$html .= '<div class="srpw-meta">';

                                if ( $args['date'] ) :
                                    $date = get_the_date();
                                    if ( $args['date_relative'] ) :
                                        $date = sprintf( esc_html__( '%s ago', 'smart-recent-posts-widget' ), human_time_diff( get_the_date( 'U' ), current_time( 'timestamp' ) ) );
                                    endif;
                                    $html .= '<time class="srpw-time published" datetime="' . esc_html( get_the_date( 'c' ) ) . '">' . esc_html( $date ) . '</time>';
                                elseif ( $args['date_modified'] ) : // if both date functions are provided, we use date to be backwards compatible
                                    $date = get_the_modified_date();
                                    if ( $args['date_relative'] ) :
                                        $date = sprintf( esc_html__( '%s ago', 'smart-recent-posts-widget' ), human_time_diff( get_the_modified_date( 'U' ), current_time( 'timestamp' ) ) );
                                    endif;
                                    $html .= '<time class="srpw-time modified" datetime="' . esc_html( get_the_modified_date( 'c' ) ) . '">' . esc_html( $date ) . '</time>';
                                endif;