I see from a previous answer here that setting the Item Created Date via the API is not supported. This is an issue as we are migrating data created over that last 20 years and want to keep the created date intact. I could try find the right code to hack this in temporarily, or perhaps add a new Property for Created Date and then do a script to update the resource record, or perhaps just bulk update via some SQL. None of these really appeal, especially as we may in future need to repeat the process for other datasets. Any suggestions for a best approach to take, or any hope to have this changed?
I wonder if you could create a simple module that hooks into the item creation event and sets (or updates) the created date based on the created date in a property.
I don’t think we’re likely to expose a core feature for changing the created dates, seeing them more as a record of when the Omeka resource was created.
Representing the date the abstract underlying record was originally created, I’d potentially suggest using one of the Dublin Core Date properties like the created, accepted, submitted, or available dates, or another property, as appropriate for your needs.
Of course options that step outside what the core provides, such as through the use of a module or editing the database, will always be a possibility.
Thanks John. I’d like to keep it simple, so would prefer to avoid having a separate Created Date field that needs to be maintained and used where appropriate, and that could create confusion with the built-in Created Date that gets displayed in various places and used for default sort orders, etc. Trying to patch around those seems like storing up trouble. I think I’ll opt for a one-off SQL update to the database and test that doesn’t cause any issues.