Convert Timestamp to Time Ago using PHP

In this tutorial we will explain how to convert given date into a time ago string like 10 second(s) ago, 3 hour(s) ago, 1 month ago, 2 year(s) ago and decades. We are having a custom function to change a date format into time ago string. This is a very simple example, you can just copy paste and change according to your requirement.

Before you get started, take a look at the folders and files structure of PHP Time Ago Function

php-time-ago-function
- css
  - style.css
- images
- templates
  - header.php
  - footer.php
- function.php
- index.php

Create HTML Form Date input. file named index.php

<?php 
require_once "function.php";
include('templates/header.php');?>
<form name="datetime"  method="post">
<section class="showcase">
  <div class="container">
    <div class="pb-2 mt-4 mb-2 border-bottom">
      <h2>PHP Time Ago Function</h2>
    </div>
    <div class="row align-items-center">  
      <div class="form-group col-md-6">
        <label for="inputEmail4">Date</label>
        <input type="datetime-local" class="form-control" id="datetime-local" name="datetime" value="<?php if(!empty($_POST["datetime"])) { print $_POST["datetime"]; } else { print date('Y-m-d', time()) .'T'. date("H:i:s", time()); } ?>">  
      </div>
      <div class="col">
        <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary mt-4 float-left">Submit</button>
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="row align-items-center">  
      <div class="form-group col-md-6">
        <label for="inputEmail4">
          <?php
          $strTimeAgo = '';
          if(!empty($_POST["datetime"])) {
            // call time ago function
            $strTimeAgo = timeago($_POST["datetime"]);
          }
          echo $strTimeAgo;
          ?>
        </label>
      </div>
    </div>
</div>
</section>
</form>
<?php include('templates/footer.php');?>

<?php

require_once "function.php";

include('templates/header.php');?>

<h2>PHP Time Ago Function</h2>

</div>

</div>

<button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary mt-4 float-left">Submit</button>

</div>

<?php

$strTimeAgo = '';

if(!empty($_POST["datetime"])) {

// call time ago function

$strTimeAgo = timeago($_POST["datetime"]);

}

echo $strTimeAgo;

</label>

</div>

</section>

</form>

<?php include('templates/footer.php');?>

PHP Custom Time Ago Function. file named function.php

<?php
function timeago($timestamp) {
  // check
  if(empty($timestamp)) {
        return "No date provided";
    }
   
    $periods = array("second", "minute", "hour", "day", "week", "month", "year", "decade");
    $lengths = array("60","60","24","7","4.35","12","10");
   
    $now = time();
    $unix_date = strtotime($timestamp);
   
    // check validity of date
    if(empty($unix_date)) {   
        return "Bad date";
    }

    // is it future date or past date
    if($now > $unix_date) {   
        $difference = $now - $unix_date;
        $tense = "ago";
       
    } else {
        $difference = $unix_date - $now;
        $tense = "from now";
    }
   
    for($j = 0; $difference >= $lengths[$j] && $j < count($lengths)-1; $j++) {
        $difference /= $lengths[$j];
    }
   
    $difference = round($difference);
   
    if($difference != 1) {
        $periods[$j].= "(s)";
    }
   
    return "$difference $periods[$j] {$tense}";
}
?>

<?php

function timeago($timestamp) {

// check

if(empty($timestamp)) {

return "No date provided";

}

$periods = array("second", "minute", "hour", "day", "week", "month", "year", "decade");

$lengths = array("60","60","24","7","4.35","12","10");

$now = time();

$unix_date = strtotime($timestamp);

// check validity of date

if(empty($unix_date)) {

return "Bad date";

}

// is it future date or past date

if($now > $unix_date) {

$difference = $now - $unix_date;

$tense = "ago";

} else {

$difference = $unix_date - $now;

$tense = "from now";

}

for($j = 0; $difference >= $lengths[$j] && $j < count($lengths)-1; $j++) {

$difference /= $lengths[$j];

}

$difference = round($difference);

if($difference != 1) {

$periods[$j].= "(s)";

}

return "$difference $periods[$j] {$tense}";

}

Create header.php and footer.php section of the webpage. The Bootstrap library is used to provide a better UI, so, include it in the header and footer section.

header.php

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
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  <title>PHP Time Ago Function | Web Haunt</title>
  <!-- Bootstrap core CSS -->
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  <!-- Custom fonts for this template -->
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/5.7.2/css/all.min.css" />
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  <!-- Custom styles for this template -->
  <link href="css/style.css" rel="stylesheet"> 
</head>
<body>
  <!-- Navigation -->
  <nav class="navbar navbar-expand-lg navbar-dark bg-dark static-top header-bg-dark" style="background: ##FFFFFF!;">
  <div class="container">
    <a class="navbar-brand font-weight-bold" href="https://webhaunt.com"><h1>Web Haunt</h1></a>
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<!DOCTYPE html>

<head>

<title>PHP Time Ago Function | Web Haunt</title>

</head>

<body>

<a class="navbar-brand font-weight-bold" href="https://webhaunt.com"><h1>Web Haunt</h1></a>

</button>

<a class="nav-link" href="https://webhaunt.com/">Home

<span class="sr-only">(current)</span>

</a>

</li>

</li>

</ul>

</div>

</nav>

footer.php

<!-- Footer -->
  <footer class="footer bg-light footer-bg-dark">
    <div class="container">
      <div class="row">
        <div class="col-lg-6 h-100 text-center text-lg-left my-auto">
          <ul class="list-inline mb-2">
            <li class="list-inline-item">
              <a href="#">About</a>
            </li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">&sdot;</li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">
              <a href="#">Contact</a>
            </li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">&sdot;</li>
            <li class="list-inline-item">
              <a href="#">Terms of Use</a>
            </li>
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              <a href="#">Privacy Policy</a>
            </li>
          </ul>
          <p class="small mb-4 mb-lg-0" style="color: #E6ECF0;">Copyright &copy;  2017 - <?php print date('Y', time());?> <a style="color: #E6ECF0;" href="https://webhaunt.com/">WEBHAUNT.COM</a> All rights reserved.</p>
        </div>
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</body>
</html>

<a href="#">About</a>

</li>

<a href="#">Contact</a>

</li>

<a href="#">Terms of Use</a>

</li>

<a href="#">Privacy Policy</a>

</li>

</ul>

<p class="small mb-4 mb-lg-0" style="color: #E6ECF0;">Copyright © 2017 - <?php print date('Y', time());?> <a style="color: #E6ECF0;" href="https://webhaunt.com/">WEBHAUNT.COM</a> All rights reserved.</p>

</div>

</a>

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</ul>

</div>

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</html>

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