[solved] Date posted puzzlement

phiw13 · 2026-06-17 07:35:21

I can only reproduce this on localhost…, and only one install (both tested installs running 4.9.2-dev and PHP 8.5.x)

start an article, set some fields (status, category, section, a couple of CF)
save, status is “live”
Above the body field, notice the date: it has both the posted dated and the last modified datestamp.

Note: at this point the article has been saved only once

Oddities

a modified datestamp is inserted even as the article has only be saved once.
the modified datestamp is 2 minutes later then the posted datestamp – Posted: 2026-06-15 17:18:22, modified 2026-06-15 17:20:16 as given in the datebase.

TXP4.9.2-dev localhost, PHP 8.5.7, MySql 8.4.7

Server time zone: Asia/Tokyo
Server local time: 2026-06-15 17:57:48
Daylight Saving Time enabled?: 0
Automatically adjust Daylight Saving Time setting?: 0
Time zone (GMT offset in seconds): Asia/Tokyo (32400)
MySQL: 8.4.7 (MySQL Community Server - GPL) 
Database server time: 2026-06-15 17:57:48
Database server time offset: 0 s
Database server time zone: SYSTEM
Database session time zone: SYSTEM

Last edited by phiw13 (2026-06-19 07:53:33)

Bloke · 2026-06-17 10:20:36

This might be related to what Oleg discovered. Maybe the issue is that sometimes records are getting a Modified datestamp from the get-go. But it’s puzzling that you’re not seeing any of those other date issues.

phiw13 · 2026-06-17 12:18:13

Bloke wrote #343369:

This might be related to “what Oleg discovered” […]

Interesting, I’ll test that tomorrow when sitting in front of the local server machine. Will report back.

And no otherwise I do not see other issues with posted, modified, expired dates – I’ve checked the date fields in the DB, the various place where a date is displayed (article Write or List panel, txp:posted format="xxx" and friends).

phiw13 · 2026-06-18 08:11:51

Some updates:

when toggling the “Set timestamp to now” to off (Unchecked) I can reproduce the issue on both the localhost server and the Live server. When It is checked, there are no problems (no modified date on first save) on the live server.
In a further test I used a macOS shortcut to insert a timestamp (hh:mm:ss) in the body field first thing when loading a blank Write panel, end then proceeded with filling title and body field and set some CF and other fields. Then the first save (Publish). Result: the posted date is virtually identical to the time stamp inserted, whereas the modified date shows the actual save timestamp. Possible reason: the few seconds is the time between the page load and me focussing the body field and triggering the shortcut.

phiw13 · 2026-06-19 07:54:06

Problem(s) solved, mostly

when the checkbox “Set timestamp to now” is OFF and unchecked, the timestamp for “Publish date” is set at (blank) write panel load time. When ON, the timestamp is updated at the moment of first save.. Tha explains why I am seeing both a “Posted” and a “Modified” date stamp in the first case
the site where I first encounter the original issue has the “Set timestamp to now” checkbox set to OFF by default for this (test) site. Not sure how that happened.

Some plugin possibly. Investigating.

adamishere · Yesterday 17:45:54

Maybe related to this bug – but I’ve been bringing over some old content to a new site that is built in TXP. I would like to preserve my original publish dates – but when I try to manually set them in the Write panel, the articles can never be saved. I always get the red alert box in the lower corner. Have tried inspecting browser console and network requests, but to no avail.

bici · Yesterday 22:20:20

adamishere wrote #343470:

Maybe related to this bug – but I’ve been bringing over some old content to a new site that is built in TXP. I would like to preserve my original publish dates – but when I try to manually set them in the Write panel, the articles can never be saved. I always get the red alert box in the lower corner. Have tried inspecting browser console and network requests, but to no avail.

Have you put your site into debug mode? what errors are you getting?

phiw13 · Today 00:13:31

@ adamishere,

First, welcome around!

Can you tell us what exactly the alert message tells you? Other questions: what is the site configuration: which version of PHP, with database (MySQL, MariaDB) ? you can pickup all that on the Diagnostics panel.

And as bici mentions, can you set your site in debug mode (Admin > Preferences > Site) and see if additional information appears?

adamishere · Today 02:26:54

Therein could be the rub – as I’m using MariaDB 11.7.2.

I’ve been in debug mode for awhile, and have those logs from the page source. I could share some of those if people think it might help.

Thank you for the welcome – and thank you very much those who are taking a look at this! It is good to feel welcomed on the Internet these days!

Textpattern version: 4.9.1 (84a30a58a5375ba307e2053d0b2c6dcd263eae46850f1e1f)
Last update: 2026-02-14 17:01:39
Textpattern path: __TXP-ROOT/textpattern
Article URL pattern: section_category_title
Production status: debug
Temporary directory path: /home/tmp
PHP version: 8.4.22-nfsn1
GD Graphics Library: 2.3.3; Supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP.
Server time zone: America/Chicago
Server local time: 2026-07-12 21:16:55
Daylight Saving Time enabled?: 1
Automatically adjust Daylight Saving Time setting?: 1
Time zone (GMT offset in seconds): America/Chicago (-21600)
MySQL: 11.7.2-MariaDB-ubu2404 (mariadb.org binary distribution) 
Database server time: 2026-07-13 02:16:55
Database server time offset: 0 s
Database server time zone: SYSTEM
Database session time zone: SYSTEM
Locale: en_US.UTF-8
Site / Admin language: en / en
Web server: Apache
PHP server API: NFGI
PHP SSL version: OpenSSL 1.1.1w  11 Sep 2023
RFC 2616 headers: 
Server OS: FreeBSD 14.4-STABLE
Admin-side theme: hive 4.9.1

phiw13 · Today 03:03:55

Aha, MariaDB version 11.x There have been some reports about date / time problems with those. (This thread amongst them).

The good news, it might be solved in recent builds of Textpattern 4.9.2-dev. You can get it here: github.com/textpattern/textpattern/tree/4.9.x click on the green “code” button to download the zip. Save to use on a live site.

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#1 2026-06-17 07:35:21