Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Latter Day Saint movement

Date format consistency

Hello! I have seen some disagreements on the date formats, particularly in LDS temple articles where dates appear in each temple's template. Perhaps some discussion and consensus for guidance on how to proceed would be helpful as new articles are created and existing ones are developed.

As it currently stands, the documentation for Template:LDS Temple uses MDY format in the examples and in the blank template used to create new temple templates, and follows the general rules of MOS:DATE and MOS:DATERANGE. MOS:LDS does not have a preferred date format nor does this project. That said, previous discussions on the temple template page have not shown any consensus to use one format or the other.

Some other points to keep in mind:

1. MOS:DATE allows for either format. MOS:DATETIES allows for whichever format is generally used in a specific location, similar to using the local measurement system and spellings.
2. MOS:DATEUNIFY, using a consistent format, applies to the article text , but there is no reason the template should use one format if an article is using the other format. That said, the master list of temples will obviously have both formats if the local format option is used, which is how it currently stands.
3. In terms of sources, the LDS Church's Church Newsroom uses both formats. For instance, this press release from May 21 uses DMY in the date of the release, but the article itself and photo captions use MDY. Local sources for each temple will vary based on location, hence US and even Canadian temples generally using MDY.

Options:

• Leave as is and allow each template and article to develop on their own based on editors' preferences and MOS:DATE
• Require one format for every project article and template regardless of the topic's location (meaning consensus on which format to use would be needed)
• Require templates to all be in one format but allow articles to adhere to MOS:DATETIES. In that case, the documentation for Template:LDS Temple would need to be updated along with dozens of existing temple templates.
• Require consistency in format for articles and templates (i.e. if the article uses DMY, then the template within it should also use DMY, and vice versa) aligned with the various policies in MOS:DATE
  • Related to the previous option, align with MOS:DATETIES and require use of the date format that is most commonly used in the location of a topic. This would also include local measurements (square feet vs. square meters...since we have a conversion template, it would simply determine which measurement is shown first) and any local spellings (color vs. colour).

Thank you! -- JonRidinger (talk) 19:54, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Charles A. Foster (Latter Day Saints)

Please justify how this is notable, after almost 13 years. Bearian (talk) 19:35, 3 June 2026 (UTC)