How to Remove Dates from WordPress Posts Easily

There are times when bloggers, site owners, and online entrepreneurs need to remove the dates from WordPress posts. This tactic can help to make older posts look new.

When using WordPress, everything a user posts will have the date and time stamped in each title. This has its advantages, For instance ranking articles into hierarchies, newest to oldest.

But this is not always helpful if the blog is not updated on a regular basis. Having old posts can discourage readers from visiting the site.

So, knowing how to remove dates from WordPress using different methods is essential. This article provides easy steps to follow without having to learn about coding.

Four Easy Methods to Remove Dates from WordPress Posts

Take note of these four strategies:

Code Edit or Remove Date Method
CSS Method
Plugin Method
From the WordPress Dashboard

The following section of this article takes a closer look at each of these steps.

Code Edit or Remove Method

For an easier option, try using code to edit or remove the date.

Step-by-step Instruction:

Create a child theme
To the newly created stylesheet, add the following snippet:

{code type=php}
.entry-date {
display: none;
}

Users should notice that the date and the clock, such as 2014 or 2013, next to the themes’ date are now gone.

Use the CSS Method

Learning how to remove dates from WordPress Posts is easy if users follow the step-by-step instructions. Simply copy the following CSS codes, and paste them in the Additional CSS section.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Visit the Admin Panel.
Hover over the ‘Appearance’ link located at the left column navigation. Select the ‘Customize’ link.
Find the ‘Additional CSS’ control which is also usually found in the menu on the left.

Select the ‘Additional CSS’ to open the CSS entry field.
Into the “Additional CSS” field, copy and paste the following code to hide the post date:

entry-date published { 

  display: none; 

}

After pasting the CSS code into the “Additional CSS” field, the deleted date will appear in the preview.
Select the “Publish” button to save the additional CSS.

Remember that this step doesn’t completely delete the date and time. It only hides the date and the metadata from the frontend.

At the backend, the date and time still exist. Thus they can still help with listing and categorizing items, services, or products.

On the search engine snippets, all the metadata and the date still appear, and the search engine can read through them.

If Using This CSS Method Doesn’t Work

On some rare occasions, the CSS will not hide the date and metadata. If that is the case, then follow the instructions below:

In the CSS, add the code “!important” like this:

entry-date published { 

  display: none !important;

}

It’s possible to use a different CSS for the date, to hide the date and metadata.
On the date section, right-click, and select “Inspect” to view the CSS class.

Note: The step above is for Google Chrome. If using browsers such as Opera or Firefox, do this instead:

Firefox: Go to the date section. Right-click, and select “Inspect Element.”

Safari: Go with the Option key + C.

The developer’s tool section will open and users can scroll through the code. Look for the highlighted section, which should be the date or page element.

The CSS class will be in this highlighted section.

Copy the class name to the CSS, and set it into display: none.

            .CLASS-NAME { 

  display: none;

}

Note: To hide the code along with the date, find that element or its CSS class name, and set it into display: none. Make sure to include the preceding period as in the examples above if using the CSS class this way.

The Pros of Using the CSS Method:

It prevents the resource use that accompanies the use of plugins.
For those working with CSS customization for a long time, the CSS method is easy to implement.

The Cons of Using the CSS Method:

The disadvantage of the CSS method is that it only works on the theme you edit. So, users will have to hide the post date again if they change their theme.

Every developer creates themes differently. That’s why the way CSS hides the dates and metadata varies from one theme to another.

Plugin Approach

To avoid the hassle of using codes or CSS, a plugin is an ideal option. There are several free plugins available that enable users to remove dates from WordPress posts.

Ensure that the chosen plugin has the latest features and functionalities. One of the recommended plugins is WP Meta and Date Remover.

WP Meta and Date Remover Plugin Features:

Popular for removing post dates and metadata information from WordPress posts.
Has the option to remove the data from the backend and frontend by using CSS code or PHP functions.
Completely remove the metadata and dates instead of only hiding them

Note: After activating this plugin, it will hide all the dates and authors from your posts. To hide a specific date, customize the settings to select specific posts to remove the dates from.

Here are the step-by-step instructions to activate this plugin:

Go to the WordPress dashboard, and hover over the Settings section.
Click on WP Meta and Date Remover.
Click on the “Enable Slider” to activate the option.
Open any WordPress posts and find the “Remove Meta and Date” option in the publish box.
Uncheck the “Remove Meta and Date” option to unhide the date and metadata. Or check the box to hide them.
Using the ‘Remove from Homepage’ options, users can hide the dates from their Homepage posts.

This plugin allows users to use PHP and CSS to hide the date and metadata. This removes the metadata from the backend.

It means that search engines and search engine crawlers cannot find it.

To hide only the data related to the post dates and metadata, you can use the CSS options with CSS filters.

This method hides the dates from viewers on the frontend. However, search engines and Google snippets can still recognize them.

Once finished, make sure to click on the “Save Changes” button.

Another plugin option is WP Date Remover. Some of its features include date and time removal from posts.

In this plugin, users can choose the categories they want to get the date and metadata removed from. This means it’s possible to select a specific post from which to hide the data.

The Pros of Plugin Approach

Even if a user changes their theme, the dates will remain hidden.
Based on the post categories, you can use the plugin to hide post dates.

The Cons of Plugin Approach

Plugins that alter page displays generally use system resources.

Nevertheless, hiding or removing the post date will only take a minute or two.

From the WordPress Dashboard

This is one of the easiest methods in the article. First of all, there’s no need for coding skills.

Users only have to follow simple instructions to get started:

Go to the Admin Dashboard > Settings > General.
Look for the Date Format section, then select “Custom Format”.
Erase everything there.
Save Changes to erase the date.

Ending thoughts on learning how to remove dates from WordPress posts

By following the instructions above, users can remove the date from WordPress posts. They can also erase the author, tags, categories, and more.

Depending on the website’s needs, date meta tags may not be necessary. Still, knowing how to remove dates from WordPress posts may be helpful to you in the future.

Keeping articles or posts up-to-date can be challenging, especially for part-time bloggers. Removing the date can remove the idea that your website is not active anymore.

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