Make sure you mark those important dates down today!
With the Date field, respondents can easily capture a date by clicking a button, selecting from a drop-down calendar, or entering it manually.
What Is the Date Field?
IndyForms offers two date field types, both found in the Basic Input Fields panel of the Form Builder:
Field type | What it does |
Date | Standard date entry with a calendar picker and manual input option. |
Age Calculator | Automatically calculates and displays a person's age based on a date of birth entered by the respondent. |
📝 Note: The date format displayed — for example, dd/mm/yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy — is determined by your web browser's language and region settings. To change the format, update your browser preferences.
How to Add a Date Field
In the Form Builder, open the Builder tab.
From the Basic Input Fields panel, select either Date or Date (Age Calculator).
Drag the field into your form, or click + Add Item and select it from the list.
Enter a Label and Description.
Configure any optional settings (see below).
Click Publish when your form is ready.
Optional Settings
The following settings are available on both date field types:
Input Required: Makes the field mandatory — respondents cannot submit the form without entering a date.
Show Time Entered: Automatically records the date, time, and user details whenever the field is edited. See Show Time Entered below for more detail.
Show User Last Edited: Captures the name of the user who last edited the field — useful for accountability on shared records.
Filterable: Makes the field available in Advanced Filters so records can be searched and sorted by date.
Display in List: Shows the date directly in the Records list so you can see it at a glance without opening each record individually.
Edit in List: Allows the date to be updated directly from the Records list view without opening the individual record — useful for quickly adjusting deadlines or scheduled dates.
Age Calculator: Anchor Date
The Date (Age Calculator) field includes an additional setting — Anchor Date — which controls whether the age displayed is fixed at the time of entry or continues to update over time.
Setting | What it does |
Anchor Date on | Locks the age at the time the field is completed. The age will not change over time. |
Anchor Date off | Always calculates the current age based on today's date — updates automatically. |
Use Anchor Date on for:
Incident reports where the person's age at the time of the incident must remain fixed as a historical record.
Compliance or legal documentation where age at the time of signing must be preserved.
Use Anchor Date off for:
Enrolment documents where you always need to know the person's current age.
Membership or service eligibility where age limits or milestones need to stay current.
Show Time Entered
When you enable Show Time Entered, IndyForms will automatically capture:
The exact date and time the field was last edited, and
The user details of who made the change.
This is pretty handy if you want to capture the real time and date something happened — perfect for audit trails, compliance records, or time-sensitive reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why does my form show dates as mm/dd/yyyy instead of dd/mm/yyyy?
A. The date format follows your web browser's language and region settings. Update your browser preferences to change how dates display across IndyForms.
Q. Can I make the Date field mandatory?
A. Yes — enable Input Required when configuring the field.
Q. Does the Date field support time as well?
A. Yes, in two ways. Enable Show Time Entered to automatically capture the system date and time whenever the field is edited. Or add a separate Time field if you want respondents to enter a specific time manually.
💡IndyTips
Check your browser settings if the date format looks unfamiliar — IndyForms displays dates exactly as your browser's language and region settings are configured.
Use Filterable to search and sort records by date — particularly useful for filtering by submission date, incident date, or scheduled date.
Use Display in List to make key dates visible in the Records list without opening each record — ideal for due dates, start dates, or review dates.
Use Anchor Date on the Age Calculator for any legal, compliance, or incident-based form where age must be recorded as a fixed historical value.
💬 Contact Support
Our team is available 24/7. Reach out via email or chat and our support team will be happy to help.