# Templater plugin (1.5 and newer): New Syntax and Examples

**URL:** <https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513>\
**Category:** Plugins\
**Tags:** plugin-release\
**Created:** [April 14, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513 "2021-04-14T14:20:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/moonbase59/32/13648_2.png) [@Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Moonbase59)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/1 "2021-04-14T14:20:41Z")

</div>

I just played around a little with the new version 1.5 of the Templater plugin. Well done, I must say!

Thought I share some nifty examples:

**Next Monday:**

_EDIT:_ This is not “next Monday” in some countries but “next Sunday” instead. Some countries start their week on sundays, so this should actually be labelled “Next start-of-the-week-day” … Note that it depends on your current (Obsidian) language setting.

```auto
<% tp.date.weekday("dddd YYYY-MM-DD", 7) %>

```

**First day next month:**

```auto
<% tp.date.now("dddd YYYY-MM-DD", "P1M", tp.date.now("YYYY-MM") + "-01") %>

```

You can even use `moments.js` directly, this allows for some nice tricks—and in the current locale, too!

**My birthday this year** (in forum-like format)

```auto
<% moment("07-19", "MM-DD").fromNow() %>

```

will show something like: `in 3 months` or `in 3 Monaten`.

**Days until Christmas** (without checking if it’s already past Christmas)

```auto
<% moment.duration(moment("12-24", "MM-DD").diff(moment(), "days")) %>

```

Have fun inventing more (and let us know about them)!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pch](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/pch/32/8496_2.png) [@Pch](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Pch)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/2 "2021-04-14T18:09:18Z")

</div>

> [@Moonbase59](#):
>
> **Next Monday:**
> 
> ```auto
> <% tp.date.weekday("dddd YYYY-MM-DD", 7) %>
> 
> ```

`tp.date.weekday()` that’s a new one 😁 !

And I also had a lot of fun with `Templater`, `Periodic Notes`, `Calendar`, some `JS` but mostly `Moment.js` (once someone told me [on discord](https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/707816848615407697/830443298044772372) this could be done) yesterday while setting up my Daily/Weekly/Monthly and Yearly Notes 😊 .

I use mostly the `tp.file.title` variable so most of what I use Templater for (for now) relies on how I format my daily (weekly/monthly/yearly) notes 😊 .

The `tp.file.title` variable is very useful when using `Calendar`/`Periodic Notes` as it still allows me to create any daily notes (either in the past or future using `Calendar`) without having to fear potential mistakes/errors.

As the non-dev’ person that I am 😇 , who has no `JS` knowledge (last time I did a little bit of javascript was 20 years ago 😆 ) avoiding mistakes/errors is quite important 😊 .

But here is what I’ve got so far 😊 :

* * *

#### For the total of days (as a number) in a month :

In a Daily Note with the title formatted as `YYYY-MM-DD` and using `Moment.js` [.daysInMonth()](https://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/days-in-month/) :

```auto
<% moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY-MM-DD').daysInMonth() %>

```

Example : for the daily note `2021-04-14`, the result will be `30`

* * *

#### For the Start/End of a month :

In a Monthly Note with the title formatted as `YYYY-MM` using `Moment.js` [.startOf()](https://momentjs.com/docs/#/manipulating/start-of/) or [.endOf()](https://momentjs.com/docs/#/manipulating/end-of/) and the result formatted as `ddd. DD/MM`

```auto
<% moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY-MM').startOf('month').format('ddd. DD/MM') %>

```

Example : for the monthly note `2021-04`, the result will be `Thu. 01/04`

```auto
<% moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY-MM').endOf('month').format('ddd. DD/MM') %>

```

Example : for the monthly note `2021-04`, the result will be `Fri. 30/04`

* * *

#### For the number of days left in a month (using a daily notes as a starting point):

Daily Notes title formatted as `YYYY-MM-DD` using [.endOf()](https://momentjs.com/docs/#/manipulating/end-of/) and [.diff()](https://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/difference/)

```auto
<% moment(moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY-MM-DD').endOf('month')).diff(moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY-MM-DD'),'days') %>

```

This 👆 is literally just a subtraction 😊 .

