Title: Wrong dateformat for backordered products Last modified: November 29, 2022 --- # Wrong dateformat for backordered products * Resolved [Gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/) * (@gomle) * [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/) * I have some products on backorder, and google wants me to set an availability date for these products. * And so I’ve done. * But now Google complaints that the date is in the wrong format, they are telling me to add it in this format: * YYYY-MM-DDTtt:mm:ssZ (ISO 8601) [https://ibb.co/DkD64Mb](https://ibb.co/DkD64Mb) * But my shops are Norwegian, and in my Google Listings and Ads plugin (Product Edit) I can set the date like this: DD.MM.YYYY [https://ibb.co/BrXhwyS](https://ibb.co/BrXhwyS) * Do you have any suggestions? Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total) * [anastas10s](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anastas10s/) * (@anastas10s) * [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/#post-16247052) * Hi there [@gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/) 👋 * > Do you have any suggestions? * Thanks for reaching out. Happy to help you with this! I understand that the date format needs to be adjusted, in order for the availability of the store items on backorder to appear correctly on Google. * Since version 1.4.0 of the plugin ([direct link to the tweak here](https://github.com/woocommerce/google-listings-and-ads/blob/develop/changelog.txt#L377)), it uses the WordPress date and time formats on the Product Feed page. Therefore, you need to change the date and time format, in your site’s `Settings > General` screen, for it to take effect. * I trust that points you in the right direction, but if you have more questions, let us know. We’re happy to help. - This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by [anastas10s](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anastas10s/). Reason: typo * Thread Starter [Gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/) * (@gomle) * [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/#post-16248505) * Hmm? * So what you are saying is that in order for Google Listings and Ads to work correctly, I have to globally change the date to what is “normal in the US” through my Norwegian shop – where our “normal dateformat” alway has been dd.mm.yyyy. * If I change it like you say, this will change the way the dates look on register date, order date, shipping date, and all other dates – JUST so that Google can accept that I have products in backorder? * In other words – If I have Google Listings and Ads activated. There is no use for the time and date settings in WordPress, since the time and date always have to be set to fit the American standard 😅 * I really hope I have misunderstood you here 🙂 But if not – it seems like there have to be room for a re-tweak after version 1.4 ? - This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by [Gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/). - This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by [Gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/). * [Saif](https://wordpress.org/support/users/babylon1999/) * (@babylon1999) * [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/#post-16248594) * Hello [@gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/), * > So what you are saying is that in order for Google Listings and Ads to work > correctly, I have to globally change the date to what is “normal in the US” > through my Norwegian shop – where our “normal dateformat” alway has been dd. > mm.yyyy. * I’m afraid that’s the case, you’ll need to change the site’s date format. I’m not sure if this was something that was from Google’s side, but you’re more than welcome to suggest a change or make a pull request on the plugins’ repository page: [https://github.com/woocommerce/google-listings-and-ads](https://github.com/woocommerce/google-listings-and-ads) * Issue reports are not limited to bugs, you can make suggestions as well. 😃 * Hope this helps! * Thread Starter [Gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/) * (@gomle) * [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/#post-16248725) * I really have no idea how to do that. * But now you guys know that this is in fact a quite big issue for many shops outside the US. * I therefore trust you to do this, as a part of supporting this plugin. * [anastas10s](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anastas10s/) * (@anastas10s) * [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/#post-16250673) * Hi [@gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/), * Thank you for pointing that out. I went ahead with creating a feature request, which can be found here: [https://github.com/woocommerce/google-listings-and-ads/issues/1800](https://github.com/woocommerce/google-listings-and-ads/issues/1800) * Feel free to subscribe to it, so that you receive updates on it. The option is on the sidebar to the right of the page. * Thread Starter [Gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/) * (@gomle) * [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/#post-16253601) * Thank you very much! * I was able to add some more information to this post, as it is a strange problem. It seems to be correct both in Raw Format and in the DB, but Google still flags it and complaining about the date beeing in the wrong format. * Thread Starter [Gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/) * (@gomle) * [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/#post-16253611) * I actually found the issue. I am truly sorry for having spent your time on this. * I added dates to my products too far into the future. When I changed 2024-08- 25 to 2022-12-13 all of these problems got solved. Of course – Google could have given better error messages though! * Since the dates are sometimes hard to give exact (Depending on supplier stock): Would it be possible to programatically add the availability date e.g. 21 days ahead of current time, all the time – as in “using a code snippet” for this? * [anastas10s](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anastas10s/) * (@anastas10s) * [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/#post-16254367) * Hi there [@gomle](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gomle/) 👋 * > Thank you very much! > I was able to add some more information to this post, as it is a strange problem. > > It seems to be correct both in Raw Format and in the DB, but Google still flags > it and complaining about the date beeing in the wrong format. * That’s great, you are welcome! * > I added dates to my products too far into the future. > When I changed 2024- > 08-25 to 2022-12-13 all of these problems got solved. Of course – Google could > have given better error messages though! * Indeed, setting a date farther than a year in the future was the culprit. [As explained here](https://github.com/woocommerce/google-listings-and-ads/issues/1800#issuecomment-1334961360), it is mentioned in the [Google docs about this field](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324470?hl=en): * > Required if you set the [availability [availability]](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324448) > attribute to preorder or backorder. (You can then provide the date (up to 1 > year in the future) when your product will be shipped using the availability > date [availability_date] attribute). * Now, regarding this: * > Since the dates are sometimes hard to give exact (Depending on supplier stock): > > Would it be possible to programatically add the availability date e.g. 21 days > ahead of current time, all the time – as in “using a code snippet” for this? * It all starts with allowing backorders. Feel free to review the related [documentation, directly linked here, for more on that](https://woocommerce.com/document/managing-products/?quid=4607ab50d1626ad03120db62f6c53385#allow-backorders). * The core functionality can be enhanced using the [Back In Stock Notifications](https://woocommerce.com/products/back-in-stock-notifications/) plugin, for notifying customers when your products are restocked. * I trust that points you in the right direction, but if you have more questions, let us know. We’re happy to help. * Plugin Support [Gabriel – a11n](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gabrielfuentes/) * (@gabrielfuentes) * [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/#post-16276338) * Hello hello! 👋 * Since we haven’t heard back from you in a while, I’m going to mark this as resolved– we’ll be here if/when you are ready. * Cheers. Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total) The topic ‘Wrong dateformat for backordered products’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/google-listings-and-ads/assets/icon.svg?rev=2775988) * [Google for WooCommerce](https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-listings-and-ads/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-listings-and-ads/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/google-listings-and-ads/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/google-listings-and-ads/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/google-listings-and-ads/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/google-listings-and-ads/reviews/) * 9 replies * 4 participants * Last reply from: [Gabriel – a11n](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gabrielfuentes/) * Last activity: [3 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wrong-dateformat-for-backordered-products/#post-16276338) * Status: resolved