Date, Time, and Save Messages

Date and time display

date and datetime model fields are formatted for display on:

  • Changelist columns

  • Readonly fields on add/change forms

Editable form inputs still use ISO strings (YYYY-MM-DD and YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM) for HTML date and datetime-local widgets.

Default formats

Type

Example

date

8 Apr 2026

datetime

8 Apr 2026, 7:32pm

Configuration

Set formats on ModelAdmin:

class OrderAdmin(ModelAdmin):
    date_format = "j M Y"
    datetime_format = "%d/%m/%Y %H:%M"

Two format styles are supported:

Django-style tokens (no %):

Token

Meaning

j

Day without leading zero

M

Short month name

Y

Four-digit year

g

12-hour hour without leading zero

i

Minutes with leading zero

a

am / pm

Example: "j M Y, g:ia" → 8 Apr 2026, 7:32pm

strftime (with %):

datetime_format = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M"

Hooks

Override formatting per model:

def format_datetime_value(self, value) -> str:
    return my_custom_formatter(value)

def format_date_value(self, value) -> str:
    return my_custom_formatter(value)

Implementation lives in fastapi_mongo_admin.formatting.

Save notifications

After a successful add or change, the admin:

  1. Redirects to the model changelist (/admin/{collection}/)

  2. Sets a one-time flash cookie with the saved item’s label

  3. Shows a green success banner at the top of the changelist

Messages (English defaults):

  • Add: "{object}" was added successfully.

  • Change: "{object}" was saved successfully.

The {object} label is resolved by ModelAdmin.object_repr():

  1. First list_display_links column

  2. First list_display column

  3. Common fields: name, title, slug, email, order_number, code

  4. Document id

  5. Model name (fallback)

Example:

class CategoryAdmin(ModelAdmin):
    list_display_links = ["name"]
    # Saving "Electronics" shows: "Electronics" was saved successfully.

Override the label:

def object_repr(self, request, obj: dict) -> str:
    return f"{obj.get('first_name', '')} {obj.get('last_name', '')}".strip()

Flash cookies are cleared after the banner is shown. HTMX pagination partials do not re-display the message.

Internationalization

Message keys saved_added and saved_changed are translated in all supported languages. See Internationalization and Themes.