In other words what it does is find the last day in the month from the date in the title of the daily notes (`moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY-MM-DD').endOf('month')`) as its own `Moment()` and then subtracts the `days` from the daily notes title “date” (`.diff(moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY-MM-DD'),'days'` )

So if you have a daily note titled `2021-04-14` the result will be `16` (as there are `30 days` in `April`)

* * *

#### For getting a list of all days in a month (“pre-linked” if the daily note already exists):

In a Monthly Note with the title formatted as `YYYY-MM`

It took me a while to get this one, lots of trials and errors 😅 (first shared on [Discord](https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/707816848615407697/831502115297558528) and its based on this [Stack Overflow reply](https://stackoverflow.com/a/54021935) 😊 )

```auto
<%* const currentMonthDates = new Array(
moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY-MM').daysInMonth()).fill(null).map(
(x, i) => moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY-MM').startOf('month').add(i,'days').format("- [[[]YYYY-MM-DD[#]YYYY-MM-DD[|]DD/MM [⦗]ddd[.⦘]]]")).join('\r\n') %>
<%* tR += currentMonthDates %>

```

What this kind of does is create a “list” (array) from the start of the month and as long as there are days in the month (based on the note’s title). Then it gives each item in this list a specific format (`.format("- [[[]YYYY-MM-DD[#]YYYY-MM-DD[|]DD/MM [⦗]ddd[.⦘]]]")`).  
In my case, once `Templater` does what it has to do : `- [[YYYY-MM-DD#YYYY-MM-DD|DD/MM ⦗ddd.⦘]]`.  
There are lots of brackets `[]` because this is how `Moment.js` escapes characters so it can correctly interpret the format I’m asking for 😊 .

Once the list is created and formatted, it gets rid of the comma `,` which originally separates each item in the list and replace it with a new line to get an actual unordered list 😊 .

The last part `<%* tR += currentMonthDates %>` is to display the `constant` created in the first part (following [Templater Documentation](https://silentvoid13.github.io/Templater/docs/eta-features/execution-command#how-to-output-a-value-from-a-javascript-execution-command-)) 😊 .

* * *

#### For the list of all months in a year (“pre-linked” if the monthly notes already exists):

In a Yearly Note with the title formatted as `YYYY`.  
Source : this [Stack Overflow reply](https://stackoverflow.com/a/29303336) 😊 .

```auto
<% Array.apply(0, Array(12)).map(function(_,i){return moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY').month(i).format("- [[[]YYYY-MM[#]YYYY-MM[|]MM - MMMM[]]]")}).join('\r\n') %>

```

It “kind of” works in the same way as the previous one : creates a list of the months in the year referenced by the title, apply a specific format and then get rid of the comma `,` in the list 😊 .

**Note** :

- This part `Array(12)` is the length of the list (12 items)
- This part `moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY')` is the starting point of the list (based on the note’s title)

* * *

#### To get the DateTime (`Now()`) in whatever language you want :

```auto
<% moment(tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM")).locale('fr').format("LLLL") %>

```

☝ **Updated and simplified** in the post below 😁 :

> [@Moonbase59](#):
>
> You can actually abbreviate the last one:
> 
> ```auto
> <% moment().locale('fr').format("LLLL") %>
> 
> ```

* * *

… I might find others 😊 .

I’m absolutely no `JS` expert (far from that 😊 ) so there might be **better ways** to get to the same results too 😇 !

**Edit :** Added some context, explanations (as best as I could 😇 , trying to make this post more understandable for non-dev’ people like myself 😊 ) and sources 😊 .

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/moonbase59/32/13648_2.png) [@Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Moonbase59)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/3 "2021-04-14T19:59:21Z")

</div>

Some nice ones, @Pch, thank you for these!

You can actually abbreviate the last one:

```auto
<% moment().locale('fr').format("LLLL") %>

```

And I could rewrite my “First day next month” like this:

```auto
<% moment().add(1, 'months').startOf('month').format('dddd YYYY-MM-DD') %>

```

We’re happily “misusing” the new Templater, hee hee 😁 !

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pch](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/pch/32/8496_2.png) [@Pch](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Pch)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/4 "2021-04-14T20:11:40Z")

</div>

> [@Moonbase59](#):
>
> You can actually abbreviate the last one:
> 
> ```auto
> <% moment().locale('fr').format("LLLL") %>
> 
> ```

Ah! Thank you for the correction 😊 !  
I was multitasking and got distracted 😅!

> [@Moonbase59](#):
>
> We’re happily “misusing” the new Templater, hee hee 😁 !

Definitely 😁 !

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jeffurry](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/jeffurry/32/207_2.png) [@Jeffurry](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Jeffurry)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 12:31pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/5 "2021-04-15T12:31:17Z")

</div>

> [@Moonbase59](#):
>
> **My birthday this year** (in forum-like format)
> 
> ```auto
> <% moment("07-19", "MM-DD").fromNow() %>
> 
> ```

This is great! I cant figure out how to get this expressed in: ‘x-Months, & y-Days’  
Can you help?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pch](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/pch/32/8496_2.png) [@Pch](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Pch)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/6 "2021-04-16T13:54:03Z")

</div>

Hi @Jeffurry😊 !

