Koken – Edit image published dates

When an image/video is imported to the Library and published to your site it is assigned a Date published timestamp. This timestamp reflects the date an image/video was published live and is what you typically see on single image/video pages (if supported by your theme).

Some photographers prefer timestamps to reflect the date an image was actually taken, not the date it was published. This captured date is embedded in the image’s EXIF metadata, which is then read by Koken on import and assigned to the image’s Date captured timestamp. You may assign date captured to date published for a more literal timeline, or assign your own custom dates, which we’ll explain in detail below.

Edit a single image’s published date

To edit Date published for a single image, select an image in the Library by clicking on it, then scroll to the bottom of the right Inspector column. You’ll see a History section like this:

In this example, the image was captured by the camera on 4/9/2014. It was then uploaded to Koken on 4/26/2014 and automatically published at the same time. Click edit next to Published and a panel will open with these options:

  • Assign date captured – Assigns the image’s date captured timestamp, which originates from the image’s EXIF metadata.
  • Assign new date and time – Assigns a new timestamp by picking a day and time from a calendar.

Edit multiple images’ published date

To edit Date published for a group of images, Shift-click to select them all, then head to the same History area of the Inspector column. Click edit and you’ll see the same options, plus one more:

  • Shift each date and time – Moves each selected image forward and backward in time relative to its existing published date.


This additional option is helpful in situations where images are in the correct time order, but because of time zone differences or some other factor need to be pushed forward/backward as a group without altering their existing time-based order.

When finished, click Done and the order of all selected images/videos will be updated on your live site.

Use Date Captured for Published

As mentioned earlier, Date captured reflects the day and time an image was captured by your camera. This timestamp comes from the image’s embedded EXIF metadata. If EXIF metadata doesn’t exist, Date captured is equal to Date Uploaded.

If you would prefer to always publish imported images/videos using their captured date, go to Settings > Importing and check the Assign date captured to date published checkbox. From that point forward every imported image will be assigned a published timestamp that reflects the exact moment the photo was taken.

Unlisted images/videos

Unlisted images and videos are not published publicly and may only be viewed through a secret URL. Because they aren’t published publicly their published date isn’t editable:

Change the visibility of an unlisted image/video to public and it will appear on your public site. Its Date published timestamp will then reflect the date it was made public, which you may edit thereafter following the steps above.

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