Pages Date & Time Auto-Update?

[Wade Garrett]

Running Pages ver. 6.5.1 (2562) and don't see a way to insert the
date/time in a straight text document that auto-updates each time it is
opened. I used to be able to do that with earlier versions (and most
other word processors!) but the function seems to be gone in the current
Pages version.

Am I just missing it; is there a workaround?


--
If you are old enough to remember the '60s fondly, we regret to inform
you that you are no longer in a key demographic.

[Alan Browne]

On 2016-01-16 13:17, Wade Garrett wrote:
> Running Pages ver. 6.5.1 (2562) and don't see a way to insert the
> date/time in a straight text document that auto-updates each time it is
> opened. I used to be able to do that with earlier versions (and most
> other word processors!) but the function seems to be gone in the current
> Pages version.
>
> Am I just missing it; is there a workaround?

You have to point/click on the date or time and there's a dropdown to
update it ("Set to today"). If it's in a header or footer I assume that
it must show the updated time or date on all pages.

I'd prefer that it be automatic if changes elsewhere are saved, but it
doesn't appear to do that. Nothing in prefs that I can see or the
formatting side window for head/footers either.

--
"But I am somehow extraordinarily lucky, for a guy with shitty luck."
..Harrison Ford, Rolling Stone - 2015-12-02

[Wade Garrett]

On 1/16/16 6:14 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
> On 2016-01-16 13:17, Wade Garrett wrote:
>> Running Pages ver. 6.5.1 (2562) and don't see a way to insert the
>> date/time in a straight text document that auto-updates each time it is
>> opened. I used to be able to do that with earlier versions (and most
>> other word processors!) but the function seems to be gone in the current
>> Pages version.
>>
>> Am I just missing it; is there a workaround?
>
> You have to point/click on the date or time and there's a dropdown to
> update it ("Set to today"). If it's in a header or footer I assume that
> it must show the updated time or date on all pages.
>
> I'd prefer that it be automatic if changes elsewhere are saved, but it
> doesn't appear to do that. Nothing in prefs that I can see or the
> formatting side window for head/footers either.
>

Hmmm, how did you got that drop down? I highlight, right click, but get
the standard "cut, copy, paste...etc".

Even if what you describe works, I'd still need to manually update on
each subsequent opening, yes?

[Wade Garrett]

On 1/16/16 4:39 PM, Michael Vilain wrote:
> In article <n7e1fu$9sg$1...@news.albasani.net>,

> Wade Garrett <wa...@cooler.net> wrote:
>
>> Running Pages ver. 6.5.1 (2562) and don't see a way to insert the
>> date/time in a straight text document that auto-updates each time it is
>> opened. I used to be able to do that with earlier versions (and most
>> other word processors!) but the function seems to be gone in the current
>> Pages version.
>>
>> Am I just missing it; is there a workaround?
>

> I think they took that feature out, but I could be wrong.
>

Hard to figure why Tim would remove such a useful feature that most
every other word processor has. Steve never would have yanked it;-)

[Alan Browne]

Just point at the date or time field and click (normal left click).

>
> Even if what you describe works, I'd still need to manually update on
> each subsequent opening, yes?

Regrettably, yes.

While this isn't a killer for me, I've given up on Apple for
productivity apps. MS Office is just better, ubiquitous and efficient -
even with its quirks. Though if I'm editing a doc with lots of
illustrations I'll start it in pages and then export it once most of the
artwork placement is complete.

[Jolly Roger]

On 2016-01-17, Wade Garrett <wa...@cooler.net> wrote:
> On 1/16/16 4:39 PM, Michael Vilain wrote:
>> In article <n7e1fu$9sg$1...@news.albasani.net>,
>> Wade Garrett <wa...@cooler.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Running Pages ver. 6.5.1 (2562) and don't see a way to insert the
>>> date/time in a straight text document that auto-updates each time it is
>>> opened. I used to be able to do that with earlier versions (and most
>>> other word processors!) but the function seems to be gone in the current
>>> Pages version.
>>>
>>> Am I just missing it; is there a workaround?
>>
>> I think they took that feature out, but I could be wrong.
>
> Hard to figure why Tim would

Pages was rewritten and redesigned, and this is part of the fall out.
And there is zero evidence Tim Cook had any influence on this decision.

> Steve never would have yanked it

I call bullshit. Steve was at the helm when many Apple applications were
rewritten from scratch shedding features that many of us considered very
useful. QuickTime Player comes immediately to mind, and there are plenty
other examples.

