How to create a field which contains the entity created date I need to create a field which contains the date an entity/node was created. I know some people achieve this by using a bit of code in their template, but I need this to be a real, accessible field I can use on the entity/node display, as well as in Views (sort, filter, etc). Additionally I would like a field for the last modified date.

How would I do this properly in Drupal?

We did create a bit of SQL that we ran in PHPMyAdmin (it was a one time script, we need to schedule it to be run daily), but I have a feeling I could be doing something in Drupal. Am I wrong?
You could use the Computed Field module to display the date on your page. Create a field and set the php code to display the date in readable format.

Call your field something like 'Date created' and enter code like the following under Computed Code (PHP):

$entity_field[0]['value'] =date("Y/m/d",$entity-&gt;created);


Do not store the value in the database. You do not need to derive the value for views as the created date is available to views directly.

The last modified date is available as well as $entity-&gt;changed.

As an alternative, you might have a look at the Node Display Fields module, which has several widgets to display the type of information you are looking for.