Set default value to a custom strtotime string (for relative or exact dates)

There is probably no easy way to do that now (or maybe no way to do it at all) but it is a logical feature request. I'm not sure about using strtotime() for the default, since it returns results that can be different depending on the system it is installed on, but having a way to set it to a specific time of the current day could be useful.

There are other requests for more ways to set the default value. The biggest problem is finding a way to make it as flexible as possible without having a totally confusing array of options to select from.

And you're not 'assigned' to do this, unless you're planning to provide a patch?

+1 This sounds like a great request to me.
I marked #246292: Default option "absolute" in addition to 'blank', 'now', or 'relative' as a duplicate of this issue. That was really just a more specialized case of this feature request.

I like the idea of using strtotime() for specifying a default date. Karen has some reservations above, but I think this is done in other areas of Date, or perhaps we could use another function or standard format to calm those fears.

This issue could be solved simply & elegantly if we changed the default choices to only two:
'blank' or 'enter a date string'

That 'date string' could be any valid strtotime string like:
now
now + 1 week
Last Thursday
July 10, 2010

[edit]
Actually, now that I think about it some more, maybe we could eliminate the select list all together & just use a single text field. For setting the default to 'blank', just leave the text field blank. Otherwise, if a default is desired, just put a valid entry in the text field.

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Subscribe. Need exact date.

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Because date_modify() is used, we can't put the default value as, e.g. "9:00am". date_modify() just doesn't understand that for some reason. I guess it's because it's not relative--but it really is relative to today's date if you ask me. I can't find any documentation on php.net particularly specific to how modify()'s language differs from strtotime()'s. Ugh.

For now to set, e.g., "tomorrow 14:30" I'll have to use a form alter. :/

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This is very simple to solve by using form_alter hook. Or you still need a patch?
I think better we add "ABSOLUTE" option as described well here: http://drupal.org/node/246292

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I'm having trouble getting this done with a form_alter-- if anyone has sample code that would be awesome. thanks.

I am using:

<?php
  if ($form_id == 'nodetype_node_form') {
    // Set the default date released value as the date module can't handle
    // much in the way of default values. See drupal.org/node/319195
    // Default to the start of the year.
    $current_year = date('Y');
    $form['field_mydatefield'][0]['#default_value']['value'] = $current_year . '-01-01 00:00:00';
  }
?>

This sets to the start of the current year.
You could also set to any specific date.
There is also a chance that the format of the default value may differ depending on the type of date field you are using but I don't know about that.

Thanks for posting that! After wasting lots of time trying different variations at http://drupal.org/node/726282, I finally did try that simple tried and true method and I can confirm it does indeed work.

Unfortunately the Drupal 6 version of the Date module is no longer supported. That said, we appreciate that you took time to work on this issue. Should this request still be relevant for Drupal 7 please feel free to reopen it. Thank you.