Quick way to insert date?

[Frank Bell]

Is there a quick way to insert today's date in a document? I know I can type the first four characters of the month, but I'd like to be able to set a hotkey (like F2, for example) to automatically insert "10/16/04" (or perhaps some other phrase).

[DRB]

There is a pre-built date button that will insert the date, so there is no need to make your own.

Goto Tools>Customize>Commands>Insert and scroll down till you see the Date Button. Drag that to any toolbar. Remember if you reset a toolbar the button will no longer be there, so it is best practice to always create your own custom toolbar and drag your favorite buttons to it.

[pgjoshi]

Press ALt+Shift+D in the Document.

Prasad Joshi

[Frank Bell]

Unfortunately, that (ALT/SHIFT D or the equivalent Tool item) doesn't do the job. It inserts the date, but keeps it current... every day it's updated to today's date. I need a way to insert today's date, and when I look at it next week it's still that date. (i.e., the date at the top of a letter, which shouldn't update).

Any ideas? Ideally, I'd like to assign a hotkey to such a phrase.

[Redbeard]

The easiest way to insert the current date into a document is to place it into a template. Select Insert/Field/Create Date and select the date format that you wish.

When you create a new document from the template it will have the current date which will not update. In this case the create date refers to the date that the document was created from the template and not the date that the template was created.

This works very well in letterhead.

[Frank Bell]

Just found the simple and easy answer... I didn't know about macros til today. You just record a macro (under tools), do Insert, Date and Time, and select the format you want, end record, and voila.

Hope this helps someone else!