mage::getModel('core/date')->date('m-d-Y H:i:s');
        $this->setText($date);
        return $this->getText();
    }
}

Create this file at app/etc/modules/YourCompany_YourModule.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <YourCompany_YourModule>
            <active>true</active>
            <codePool>local</codePool>
        </YourCompany_YourModule>
    </modules>
</config>

Add a permission for the block YourModule/datetoday in the admin panel.

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