Ok, I’ve spent lot of time on your enigma (because it was bugging me 😅 ) and I may have something for you 😊 .

Getting a difference between 2 dates in specific units of time (years, months days, …) is never easy because each unit relies on one another .  
As for example, you wanted the result expressed in `X Month(s) Y Days` and this can’t really be done without calculating the year first (AFAIK) 😊 .

Apparently, after searching for a while, `Moment.js` is able to calculate all this pretty easily as long as you define a `Start Date` and a `End Date` and have the appropriate math to go with it (I’ve found my inspiration [somewhere on the web](https://community.plumsail.com/t/difference-between-two-dates-in-years-months-days-in-javascript/6860/2)) but the best I could do was to get the result in `X Year(s) Y Month(s) Z Day(s)` which was not exactly what you wanted… So I searched further 😊 .

* * *

⚠ **Caution** : I’m still no Javascript expert 😇 (but after lots of tests, what I’m going to suggest seems to work 😊 )

* * *

But first, here is the complete code to put in the template (`Editor`) 😊 .  
(The explanations are below 😊 )

```auto
<%*
var EndDate = moment('2023-12-31',"YYYY-MM-DD");
var StartDate = moment(tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD"));
var DiffYears = EndDate.diff(StartDate, 'year');
StartDate.add(DiffYears, 'years');
var DiffMonths = EndDate.diff(StartDate, 'months');
StartDate.add(DiffMonths, 'months');
var DiffDays = EndDate.diff(StartDate, 'days');
var NoDiff;
if(EndDate.isSame(StartDate)) {
	NoDiff= "Today";
	} else { 
	NoDiff="";
	};
var ResultYears;
if(DiffYears > 1) {
	ResultYears= DiffYears+ ' Years ';
	} else if (DiffYears == "1") { 
	ResultYears=DiffYears+' Year ';
	} else { 
	ResultYears="";
};
var ResultMonths;
if(DiffMonths > 1) {
	ResultMonths= DiffMonths+ ' Months ';
	} else if (DiffMonths == "1") { 
	ResultMonths=DiffMonths+ ' Month ';
	} else { 
	ResultMonths="";
	};
var ResultDays;
if(DiffDays > 1) {
	ResultDays= DiffDays+ ' Days ';
	} else if (DiffDays == "1") { 
	ResultDays=DiffDays+ ' Day ';
	} else { 
	ResultDays="";
	}
%>
<%* tR += NoDiff + ResultYears + ResultMonths + ResultDays %>

```

And now, the explanations :

The only thing you should modify are the 2 variables `EndDate` and `StartDate` in

```auto
var EndDate = moment('2023-12-31',"YYYY-MM-DD");
var StartDate = moment(tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD"));

```

The `EndDate` must be **in the future** compared to the `StartDate`, otherwise the results will be negative (I think I didn’t really test that, sorry 😇)

For the `StartDate` you can use solely `moment()` which is `Today` but it will exclude `Today` from the results .  
If you use `moment(tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD"))` as `StartDate` it’s still `Today` but `Today` will be included in the results.

You can also use (I think) for the `StartDate` something like `moment(tp.file.title,"YYYY-MM-DD")`, if it’s used in a Daily Note, but I didn’t test this.

Now, this part :

```auto
var DiffYears = EndDate.diff(StartDate, 'year');
StartDate.add(DiffYears, 'years');
var DiffMonths = EndDate.diff(StartDate, 'months');
StartDate.add(DiffMonths, 'months');
var DiffDays = EndDate.diff(StartDate, 'days');

```

Is the one that will calculate the difference between the `EndDate` and `StartDate` in `years, months, days`.

And this one :

```auto
var NoDiff;
if(EndDate.isSame(StartDate)) {
	NoDiff= "Today";
	} else { 
	NoDiff="";
	};

```

is there to compare the `EndDate` to the `StartDate` and if they are the same ([.isSame](https://momentjs.com/docs/#/query/is-same/)) will be displayed in the result (in this case I just chose `Today` ).

