Converting a date into a description in JavaScript

Question

I want to compare a date (like Tue, 04 Nov 2014 04:02:59 -0800) with the current date and display as below:

a few seconds ago
10 minutes ago
2 days ago
1 month ago
etc.

What is the most efficient way to do this in JavaScript/jQuery?

Checkout the answer here should help you out http://stackoverflow.com/a/16465436/1370442 — Luke Baughan, Nov 04 '14 at 14:06
@bUKaneer I think that question is the reverse of this one. OP there are plenty of plugins that will do this, E.g: http://timeago.yarp.com/ — George, Nov 04 '14 at 14:07
Another plugin which I really like is MomentJS, by far the most advanced plugin I have found. Supports lots of languages too: http://momentjs.com/ — JKaan, Nov 04 '14 at 14:10
@DevlshOne *`"-1 for not showing any attempt to solve your own problem"`* please, know that new users might not know exactly what's a -1 and neither how to properly format a Question. Have patience and point OP to the right direction :) — Roko C. Buljan, Nov 04 '14 at 15:01
possible duplicate of [javascript date difference](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4435605/javascript-date-difference) — Mark, Nov 04 '14 at 15:46
possible duplicate of [Fuzzy date algorithm](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/822124/fuzzy-date-algorithm) — Sam Hanley, Nov 05 '14 at 01:00
And I'm proud of finding that one, although the answer here is frankly better. — Sam Hanley, Nov 05 '14 at 01:00
@RokoC.Buljan That's why they're directed to read the "How to ask good questions on SO" page(s) before posting, isn't it? I've been here for 4 years, no need to scold. — DevlshOne, Nov 12 '14 at 13:01

Roko C. Buljan · Answer 1 · 2014-11-05T00:50:21.063

I've created something that might be useful.

function timeAgo(dateString){
  var postDate = new Date(dateString),
      now = new Date(),
      dif = now - postDate, // ms
      s   = Math.floor(dif/1000),
      m   = Math.floor(s/60),
      h   = Math.floor(m/60),
      d   = Math.floor(h/24),
      M   = now.getMonth() - postDate.getMonth(),
      y   = new Date(dif).getFullYear() - 1970,
      t   = ["year","month","day","hour","minute","second"],
      a   = [y,M,d,h,m,s];
  for(var i in a) if(a[i]) {a=a[i]; t=t[i]; break;}
  return a +" "+ (a>1?t+"s":t) +" ago";
}


alert("This post was created "+  timeAgo("Tue, 04 Nov 2014 16:44:07 +0100") );

Returns this examples

6 seconds ago
1 minute ago
9 hours ago
12 days ago
1 month ago
2 years ago

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 05 '14 at 01:01

If you're already using jQuery, I'd recommend taking a look at Moment.js. It's the best date library I've been able to find so far. You can take advantage of the fromNow() function which will give you the output you're looking for.

Take a look at the fiddle

var data = '',
    date = new Date();

date.setYear(2012);
data += moment(date).fromNow() + "<br />";

date.setYear(2016);
data += moment(date).fromNow() + "<br />";

date.setYear(2014);
data += moment(date).fromNow() + "<br />";

$('#output').html(data);

<script src="http://momentjs.com/downloads/moment.js"></script>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div id='output'></div>

Converting a date into a description in JavaScript

2 Answers2