title: Determine variable type within django template
body: <p>I have a variable that I'm pulling into a table that sometimes is a date and sometimes is a string.  If the variable is a date, I want to change the formatting:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;td&gt;{{ action.extra_column|date:"M d" }}&lt;/td&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But if it is a string, I just want to display it as is:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;td&gt;{{ action.extra_column }}&lt;/td&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>If I try to format it and it is a string, I get no output for the variable.</p>
  
  <p>How can I determine the type so that I can adjust my rendering based on type.</p>