> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.brieftech.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.brieftech.ai/reference/serial-numbers-and-date-formats.md). # Serial numbers and date formats ## Serial numbering Both settings live in the **S/No.** column's **Column Settings** popup — hover the **S/No.** column heading and click the rename that appears at its right. **Custom Initial** and **Initial Serial Number** take effect the moment you change them (as does the **Date Format Preset** below). The popup's three buttons affect only the column's heading text, width and alignment: * **Save** applies those edits. * **Close** discards them. * **Reset label** clears the heading name field back to the default (which also only takes effect when you press **Save**). Press **Save** before closing if you have renamed the column or changed its width or alignment. | Setting | Default | Description | | --------------------- | ------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Initial Serial Number | 1 | The number the first document is given; numbering increments by one from there. The field warns *Must be at least 1* if you enter a lower number, but the warning is advisory — the value still applies, so entering `0` numbers the first document `0`. | | Custom Initial | None | An optional text prefix placed before each serial number (for example `LOD` or `A`). | When a document is split across volumes, every part keeps the document's single serial number and adds a suffix — `(A)`, `(B)`, and so on — so the next document's number is one higher, not one per part. The suffixes appear in the **Preview** view and in a generated court bundle. **Initial Serial Number** applies to the Document Index and its Word and ZIP exports. A generated court bundle keeps this number in its table of contents, just as the index does, but always numbers its tabs and bookmarks from 1 whatever you set here. **Custom Initial** and the date-format preset do carry into the bundle. Serial numbers in the Document Index are plain sequential numbers — 1, 2, 3, and so on. They are not zero-padded. **These settings are saved per collection.** **Custom Initial**, **Initial Serial Number** and the **Date Format Preset** are stored against the collection you are working in, not the matter as a whole — each collection keeps its own. Switch to another collection and you will see that collection's settings, or the defaults if it has never had any set. Set them again in each collection where you want them. Sub-index entries are numbered relative to their parent: an entry's serial is the parent's serial, a dash, and the entry's position — for example `3-1`, `3-2`. An undated sub-index entry shows a blank date cell rather than the word "Undated". Attachments are different: an attachment gets its own ordinary number in the sequence. ## Date format presets The document date is displayed using a **Date Format Preset**, chosen in the **Date** column's **Column Settings** popup — hover the **Date** column heading and click the rename that appears at its right. Each option is labelled by an example date, shown exactly as the app writes it (including the `2025` example year on the last two): | Option (as shown) | Renders a date like | | -------------------- | ------------------- | | 2026-01-01 (DEFAULT) | 2026-01-01 | | 2026/01/01 | 2026/01/01 | | 2026/01/01 \[time] | 2026/01/01 14:30 | | 01/01/2026 | 01/01/2026 | | 01.01.2025 | 01.01.2026 | | 01.01.2025 HH:mm | 01.01.2026 14:30 | The `(DEFAULT)` in the first option's name is part of the label the app prints, not a description of what you get before you choose. With **no** preset selected, the Document Index renders `01.01.2026` — and `01.2026` for a month-only date — which is the same output as the `01.01.2025` option. Select `2026-01-01 (DEFAULT)` explicitly if you want ISO dates. The two time options — `2026/01/01 [time]` and `01.01.2025 HH:mm` — add the time only to documents whose date carries one. A document with a date but no time renders without a time under every preset. A document's date is taken from its file name when one is found there, and only otherwise from the document's contents; a date read from a file name is a date only and never carries a time, so a document dated from its file name shows no time under either time preset. Each preset sets the date, date-and-time, and month-only formats together, so you pick one option rather than configuring each case. You can clear the preset to return to `01.01.2026`, the format an index uses before any preset is chosen. The preset governs the dates shown in the on-screen index, in all three of its exports — Word, Excel and the ZIP — and on the index pages of a generated court bundle. It does not reach exported **file names**, which use: * `yyyy.MM.dd` for a full date * `2026.01` for a month-only date * `2018.01.01-2018.12.31` for a date range * `Undated` for a document with no date **How other date values render:** * **Month-only** date (no day): shows just the year-and-month part of your chosen format — for example `2026-01`, `2026/01`, or `01/2026`. * **No date**: shows as **Undated**. * **Date range**: shows as `start – end` (for example `2018-01-01 – 2018-12-31`) and is sorted by its start date. ## Sort order The Document Index can be sorted by: | Option | Sorts by | Ties broken by | | ------------------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- | | Date, File Name (default) | Document date, then file name. | Bundle part (for documents split across volumes). | | File Name | File name. | Bundle part (for documents split across volumes). | | Description | Document description. | File name. | Where undated documents sort: * **Date, File Name**: last, after all dated documents. * **File Name** or **Description**: placed by file name or description like any other document. **Attachments stay with their parent.** Sorting never separates an attachment from the document it is attached to: whichever order you choose, each attachment stays immediately beneath its parent, and a parent's attachments are sorted among themselves by the same rule. So an attachment can appear out of date order relative to the documents around it — it is following its parent's position, not its own. These labels appear when you sort a single section. The same three orders are offered under **Sort all sections** in the **Apply preset** toolbar menu, where they are labelled **Date**, **Description**, and **Filename**. For how to run a sort — where each control is and what it covers — see [Sort documents in the Document Index](/how-to-guides/index/sort-documents-in-index.md). ## Related
Index DocumentsBuild and structure a Document Index./pages/bpQrdf8bZ1aJVMm06WC9
Generate a paginated court bundleGenerate a paginated court bundle./pages/S1SOsoreySW80VYcLo3F
Template syntaxPlaceholder tokens for cover pages and separators./pages/vVZFzpuMqRhvGcKT2OiU
From Document Index to court bundleHow the Document Index drives bundle generation./pages/7lW88GmSGYo70LiS8Ds7
Sort documents in the Document IndexSort documents within Document Index sections by date, file name, or description./pages/P9Tb3lZJISMzO6JdjECf
--- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://help.brieftech.ai/reference/serial-numbers-and-date-formats.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.