Added shortcuts for typing current date and time

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,21 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [7.2.4] - 21 July 2026
+
+### Added
+
+* Added shortcuts to the editors for easily inserting dates and times
+  * `@now` / `@time` inserts `HH:mm:ss UTC`
+  * `@today` / `@date` inserts the date using Django’s configured `DATE_FORMAT`
+  * Spaces and unicode punctuation trigger the expansion
+  * There are guards in place so code blocks and email-like strings do not trigger expansion
+  * If an editor is left open overnight, there is a trigger to refresh the date
+
+### Fixed
+
+* Fixed an issue where a blank line would be included after lists in report output
+
 ## [7.2.3] - 18 July 2026
 
 ### Added

DOCS/features/operation-logs/create-a-new-entry.mdx

@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ To manually create an entry, click on the "Create a new entry" button in the act
 
 You see a new row appear pre-populated with the current UTC timestamps and your username in the _Operator_ field.
 
+<Tip>
+When writing in a rich text field, type `@today` or `@date` followed by a space or punctuation to insert the current UTC date using
+Ghostwriter's configured date format. Type `@now` or `@time` the same way to insert the current time in UTC, such as `20:14:13 UTC`.
+</Tip>
+
 ### Modifying an Entry
 
 You can modify fields by double-clicking the table row you want to edit or pressing _Enter_ while it is selected. A modal form will open:

DOCS/features/reporting/collaborative-editor/editor-features.mdx

@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ description: "Features of the collaborative editor"
 
 Collaborative editing is the star of the show, but the editor contains other features worth exploring.
 
+## Inserting the Current Date and Time
+
+Type `@today` or its alias `@date` followed by a space or punctuation to insert the current UTC date using Ghostwriter's configured date
+format. For example, with the default format, `@today,` becomes `21 Jul 2026,`. Type `@now` or its alias `@time` the same way to insert
+the current time in UTC, such as `20:14:13 UTC`. The inserted values are ordinary text and do not change afterward. The shortcuts are
+disabled inside inline code and code blocks.
+
 ## Inserting Objects
 
 The editor supports inserting objects that make it easier to visualize certain elements of your writing, such as captions and evidence files.

VERSION

@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-v7.2.3
-18 July 2026
+v7.2.4
+21 July 2026

config/settings/base.py

@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@
 # 3rd Party Libraries
 import environ
 
-__version__ = "7.2.3"
+__version__ = "7.2.4"
 VERSION = __version__
-RELEASE_DATE = "18 July 2026"
+RELEASE_DATE = "21 July 2026"
 
 ROOT_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve(strict=True).parent.parent.parent
 APPS_DIR = ROOT_DIR / "ghostwriter"

ghostwriter/commandcenter/templates/user_extra_fields/admin_change_form.html

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 {% block admin_change_form_document_ready %}
 {{ block.super }}
+{% include "snippets/editor_shortcuts_config.html" %}
 {% if original.is_collab_editable %}
     <script type="module" src="{% static 'assets/admin_tiptap.js' %}"></script>
     <link rel="stylesheet" href="{% static 'assets/collab_common.css' %}">
@@ -101,4 +102,4 @@
         });
     });
 </script>
-{% endblock %}
+{% endblock %}

ghostwriter/context_processors.py

@@ -1,9 +1,17 @@
 # Django Imports
 from django.conf import settings
 
+# Ghostwriter Libraries
+from ghostwriter.home.editor_shortcuts import get_editor_shortcuts_date_config
+
 
 def selected_settings(request):
     return {
         "VERSION": settings.VERSION,
         "RELEASE_DATE": settings.RELEASE_DATE,
+        "EDITOR_SHORTCUTS_DATE_CONFIG": (
+            get_editor_shortcuts_date_config()
+            if request.user.is_authenticated
+            else None
+        ),
     }

ghostwriter/home/editor_shortcuts.py

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+"""Server-provided configuration for rich-text editor date shortcuts."""
+
+# Standard Libraries
+from datetime import datetime, time, timedelta, timezone as datetime_timezone
+
+# Django Imports
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.urls import reverse
+from django.utils import dateformat, timezone
+
+
+def _current_utc_time():
+    """Return the current time normalized to UTC."""
+    return timezone.now().astimezone(datetime_timezone.utc)
+
+
+def get_editor_shortcuts_date_config():
+    """Return the formatted current UTC date and its next UTC rollover."""
+    current_time = _current_utc_time()
+    current_date = current_time.date()
+    next_midnight = datetime.combine(
+        current_date + timedelta(days=1),
+        time.min,
+        tzinfo=datetime_timezone.utc,
+    )
+
+    return {
+        "date": dateformat.format(current_date, settings.DATE_FORMAT),
+        "expiresAt": round(next_midnight.timestamp() * 1000),
+        "serverTime": round(current_time.timestamp() * 1000),
+        "refreshUrl": reverse("home:ajax_editor_shortcuts_date"),
+    }

ghostwriter/home/tests/test_views.py

@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
 # Standard Libraries
 import logging
-from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta
+from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta, timezone as datetime_timezone
 from io import StringIO
+from unittest.mock import patch
+from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo
 
 # Django Imports
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.management import call_command
 from django.core.management.base import CommandError
 from django.db.models import Q
-from django.test import Client, TestCase
+from django.test import Client, TestCase, override_settings
 from django.urls import reverse
+from django.utils import timezone
 
 # 3rd Party Libraries
 from allauth.mfa.totp.internal.auth import generate_totp_secret, TOTP
@@ -35,6 +38,56 @@
 PASSWORD = "SuperNaturalReporting!"
 
