.. _`date`: http://www.php.net/date
.. _`DateTime`: http://www.php.net/DateTime
.. _`DateInterval`: http://www.php.net/DateInterval
+
+If the value passed to the ``date`` filter is null, it will return the current date by default.
+If an empty string is desired instead of the current date, use a ternary operator:
+
+.. code-block:: jinja
+
+ {{ post.published_at is empty ? "" : post.published_at|date("m/d/Y") }}