Hello, I'm hoping somebody can help me resolve an issue with date format in a template.
I've created a template which includes a date variable (as a custom field, i.e. when I use the template I get a pop-up window with a date picker). The template works. So far so good. However, despite my Joplin date format being set to YYYY-MM-DD, the dates in notes created by the template are formatted as DD-MM-YYYY. This is problematic because I'm using the Frontmatter Overview plugin to create an overview table of all notes created via the template, and I can only sort this table by date-desc if the format is YYYY-MM-DD. Can anyone advise how I can get the template to fill in dates as YYYY-MM-DD. NB. I need to be able to select ANY date in the template; not necessarily today's date. Thank you!
The screenshot below is from my Windows PC, but I've also tried on my Android phone and I have the same problem there.
There is an issue on the template plug-in developers GitHub repo about this problem.
There is an associated pull request (PR) to fix this which states,
The native HTML5 <input type="date"> in Chromium (used by Electron/Joplin) hardcodes its display format to the OS locale and completely ignores Joplin's Tools → Options → Date format setting.
You might want to keep your eye on it or maybe comment on it.
I am not that good at following progress on GitHub, however it looks like the PR went silent in March 2026.
Thank you for the prompt reply. I'm new to Joplin, not at all familiar with GitHub and unsure what a 'pull request' is, but I will have a look at the links you sent, thank you.
I am now even more confused. I read (as far I could; I don't understand the code) the GitHub and Pull Request.
The pull request (fix: use text input for date variables to respect Joplin date format … by sh1vam31 · Pull Request #146 · joplin/plugin-templates · GitHub) suggests a workaround whereby the user adds the date in text format, with a placeholder (YYYY-MM-DD) shown in the field to remind the user to follow this format. That's not as convenient as a datepicker, but it would be OK as a workaround for me.
I therefore edited my template to include a second "Date" field with "Text" format (although I can't see how to make a placeholder appear in the template pop-up):
The part I cannot explain, is that a note created from this new template shows "Date1" (the date set to 'date' format and selected via the date picker) in the YYYY-MM-DD format, i.e. matching my Joplin date setting, even though I changed nothing else since yesterday:
How is this possible?
I tried switching the Joplin date setting to another format and creating a new note via the template, and it had no effect; Date1 was rendered in YYYY-MM-DD format.
Very confused - if anyone can see what's going on, I would love an explanation!
So to get the date format to be honored by the template plugin you need to do the following:
- Change the date format in Joplin
- Completely close Joplin. Make sure that if you have it in the tray that it is closed from there.
- Open Joplin and the template plugin should now honor the new date format that you have selected
@boring10
I found that a full quit and restart worked when I used {{date}} to add the current date and time, but not for the date picker. Also my date format for Joplin has always been set to YYYY-MM-DD but the date from the picker was appearing as DD-MM-YYYY. However things have changed.
@hec204
Same here! The only difference is if I change the date format in Joplin settings and restart the application the altered format IS reflected in the template. This was not happening yesterday. I was quitting and restarting Joplin all the time. I haven't changed anything either so I have no idea how this has happened.
Hi @boring10
Completely close Joplin. Make sure that if you have it in the tray that it is closed from there.
THANK YOU! This appears to be what I was missing. In all my tests I was closing Joplin, but didn't realise it was still in the tray. I've just tested it again, i.e. changed my settings to another date format, shut down Joplin completely, re-started Joplin, and created a note using the template, and the date format matches my settings.
