Change date format in forum

Question

Is there a way to change the date format in main forum table? I changed the date format in views for topic list, but the date format wasn't changed on main forum page

Answer 1

What I did to change the date format. In modules/advanced_forum/includes/theme.inc I found the function advanced_forum_preprocess_forum_submitted(&$variables) and changed line 249 to $cutoff = variable_get('advanced_forum_time_ago_cutoff', 0) * 60 * 60; and line 254 - to $variables['date_posted'] = format_date($timestamp, 'custom', 'j M Y, G:i');

Answer 2

You generally don't want to edit Core or contributed modules but instead make a module that implements a hook to get your changes to work without effecting your ability to update.

To make this change I created a custom date format via the UI in Drupal 7 at 'admin/config/regional/date-time/formats'

Then I set my module's weight to 1 higher than the advanced forum module's weight in the drupal_system table via direct database manipulation. This allows your module's hook to run after the advanced_forum module's hooks.

I then added a function to a custom module that implements hook_preprocess_HOOK

/**
 * Implements hook_preprocess_HOOK().
 *
 * Changes date format for latest posts on forum listing page "/forums"
 *
 * requires module to be set as higher weight than the advanced_forum module (default 15) in drupal_system
 * this module must be set to weight 16 to make sure the preprocess functions happen after advanced_forum
 */
function forum_enhancements_preprocess_forum_submitted(&$variables) {
  if (isset($variables['topic']->created)) {
    $timestamp = $variables['topic']->created;
    $interval = REQUEST_TIME - $timestamp;
    $variables['time'] = format_interval($interval);

    // For items posted more than $cutoff hours ago, offer an actual date.
    $cutoff = variable_get('advanced_forum_time_ago_cutoff', 48) * 60 * 60;
    if ($interval > $cutoff) {
      $variables['date_posted'] = format_date($timestamp, 'forum');
    }
    else {
      unset($variables['date_posted']);
    }
  }
}

Answer 3

You can accomplish this task in multiple ways. The easier is to override forum-list.tpl.php or forum-topic-list.tpl.php and change the date format directly from the template file.

Answer 4

In order to change date format for main forum table, you need to override template_preprocess_forum_list by placing it in your Drupal custom theme or Drupal custom module

function MODULE_NAME_OR_THEME_NAME_preprocess_forum_list(&$variables) {
  foreach ($variables['forums'] as $id => $forum) {
    $variables['forums'][$id]->last_reply = format_date($forum->last_post->created); 
  }
}

For more details check Drupal formate_date

Answer 5

One thing you should keep in mind while working with Drupal is that you should Never hack Core and its features. You should not be looking at a way to change the date format in table, instead, you should be looking towards a way to manipulate the template where you need to show.

Currently, you should change the way it is shown while rendering in the template file.