But as you wanted the results displayed in `X Month(s) Y Day(s)` I added some other conditions :

The first one is for the year(s) :

```auto
var ResultYears;
if(DiffYears > 1) {
	ResultYears= DiffYears+ ' Years ';
	} else if (DiffYears == "1") { 
	ResultYears=DiffYears+' Year ';
	} else { 
	ResultYears="";
};

```

If the difference between the 2 dates is `> 1 year` , the result will say `X years`. If it’s at least `= 1 year`, the result will say `1 year` and in any other cases (if the difference `= 0 year`), it won’t display the result for the `year`.

The same goes for the months (`var ResultMonths;`) and the days (`var ResultDays;`) 😊 .

Meaning that :  
If the difference between the 2 dates is :

- `1 year 0 month 2 days` : the actual results will display as : `1 Year 2 Days`
- `0 year 0 month 5 days` : the actual results will display as : `5 Days`
- `0 year 7 months 9 days` : the actual results will display as : `7 Months 9 Days` (which is the specific format you wanted 😊 )
- `1 year 0 month 0 day` : the actual results will display as : `1 Year`
- Etc …

And last but not least :

```auto
<%* tR += NoDiff + ResultYears + ResultMonths + ResultDays %>

```

This will actually display the different variables from the first section 😊 .

Might not be perfect, but I did what I could 😊

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/moonbase59/32/13648_2.png) [@Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Moonbase59)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/7 "2021-04-16T16:42:01Z")

</div>

There are many ways to go there … let’s assume you want to use _next year’s_ birthday if it’s already past your birthday, you could try something like this:

```auto
<%*
var a = moment("07-19", "MM-DD")
var b = moment()

if (a.isBefore(b)) { a.add(1, 'years') }

var m = a.diff(b, 'months')
b.add(m, 'months')

var d = a.diff(b,'days')

tR += m + ' month(s) and ' + d + ' day(s)'
%>

```

You won’t get `moment.js`’s nice locale and singular/plural features with this, though. Using `.humanize()` is difficult because `moment.js` uses some odd thresholds (see [Moment.js | Docs](https://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/fromnow/)).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jeffurry](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/jeffurry/32/207_2.png) [@Jeffurry](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Jeffurry)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/8 "2021-04-17T17:25:59Z")

</div>

Oh my! I turn my back for a day and look what happens. This is such a richness of things to digest, as well as what @Moonbase59 has provided!  
I always start my note-taking with a daily note, so `moment(tp.file.title,"YYYY-MM-DD")` works quite nicely.  
Thank you so much for this - mostly what I see here looks like  
@_(\*\*& !"!" %$% ^^&&_?! #~@! \*\*%  
but it is much appreciated nonetheless 😉 I will give it some well focussed attention, to bring myself to understand it. Thank you again.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jeffurry](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/jeffurry/32/207_2.png) [@Jeffurry](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Jeffurry)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/9 "2021-04-17T18:42:07Z")

</div>

Oh my - thank you so much for spending the time to do this. It works very nicely for my purposes. You’re a star!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![janpeeters](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/janpeeters/32/34256_2.png) [@janpeeters](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/janpeeters)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 7:18am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/10 "2021-04-19T07:18:25Z")

</div>

Hi all, I’ve read this thread with noob awe and it made me wonder if you could share in what cases you would use these kind of variables in a template. How do you make them to good use? And how do you keep the info (like days until day x) updated? Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/moonbase59/32/13648_2.png) [@Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Moonbase59)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 9:33am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/11 "2021-04-19T09:33:50Z")

</div>

Hey @janpeeters, thanks for your interest!

These are _not_ “self-updating” (though at least the `moment.js` stuff _could_ in theory be used on a web page), but intended to be used as _templates_, i.e. called up and used only _once_ (on invocation of the template).

Most people would probably use some of these with their “Daily Notes” template, to create links or nice-looking Date/Time strings. Others might keep some in small “snippet” template files (often in a separate “templates” folder) and call them up when needed, for instance with the _Alt/Opt+E_ key combination.

Here are some possible usage ideas:

- Within the “Daily Notes” template, to create links like “Yesterday’s Note”, “Tomorrow’s Note”, “Weekly Note”, and so on.
- For multilingual people, to easily create standardized date/time strings in the other languages.
- Within to-dos and calendar-type notes like “only xx days till our anniversary—get a present”.
- “Just because we can.” Because it’s great to play with possibilities (and get distracted from the real work, hee hee …)

Have fun finding _your_ use case!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![janpeeters](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/janpeeters/32/34256_2.png) [@janpeeters](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/janpeeters)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 11:35am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/12 "2021-04-19T11:35:11Z")

</div>

Hi @Moonbase59 thanks for all your info, this clarifies a lot. I hope you don’t mind if I have some follow-up questions. _If this gets too much off topic I hope I can contact you via pm._

It’s a pity that the info cannot be updated after e.g. changes to a note. I thought that the `Templater: Replace templates in the active file` function would be able to do this. Do you know what this function does?

