# Hugo throws an error while parsing date in archetype

**URL:** <https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/hugo-throws-an-error-while-parsing-date-in-archetype/5219>\
**Category:** support\
**Created:** [January 22, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/hugo-throws-an-error-while-parsing-date-in-archetype/5219 "2017-01-22T04:03:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hazrmard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecd19e/32.png) [@hazrmard](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/hazrmard)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/hugo-throws-an-error-while-parsing-date-in-archetype/5219/1 "2017-01-22T04:03:56Z")

</div>

I am using hugo 0.18.1. My archetype for `post` section looks like this:

```auto
+++
title = ""
description = ""
date = "now()"
tags = []
categories = []
series = []
+++

```

However, when I try to create a new post by typing `hugo new post/somepost.md` I get this error:

```auto
ERROR: 2017/01/21 21:56:21 content.go:61: Error processing archetype file PATH_TO_DIR\themes\hugolb\archetypes\post.md: Could not parse Date/Time format: Unable to parse date: now()

Error: Could not parse Date/Time format: Unable to parse date: now()

```

What am I doing wrong? I have tried `now()` with and without enclosing quotes to no avail.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hazrmard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecd19e/32.png) [@hazrmard](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/hazrmard)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/hugo-throws-an-error-while-parsing-date-in-archetype/5219/2 "2017-01-22T04:14:20Z")

</div>

I figured it out. Leaving the date field empty populates it with the current date/time. Like so:

```auto
date = ""

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![samozzy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.gohugo.io/samozzy/32/1861_2.png) [@samozzy](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/samozzy)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/hugo-throws-an-error-while-parsing-date-in-archetype/5219/3 "2017-01-23T00:23:46Z")

</div>

You don’t actually need to include `date` in your archetype, as it - along with `title` - are automatically inserted upon new post creation. (See the bottom of [http://gohugo.io/content/archetypes/](http://gohugo.io/content/archetypes/))