The Grid The Events Calendar

P.S. – for reference, here’s the skin’s full code

<?php
/**
 * @package   The_Grid
 * @author    Themeone <[email protected]>
 * @copyright 2015 Themeone
 *
 * Skin: Maren
 *
 */

// Exit if accessed directly
if (!defined('ABSPATH')) {
	exit;
}

/**
 * Single Event Meta (Details) Template
 *
 * Override this template in your own theme by creating a file at:
 * [your-theme]/tribe-events/modules/meta/details.php
 *
 * @package TribeEventsCalendar
 */

$tg_el = The_Grid_Elements();

$format = $tg_el->get_item_format();
$colors = $tg_el->get_colors();

$com_args = array(
	'icon' => '<i class="tg-icon-chat"></i>'
);

$author_args = array(
	'prefix' => __( 'By', 'tg-text-domain' ).' ',
);

$readmore_args = array(
	'text' => __( 'Read More', 'tg-text-domain' ).'<i class="tg-icon-arrow-next-thin"></i>',
);

$terms_args = array(
	'color' => 'color',
	'separator' => ', '
);

;

if ($format == 'quote' || $format == 'link') {

	$bg_img = $tg_el->get_attachement_url();

	$output  = ($bg_img) ? '<div class="tg-item-image" style="background-image: url('.esc_url($bg_img).')"></div>' : null;
	$output .= $tg_el->get_content_wrapper_start();
		$output .= '<i class="tg-'.$format.'-icon tg-icon-'.$format.'" style="color:'.$colors['content']['title'].'"></i>';
		$output .= $tg_el->get_the_date();
		$output .= ($format == 'quote') ? $tg_el->get_the_quote_format() : $tg_el->get_the_link_format();
		$output .= '<div class="tg-item-footer">';
		$output .= '</div>';
	$output .= $tg_el->get_content_wrapper_end();

	return $output;

} else {

	$output = null;

	$media_content = $tg_el->get_media();
	$media_button  = $tg_el->get_media_button();
	$link_button   = $tg_el->get_link_button();

	if ($media_content) {
		$output .= $tg_el->get_media_wrapper_start();
			$output .= $media_content;
			$output .= ($media_button) ? $tg_el->get_overlay() : null;
			$output .= ($media_button) ? $tg_el->get_center_wrapper_start() : null;
				$output .= ($media_button) ? $media_button : null;
				$output .= ($media_button) ? $link_button : null;
			$output .= ($media_button) ? $tg_el->get_center_wrapper_end() : null;
		$output .= $tg_el->get_media_wrapper_end();
	}

	$output .= $tg_el->get_content_wrapper_start();
		// get a meta data value for the an item
		$output .= $tg_el->get_item_meta('_EventStartDate,');
		$output .= $tg_el->get_the_title();
		$output .= $tg_el->get_the_excerpt();
		$output .= $tg_el->get_read_more_button($readmore_args);

	$output .= $tg_el->get_content_wrapper_end();

	return $output;

}

Hey there!

There’s actually a pretty handle function that will grab an event’s start date for you:

tribe_get_start_date()

Here’s more on that in our documentation:
https://theeventscalendar.com/function/tribe_get_start_date/

Hopefully that will be a much easier way to grab the start date!

Cheers,
Geoff

Geoff,
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it! Your support team is great. I did see that link as well as a few posts on your forum that were similar to my problem.

Unfortunately I think my biggest issue is I’m a total newbie. I’m getting hung up on the syntax of how to call the function and return the date. I’m sure it’s a few simple lines of code but, even after several beers, I can’t seem to get it right. (maybe the beer is making it worse ??

Would you be able to point towards any specific examples of the code in use? Maybe then with some cut-an-paste and reworking that would get me closer.

Again thanks for any advice. I need to buy you a beer!

Oh yeah, for sure!

You can grab the start date using this in your template:

<?php tribe_get_start_date(); ?>

Or, if you’re placing it inside of PHP, then those opening and closing tags are not needed and you can simple use:

tribe_get_start_date();

Will that work for you? I sure hope so — and a beer sounds great. ??

Geoff