full list of date time format options?

[jamie]

Does anyone know where a full list of all the format options available to the dateFormat template function can be found i know of at least one (MMMM for full month name) not listed here

https://docs.espocrm.com/development/metadata/app-date-time/

[rabii]

for Pdf

https://docs.espocrm.com/user-guide/printing-to-pdf/#date-time-formatting

and here is the list of all date format

https://docs.espocrm.com/administration/date-formatting/

[jamie]

for Pdf

https://docs.espocrm.com/user-guide/printing-to-pdf/#date-time-formatting

and here is the list of all date format

https://docs.espocrm.com/administrat...te-formatting/

thanks for that, how did you find the extra info about date formatting? if there a reason it wasn't in the https://docs.espocrm.com/development...app-date-time/ page?

[rabii]

It is just under the Date & time formatting

[jamie]

rabii i ment this page https://docs.espocrm.com/development...app-date-time/ just wondering if they are less supported or less available

[rabii]

Yes they are supported - the format params on the function accept any format. see below

{{dateFormat createdAt_RAW format='DD.MM.YYYY'}} <br>
{{dateFormat createdAt_RAW format='MM/DD/YYYY'}} <br>
{{dateFormat createdAt_RAW format='YYYY-MM-DD'}} <br>
{{dateFormat createdAt_RAW format='DD. MM. YYYY'}} 

this above generate result below

10.09.2025
09/10/2025
2025-09-10
10. 09. 2025

[jamie]

i am just wondering why the documentation that can be easily found via the search bar only includes a small set of what's available, while the other, which is hidden behind another page, contains a much better set, which makes me wonder if the page you showed me is somehow special or only ment to be used in combo with the page that linked to it?

[rabii]

tbh i am not sure why but since the link is already available as shown on image i shared i don't think much about the why. as long as it is there then i am happy

[jamie]

tbh i am not sure why but since the link is already available as shown on image i shared i don't think much about the why. as long as it is there then i am happy

It seems we have very different amounts of time available and different expectations of what counts as documentation. I really don’t have the capacity to dig through hidden documentation—especially after finding something that appears to be the documentation. Given that, I wouldn’t have expected there to be anything more.

[shalmaxb]

Sometimes Google search could lead faster to what you are searching in the documentation:
I put in "espoCRM date formatting", first result: https://docs.espocrm.com/administration/date-formatting, with this content:

Date & Time Formatting
YYYY – 4 digit year: 2020
YY – 2 digit year: 20
M MM – month number: 1..12
MMM MMMM – month: Jan..December
D DD – day of month: 1..31
Do – day of month with ordinal: 1st..31st
ddd dddd – day of week: Tue Tuesday
H HH – hours (24 hour time): 0..23
h hh – hours (12 hour time): 0..12
a A – post or ante meridiem: am PM
m mm – minutes: 0..59
s ss – seconds: 0..59
Z ZZ zz – offset from UTC : +02:00 +0200
zz – timezone: Europe/London

It always takes time (in the moment even mine) to learn soemthing. You started here in August of this year and for my taste, you complain a bit too much.

[rabii]

Most features are obviously already documented. few things requires a bit of time but that is because i am benefiting from this amazing free platform which is very powerful so it is fair to put a bit of effort my end to find more specific use case for my projects. Any system requires time to learn - as a web developer you put a lot of time and effort to learn programming languages backend and front end - even if a php developer want to learn Laravel it would take time to know the inns and outs and best practices. For me there is no exception here and i am happily investing time to learn more about espocrm and trust me the forum here is enough to get you a quick answer of an already solved problem. community is amazing

[jamie]

There’s definitely a lot of documentation out there, though I’m not sure about the overall quality — it feels more like a quick reference than a complete guide. The thing is, we’ve already paid for at least two plugins and would happily pay for more, but the documentation really holds us back from fully learning and using everything properly.

You mentioned Laravel — that’s a great example of how strong documentation can build an amazing community. Honestly, mate, it’s mostly you that helps here. Without your support, I think the project would be in a much tougher spot.

Espo is an amazing platform, no doubt about it — it’s just being held back a bit by weak documentation and a few other factors.

[rabii]

I understand your point mate. if you share points you are struggling with now i am happy to provide a detailed post on how to solve each one. Just share your main concerns here and will happily help.

[jamie]

rabii you are amazing man! any chance we can put you in charge of documentation? Because i do love your personal touch and deep knowledge, things like just pointing me to some hidden part of the documentation are a waste of both of our time and other people are likely to read the documentation as gospel and just give up right there