Do you know of a way how to have an updating ‘last modified’ header in the note?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/moonbase59/32/13648_2.png) [@Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Moonbase59)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/13 "2021-04-19T14:06:40Z")

</div>

> [@janpeeters](#):
>
> I thought that the `Templater: Replace templates in the active file` function would be able to do this. Do you know what this function does?

It replaces templater code within the currently open file, so you don’t have to load an external template. Like, you type `<% tp.file.last_modified_date() %>`, then press `Alt/Opt+R` and you’ll get the file’s last modified date and time.

I never had much use for this (except for testing), since the templater code is replaced with its result and thus gone afterwards.

> [@janpeeters](#):
>
> Do you know of a way how to have an updating ‘last modified’ header in the note?

Nope. If you find one, let me know 😉 Then again, Obsidian’s File Explorer pane shows the last modified date if you hover the mouse over a file, and it could possibly be retrieved “live” using the _Dataview_ plugin.

We must remember, after all, that Obsidian is a system to create/handle plain Markdown text notes and _not_ a “live”, variable- or event-driven system like a website could be.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![janpeeters](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/janpeeters/32/34256_2.png) [@janpeeters](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/janpeeters)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:19pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/14 "2021-04-19T14:19:50Z")

</div>

Thanks a lot! Crystal clear.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/moonbase59/32/13648_2.png) [@Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Moonbase59)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/15 "2021-04-19T14:32:23Z")

</div>

FYI, here’s a link to the [Templater Docs](https://silentvoid13.github.io/Templater/docs/).

Since this thread is not only about durations anymore, I’ll change its title to _“New Syntax and moment.js Examples”_ 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/moonbase59/32/13648_2.png) [@Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Moonbase59)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2021, 5:46pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/16 "2021-04-22T17:46:13Z")

</div>

Here’s another example that [came up today](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/helper-for-template-plugin/16996): Make a H1 heading that has the first letter of the note’s title uppercased.

```auto
# <% tp.file.title.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + tp.file.title.slice(1) %>

```

Shows nicely how to unleash the powers of Javascript using the Templater plugin.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/moonbase59/32/13648_2.png) [@Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Moonbase59)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/17 "2021-04-22T17:52:26Z")

</div>

Another one: [Cursor placement in Templates plugin (preferably also for Daily Notes template) - #7 by Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/cursor-placement-in-templates-plugin-preferably-also-for-daily-notes-template/7206/7)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![janpeeters](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/janpeeters/32/34256_2.png) [@janpeeters](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/janpeeters)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/18 "2021-04-22T18:31:59Z")

</div>

> [@Moonbase59](#):
>
> > [@janpeeters](#):
> >
> > Do you know of a way how to have an updating ‘last modified’ header in the note?
> 
> Nope. If you find one, let me know 😉 Then again, Obsidian’s File Explorer pane shows the last modified date if you hover the mouse over a file, and it could possibly be retrieved “live” using the _Dataview_ plugin.

I asked the author of Dataview on GitHub and it is possible:  
Put an inline codeblock like this in your file with this code.

```auto
`= this.file.mtime`

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/moonbase59/32/13648_2.png) [@Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Moonbase59)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/19 "2021-04-22T19:13:08Z")

</div>

Now _this_ is a great find—thank you!

Now we’ll only have to wait for …

- date/time string formatting
- date/time strings being localized into the currently set _Obsidian language_, not the _system language_

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/moonbase59/32/13648_2.png) [@Moonbase59](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Moonbase59)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 4:36am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513/20 "2021-05-06T04:36:38Z")

</div>

### Templater 1.6+: Combining _dynamic commands_ and _Javascript_ commands (undocumented)

Say you have a front matter field `deceased:` but only want to calculate/show the date _if_ it’s defined (or non-empty), and a simple `-` if not.

You _can_ actually _combine_ Templater’s `<%+` (dynamic) and `<%*` (Javascript) “introducers” as follows:

Use `<%+*`—this should produce dynamic results (if I’m not being caught by caching again):

```auto
<%+* if (tp.frontmatter["deceased"]) {tR+=moment(tp.frontmatter.deceased).format("ddd, YYYY-MM-DD")} else {tR+="-"}; %>

```

Now isn’t Templater great?

[Next page](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/templater-plugin-1-5-and-newer-new-syntax-and-examples/16513.md?page=2)