Title: Created
Created: 2026-06-05T18:11:52-04:00

<p>
    Each <a href="{{node-url:directories/nodes}}">node</a> is capable of
    having a <b>Created</b> time, and a {{node-link:headers/modified}} time.
</p>

<p>
    If the <b>Created</b> header is not set, then the node does not have a
    created time at all.
</p>

<p>The <b>Created</b> header is not inherited by child nodes.</p>

<p>
    The value for the <b>Created</b> header is a date/time string in
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601">ISO 8601</a> format.
</p>

<p>
    The <b>Created</b> time for a node can be referenced from the
    {{node-link:parameters/created}} substitution parameter, where the
    parameter rvalue can be an arbitrary
    <a href="https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/strftime.3.html">strftime</a>
    format string. However, since <b>Created</b> has no default value, the
    reference will fail if the header is not set appropriately.
</p>

<h3>Generating Valid Date/Time Strings</h3>

<p>
    On a Linux system with GNU
    <a href="https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/date.1.html">date</a>,
    the following command will output a suitable ISO 8601 date/time string,
    complete with the local UTC time zone offset:
</p>

<pre>date -Is</pre>

<p>Example output:</p>

<pre>2026-06-05T18:11:52-04:00</pre>

<p>
    On other UNIX systems where GNU date is not available, the following
    command will output a suitable ISO 8601 date/time string, without the
    local UTC time zone offset:
</p>

<pre>date +%FT%T</pre>

<p>Example output:</p>

<pre>2026-06-05T18:11:52</pre>

<p>
    You can also use date string values with less precision. For example, you
    can specify only the year, month, and day:
</p>

<pre>2026-06-05</pre>

<h3>Node Sorting Behavior</h3>

<p>
    Node creation and modification time can both be used when nodes are
    sorted. When nodes are sorted by time, the creation time is used
    preferentially, and the modification time is only consulted if the
    creation time is not available. See the main
    <a href="{{node-url:directories/nodes}}">node documentation</a> for
    additional details.
</p>

