How to use if statements in underscore.js templates?

Depending on the situation and or your style, you might also wanna use print inside your <% %> tags, as it allows for direct output. Like:

<% if (typeof(id) != "undefined") {
     print(id);
}
else {
    print('new Model');
} %>

And for the original snippet with some concatenation:

<% if (typeof(date) != "undefined") {
    print('<span class="date">' + date + '</span>');
} %>

Here is a simple if/else check in underscore.js, if you need to include a null check.

<div class="editor-label">
    <label>First Name : </label>
</div>
<div class="editor-field">
    <% if(FirstName == null) { %>
        <input type="text" id="txtFirstName" value="" />
    <% } else { %>
        <input type="text" id="txtFirstName" value="<%=FirstName%>" />
    <% } %>
</div>

If you prefer shorter if else statement, you can use this shorthand:

<%= typeof(id)!== 'undefined' ?  id : '' %>

It means display the id if is valid and blank if it wasn't.

This should do the trick:

<% if (typeof(date) !== "undefined") { %>
    <span class="date"><%= date %></span>
<% } %>

Remember that in underscore.js templates if and for are just standard javascript syntax wrapped in <% %> tags.