### [Adding a Date and Time Stamp to Entries](https://wpforms.com/docs/how-to-add-a-date-time-stamp-to-wpforms-entries/)

**Published:** November 23, 2023
**Author:** David Ozokoye

**Excerpt:** Learn how to check when form entries were submitted.

**Content:**

Would you like to add a date and time stamp to your WordPress forms? Keeping track of when entries are submitted can help you get a better understanding of when your forms are most active.

This tutorial will show you how to add a date and time stamp in WPForms.

![Adding date and time stamp overview](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/adding-date-time-stamp.gif "Adding Date and Time Stamp Overview")---

## Checking Built-In Date and Time Stamps

There are several built-in ways that WPForms keeps track of when entries are submitted: within your Entries Overview page, within each of your individual entries, and through exporting entries. We’ll go over each of these options below:

### Entries Overview

By default, every entry in your Entries Overview will save the date and time it was submitted.

To view this information, first navigate to **WPForms » Entries**. Then, click on the name of the form you’d like to view entry data for.

![Entries-overview](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Entries-overview-1.png)Once you’ve opened this up, you’ll be able to see the submission date and time for every submission.

![Date time stamp in entry overview](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Date-time-stamp-in-entry-overview-1.png)### Individual Entries

By default, each individual entry will store the date and time that it was submitted.

You can view the data for an individual entry by clicking the **View** button from the [entry overview](#entries-overview).

![View Individual Entry in WPforms](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/click-to-view-individual-entry.png)From there, you can view a submission’s date and time data in the **Entry Details** box.

![Individual Entry Date Time Stamp](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Individual-entry-date-time-stamp-2.png)### Exporting Entries

You can also include a date stamp when [ exporting your entries](https://wpforms.com/docs/how-to-export-form-entries-to-csv-in-wpforms/ "How to Export Form Entries in WPForms").

After selecting which form’s entries you’d like to export, you can add entry date information under the **Additional Information** section.

![Export Entries with Entry Date](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Export-entries-with-entry-date.png)## Adding Additional Date and Time Stamps

You can add additional date and time stamps through the use of a Hidden Field, or by configuring the form notification settings. We’ll go over each of these options below:

### Hidden Field

Using a Hidden Field is a quick and easy way to capture the date an entry was submitted. To do this, you’ll first need to add a Hidden Field to your form. Then, click on the field to open up its settings.

![Add a Hidden Field](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Add-a-hidden-field.png)Then, next to the **Default Value** field, click on **Show Smart Tags**.

![Click show smart tags](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Click-show-smart-tags-1.png)This will open up a list of possible Smart Tags you can add to this field. Select the **Date** Smart Tag to add it to your Hidden Field.

![Hidden field date smart tag](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Hidden-field-date-smart-tag.png)The Date Smart Tag will now appear in the Default Value field in the following format: `{date format="m/d/Y"}`.

![Default date value for hidden field](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Default-date-value-for-hidden-field.png)If you’d like to also include a time stamp, you can change the `{date format="m/d/Y"}` Smart Tag to the following format: `{date format="m/d/Y h:i:s A"}`.

**Note:** If you’d like to use alternative PHP parameters, refer to our developer guide on [using PHP date and time formats in WPForms](https://wpforms.com/developers/how-to-use-php-date-and-time-formats-in-wpforms/).

![Default date time value for hidden field](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Default-date-time-value-for-hidden-field.png)Once you’ve added this, you can view the submission date and time information in your entries area. This information is also included in your email notifications by default.

**Note:** If you were already using the form on your site before adding the Hidden Field, only future entries will include date information in the Hidden Field.

### Notification Settings

You can also add a date stamp directly into your [email notifications](https://wpforms.com/docs/setup-form-notification-wpforms/#basic-setup "How to Set Up Form Notification Emails in WPForms"). To set this up, click on the **Show Smart Tags** option above the message body.

![Show smart tags in email notifications](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Show-smart-tags-in-email-notification.png)Then, click the **Date** Smart Tag to add it to your email notification.

![Select date smart tag](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Select-date-smart-tag.png)Once you’ve added it to the email notification, you’ll see the `{date format="m/d/Y"}` Smart Tag next to `{all_fields}`.

![Date format in email notification](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Date-format-in-email-notification.png)Here’s an example of how your email notification might look with the Date Smart Tag added:

![Email notification with date stamp](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Email-notification-with-date-stamp.png)That’s it! We hope this helped to familiarize you with some of the ways to add a date and time stamp to WPForms.

Next, would you like to export your forms from your current site and import them to another? Be sure to check out our guide on [importing and exporting](https://wpforms.com/docs/how-to-import-and-export-wpforms/ "How to Import and Export WPForms") your WordPress forms.

**Categories:** Entries, Entry Management

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