Dates

The basics

Dates should be entered in the form dd mmm yyyy — for example:

1 Jan 1940

The date fields also accept other formats such as 1/1/1940 or 1.1.1940, but will normalise them to the standard form above. Dates can be entered as just a year, or as month and year.

Approximate dates

When a date is not known exactly, prefix it with an approximate qualifier:

All three display as "c." (circa) on charts, but the distinction can be useful for documenting how a date was arrived at.

Quick age calculation

If you have an age at a known date, the date fields accept a simple formula starting with =. For example, =1921-8 is converted to Abt 1913 (1921 minus 8 years).

Ranges

Dates can be entered as ranges using "From" and "To":

From 1 Mar 1852 to 10 Mar 1853

Before, after, and between

Delving deeper

Dates can also be entered in several specialised formats for particular historical and regional conventions:

• GRO quarter dates
• Decades
• During the reign of
• School and legal periods
• Gregorian vs Julian calendars
• First day of the new year
• French Republican calendar
• Hebrew calendar
• Before the Common Era