Template:Use mdy dates/doc

Usage
Place this template near the top of articles that use the  date format; see Manual of Style/Lead section for more information about the order of elements near the beginning of the article.

Wikipedia articles that use  ("American") dates, either because of the first main contributor rule or close national ties (see MOSNUM), are systematically tagged with Use mdy dates over time. The template is invisible except in edit mode.

The template is useful to the editors to quickly know which date format is to be used when adding new dates into an article. It also facilitates article maintenance by enabling bots to recognize use of this format, and by adding the article to the hidden category Use mdy dates.

This system of tagging/categorization is used as a status monitor of all articles that use mmm dd yyyy date formats, and not as a cleanup per se.

After being tagged, and bearing in mind article evolution, a bot can eventually be programmed to clean up formats periodically, correcting any new introductions since its last visit, and updating the visit date on the Use mdy dates template.

The dmy and mdy templates have almost always been used to indicate date styles in the body of the articles; although it may also indicate the flavor of dates in reference sections or parts thereof. Therefore, this template notice ought to be read in conjunction with the blurb at Date formattings. MOSNUM script documentation may also be relevant to those interested.

In general, the date format used for publication dates within references should match that used within the article body. However, it is common practice for archive and access dates to use the alternative ymd format. This usage is valid and is specifically mentioned at MOSDATE. In those cases, the archive and access date formats should not be altered when fixing dates.

TemplateData
 {       "description": "This template should be placed near the top of articles that use the mmm dd, yyyy date format.", "params": { "date": { "label": "Date", "description": "The month and year that the article was last checked for inconsistent date formatting. Example: 'June 2013'; may use '' template instead", "type": "string", "required": false }       } } 

Wrongly tagged?
If you determine that an article is incorrectly tagged with this template, you should alter or remove the tag to prevent scripts and bots from applying the "wrong" format.