Stop acting like everything Apple does is the result of a direct mandate
by the CEO. That's not how things work in the real world.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

[Martin Frost me at invalid stanford daht edu]

But what if you are just LOOKING at an old letter and want to know the
date it was sent with? You don't want that date updated automatically
or you lose that date information.

Martin

[Alan Browne]

Don't save the update.

[Martin Frost me at invalid stanford daht edu]

This has nothing to do with saving. If the date updates
automatically, then you can't use Pages to look at the file in order
to see what it used to say because the date would have been updated as
soon as Pages has the file open.

Martin

[Calum]

On 16/01/2016 18:17, Wade Garrett wrote:
>
> Am I just missing it; is there a workaround?

Only workaround I know is to insert a table with single cell, and set
that cell's contents to the date/time formula you require:

=TODAY : current date
=NOW : current date and time
=HOUR(NOW()):MINUTE(NOW()) : current time in HH:MM format

etc.

[Calum]

On 17/01/2016 16:18, Calum wrote:

> =HOUR(NOW()):MINUTE(NOW()) : current time in HH:MM format

Correction, you can't put a colon character there, would have to do
something like this instead:

=HOUR(NOW()) & CHAR(58) & MINUTE(NOW())

[Alan Browne]

Yeah - I got that. OTOH, I've done the former in other programs and it
hasn't actually harmed me.

[Wade Garrett]

On 1/16/16 7:27 PM, Jolly Roger wrote:
> On 2016-01-17, Wade Garrett <wa...@cooler.net> wrote:
>> On 1/16/16 4:39 PM, Michael Vilain wrote:
>>> In article <n7e1fu$9sg$1...@news.albasani.net>,
>>> Wade Garrett <wa...@cooler.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Running Pages ver. 6.5.1 (2562) and don't see a way to insert the
>>>> date/time in a straight text document that auto-updates each time it is
>>>> opened. I used to be able to do that with earlier versions (and most
>>>> other word processors!) but the function seems to be gone in the current
>>>> Pages version.
>>>>
>>>> Am I just missing it; is there a workaround?
>>>
>>> I think they took that feature out, but I could be wrong.
>>
>> Hard to figure why Tim would
>
> Pages was rewritten and redesigned, and this is part of the fall out.
> And there is zero evidence Tim Cook had any influence on this decision.
>
>> Steve never would have yanked it
>
> I call bullshit. Steve was at the helm when many Apple applications were
> rewritten from scratch shedding features that many of us considered very
> useful. QuickTime Player comes immediately to mind, and there are plenty
> other examples.
>
> Stop acting like everything Apple does is the result of a direct mandate
> by the CEO. That's not how things work in the real world.
>

Shorts a bit too tight today dude?

Let your sense of humor out for a little exercise. Your blood pressure
will ap[appreciate it;-)

--
Is it my imagination, or did we start downhill when the Personnel
Department became Human Resources?
- @patsajak

[Wade Garrett]

Well then you'd hope the writer wasn't such a butt-head that he inserted
an auto update date field instead of just typing the date he created the
letter, eh what?

--
Think of how stupid the average person is; then realize half of them are
stupider than that…

[Wade Garrett]

Cool, that works-- thanks!

--
Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.
- Calvin Coolidge

[Jolly Roger]

I'm perfectly calm. : ) And my sense of humor is fine, as my wife and
friends will attest. I just don't see much humor in this repetitive
juvenile personal attack on a CEO who I believe is doing an excellent job
and was personally chosen by Steve Jobs to run Apple - a company I highly
respect even with all of its faults. "Tim Cook is ruining blah!", and
"Steve would never blah." is the mantra of many fool. Best not to go there
or you'll find yourself in bad company, IMO; )

[Jolly Roger]

Wade Garrett <wa...@cooler.net> wrote:
> On 1/16/16 7:30 PM, Martin Frost me at invalid stanford daht edu wrote:
>>
>> But what if you are just LOOKING at an old letter and want to know the
>> date it was sent with? You don't want that date updated automatically
>> or you lose that date information.
>

> Well then you'd hope the writer wasn't such a butt-head that he inserted
> an auto update date field instead of just typing the date he created the
> letter

Exactly. I don't understand the confusion here, honestly.

[Wade Garrett]

Can you spell S-A-T-I-R-E, boys and girls?

Just a little good-natured ribbing and a way of expressing a sense of
loss over Steve. Yes, Timmie is doing a fine job running the company.
He's a capable CEO-- though regrettably, not the visionary Steve was.