CRM and Data Platforms

How To Prepopulate A Form Field With Today’s Date and JavaScript or JQuery

While many solutions offer the opportunity to store the date with each form entry, there are other times when it’s not an option. We encourage our clients to add a hidden field to their site and pass this information along with the entry so they can track when form entries are entered. Using JavaScript, this is easy.

How To Prepopulate A Form Field With Today’s Date and JavaScript

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Date Prepopulation with JavaScript</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form>
        <!-- Hidden field for the date -->
        <input type="hidden" id="hiddenDateField" name="hiddenDateField">
    </form>

    <script>
        // Function to get today's date in the desired format
        function getFormattedDate() {
            const today = new Date();
            const formattedDate = today.toLocaleDateString('en-US', {
                year: 'numeric',
                month: '2-digit',
                day: '2-digit'
            });
            return formattedDate;
        }

        // Use JavaScript to set the value of the hidden field to today's date
        document.getElementById('hiddenDateField').value = getFormattedDate();
    </script>
</body>
</html>

Let’s break down the provided HTML and JavaScript code step by step:

  1. <!DOCTYPE html> and <html>: These are standard HTML document declarations specifying that this is an HTML5 document.
  2. <head>: This section is typically used to include metadata about the document, such as the title of the webpage, which is set using the <title> element.
  3. <title>: This sets the title of the webpage to “Date Prepopulation with JavaScript.”
  4. <body>: This is the main content area of the webpage where you place the visible content and user interface elements.
  5. <form>: A form element that can contain input fields. In this case, it’s used to contain the hidden input field that will be populated with today’s date.
  6. <input type="hidden" id="hiddenDateField" name="hiddenDateField">: This is a hidden input field. It doesn’t appear on the page but can store data. It’s given an ID of “hiddenDateField” and a name of “hiddenDateField” for identification and use in JavaScript.
  7. <script>: This is the opening tag for a JavaScript script block, where you can write JavaScript code.
  8. function getFormattedDate() { ... }: This defines a JavaScript function called getFormattedDate(). Inside this function:
    • It creates a new Date object representing the current date and time using const today = new Date();.
    • It formats the date into a string with the desired format (mm/dd/yyyy) using today.toLocaleDateString(). The 'en-US' argument specifies the locale (American English) for formatting, and the object with year, month, and day properties defines the date format.
  9. return formattedDate;: This line returns the formatted date as a string.
  10. document.getElementById('hiddenDateField').value = getFormattedDate();: This line of code:
    • Uses document.getElementById('hiddenDateField') to select the hidden input field with the ID “hiddenDateField.”
    • Sets the value property of the selected input field to the value returned by the getFormattedDate() function. This populates the hidden field with today’s date in the specified format.

The end result is that when the page loads, the hidden input field with ID “hiddenDateField” is populated with today’s date in the format mm/dd/yyyy without leading zeroes, as specified in the getFormattedDate() function.

How To Prepopulate A Form Field With Today’s Date and jQuery

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Date Prepopulation with jQuery and JavaScript Date Object</title>
    <!-- Include jQuery from a CDN -->
    <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <form>
        <!-- Hidden field for the date -->
        <input type="hidden" id="hiddenDateField" name="hiddenDateField">
    </form>

    <script>
        // Use jQuery to set the value of the hidden field to today's date
        $(document).ready(function() {
            const today = new Date();
            const formattedDate = today.toLocaleDateString('en-US', {
                year: 'numeric',
                month: '2-digit',
                day: '2-digit'
            });
            $('#hiddenDateField').val(formattedDate);
        });
    </script>
</body>
</html>

This HTML and JavaScript code demonstrates how to use jQuery to prepopulate a hidden input field with today’s date, formatted as mm/dd/yyyy, without leading zeroes. Let’s break it down step by step:

  1. <!DOCTYPE html> and <html>: These are standard HTML document declarations indicating that this is an HTML5 document.
  2. <head>: This section is used for including metadata and resources for the webpage.
  3. <title>: Sets the title of the webpage to “Date Prepopulation with jQuery and JavaScript Date Object.”
  4. <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>: This line includes the jQuery library by specifying its source from a content delivery network (CDN). It ensures that the jQuery library is available for use on the webpage.
  5. <body>: This is the main content area of the webpage where you place the visible content and user interface elements.
  6. <form>: An HTML form element used to contain input fields. In this case, it’s used to encapsulate the hidden input field.
  7. <input type="hidden" id="hiddenDateField" name="hiddenDateField">: A hidden input field that won’t be visible on the webpage. It’s assigned an ID of “hiddenDateField” and a name of “hiddenDateField.”
  8. <script>: This is the opening tag for a JavaScript script block where you can write JavaScript code.
  9. $(document).ready(function() { ... });: This is a jQuery code block. It uses the $(document).ready() function to ensure that the contained code runs after the page has fully loaded. Inside this function:
    • const today = new Date(); creates a new Date object representing the current date and time.
    • const formattedDate = today.toLocaleDateString('en-US', { ... }); formats the date into a string with the desired format (mm/dd/yyyy) using the toLocaleDateString method.
  10. $('#hiddenDateField').val(formattedDate); selects the hidden input field with the ID “hiddenDateField” using jQuery and sets its value to the formatted date. This effectively prepopulates the hidden field with today’s date in the specified format.

The jQuery code simplifies the process of selecting and modifying the hidden input field compared to pure JavaScript. When the page loads, the hidden input field is populated with today’s date in the mm/dd/yyyy format, and no leading zeroes are present, as specified in the formattedDate variable.

Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is CMO of OpenINSIGHTS and the founder of the Martech Zone. Douglas has helped dozens of successful MarTech startups, has assisted in the due diligence of over $5 bil in Martech acquisitions and investments, and continues to assist companies in implementing and automating their sales and marketing strategies. Douglas is an internationally recognized digital transformation and MarTech expert and speaker. Douglas is also a published author of a Dummie's guide and a business leadership book.

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