Date time picker

How to add and configure a Date time picker field in the Notebook Editor.

What This Field Does

A Date Time Picker captures a date and time as a local datetime string without timezone information. It is functionally similar to Date/Time with Now but lacks timezone preservation, making timestamps ambiguous when teams span multiple timezones.

Warning: This field is discouraged for new notebooks. Because it stores timestamps without timezone information, the same time value (e.g., “14:30”) represents different times in different locations. Use Date/Time with Now instead for timezone-safe dates. Date/Time with Now accepts arbitrary dates in addition to “now” timestamps.

Adding the Field

To add this field, open the ADD A FIELD dialog, navigate to the DATE & TIME tab, and click the Date time picker card. Then click the ADD FIELD button in the lower right.

Adding a Date Time Picker — the DATE & TIME tab in the ADD A FIELD dialog

Configuring the Field

Click the field’s grey header bar to expand it and see its settings. For an overview of the settings shared by all fields — including Label, Helper Text, Field ID, and the field toolbar — see Field Identity and Field Toolbar.

Give the field a meaningful Label, review the auto-populated Field ID, and add any desired Helper Text.

Date Time Picker configuration in the {{Notebook}} Editor

Shared Field Options

Configure any of the shared field options as needed.

For settings shared across all field types — including Required, Annotation, Uncertainty, Conditions, Copy value to new records, and Display in child records — see Field Options.

Tips

  • Use Date/Time with Now instead unless your project operates entirely within a single timezone with no device travel. Date/Time with Now stores UTC timestamps that survive timezone changes and enable accurate cross-site synchronisation.

  • If you must use this field, add Helper Text documenting the assumed timezone (e.g., “All times are AEST”) so the assumption is recorded alongside the data and can be applied during post-processing.

  • Consider the travel scenario — a team based in Sydney conducting fieldwork in Greece may have devices still showing Sydney time. This field would record an ambiguous “14:30” with no way to know which timezone was intended.