 
+class EditorShortcutsDateTests(TestCase):
+    """Tests for refreshing server-formatted editor shortcut dates."""
+
+    @classmethod
+    def setUpTestData(cls):
+        cls.user = UserFactory(password=PASSWORD)
+        cls.uri = reverse("home:ajax_editor_shortcuts_date")
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.client = Client()
+        self.client_auth = Client()
+        self.assertTrue(
+            self.client_auth.login(username=self.user.username, password=PASSWORD)
+        )
+
+    def test_view_requires_login(self):
+        response = self.client.get(self.uri)
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 302)
+
+    @override_settings(DATE_FORMAT="Y/m/d")
+    @patch("ghostwriter.home.editor_shortcuts._current_utc_time")
+    def test_view_returns_date_and_next_utc_midnight(self, mock_current_utc_time):
+        local_timezone = ZoneInfo("America/Los_Angeles")
+        local_time = datetime(2026, 7, 21, 23, 59, 30, tzinfo=local_timezone)
+        current_time = local_time.astimezone(datetime_timezone.utc)
+        mock_current_utc_time.return_value = current_time
+
+        with timezone.override(local_timezone):
+            response = self.client_auth.get(self.uri)
+
+        next_midnight = datetime(2026, 7, 23, tzinfo=datetime_timezone.utc)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            response.json(),
+            {
+                "date": "2026/07/22",
+                "expiresAt": round(next_midnight.timestamp() * 1000),
+                "serverTime": round(current_time.timestamp() * 1000),
+                "refreshUrl": self.uri,
+            },
+        )
+        self.assertIn("no-store", response.headers["Cache-Control"])
+
+    def test_view_rejects_post(self):
+        response = self.client_auth.post(self.uri)
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 405)
+
+
 # Tests related to custom management commands
 
 

ghostwriter/home/urls.py

@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@
 
 # URLs for AJAX test functions
 urlpatterns += [
+    path(
+        "ajax/editor-shortcuts/date",
+        views.editor_shortcuts_date,
+        name="ajax_editor_shortcuts_date",
+    ),
     path(
         "ajax/management/test/aws",
         views.TestAWSConnection.as_view(),

ghostwriter/home/views.py

@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 from django.db.models import Prefetch, Q
 from django.http import HttpResponseNotAllowed, JsonResponse
 from django.shortcuts import redirect, render
+from django.views.decorators.cache import never_cache
+from django.views.decorators.http import require_GET
 from django.views.generic.edit import View
 
 # 3rd Party Libraries
@@ -20,6 +22,7 @@
 
 # Ghostwriter Libraries
 from ghostwriter.api.utils import RoleBasedAccessControlMixin, get_project_list, verify_user_is_privileged
+from ghostwriter.home.editor_shortcuts import get_editor_shortcuts_date_config
 from ghostwriter.modules.health_utils import DjangoHealthChecks
 from ghostwriter.reporting.models import ReportFindingLink, ReportObservationLink
 from ghostwriter.rolodex.models import ProjectAssignment
@@ -30,6 +33,14 @@
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+@login_required
+@require_GET
+@never_cache
+def editor_shortcuts_date(request):
+    """Return the current server-formatted date for long-lived editor pages."""
+    return JsonResponse(get_editor_shortcuts_date_config())
+
+
 def _format_assignment_operator(assignment):
     if not assignment.operator:
         return "Unassigned"

ghostwriter/modules/reportwriter/base/html_rich_text.py

@@ -11,6 +11,24 @@
 
 _H = [f"h{n}" for n in range(1, 7)]
 
+
+def remove_trailing_empty_paragraphs(body):
+    """Remove editor-only trailing paragraphs from parsed rich text."""
+    for child in reversed(list(body.children)):
+        if isinstance(child, bs4.NavigableString):
+            if child.strip():
+                break
+            continue
+        if (
+            child.name == "p"
+            and not child.get_text(strip=True)
+            and child.find(True) is None
+        ):
+            child.extract()
+            continue
+        break
+
+
 def rich_text_template(
     env: jinja2.Environment,
     text: str,

ghostwriter/modules/reportwriter/richtext/ooxml.py

@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@
 # 3rd Party Libraries
 import bs4
 
+# Ghostwriter Libraries
+from ghostwriter.modules.reportwriter.base.html_rich_text import (
+    remove_trailing_empty_paragraphs,
+)
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 ALLOWED_HYPERLINK_PROTOCOLS = {"http", "https", "mailto", "tel"}
@@ -111,6 +116,7 @@ def run(cls, text: str, *args, **kwargs):
         tag = soup.find("body")
         instance = cls(*args, **kwargs)
         if tag is not None:
+            remove_trailing_empty_paragraphs(tag)
             instance.process_children(tag.children)
         return instance
 

ghostwriter/modules/reportwriter/richtext/plain_text.py

@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
-import bs4
+# Standard Libraries
 from io import StringIO
 
+# 3rd Party Libraries
+import bs4
+
+# Ghostwriter Libraries
+from ghostwriter.modules.reportwriter.base.html_rich_text import (
+    remove_trailing_empty_paragraphs,
+)
 from ghostwriter.modules.reportwriter.richtext.ooxml import strip_text_whitespace
 
 
@@ -9,6 +16,7 @@ def html_to_plain_text(text: str, evidences) -> str:
     tag = soup.find("body")
     if tag is None:
         return ""
+    remove_trailing_empty_paragraphs(tag)
     out = StringIO()
     _build_html_str(tag, evidences, out)
 

ghostwriter/oplog/templates/oplog/oplog_detail.html

@@ -303,6 +303,7 @@ <h5 class="modal-title" id="oplogHelpModalLabel"><i class="fas fa-book-open mr-2
                                       <li><strong>&uarr;&darr; arrow keys</strong> move between entries once one is selected.</li>
                                       <li><kbd>Enter</kbd> opens the selected entry's edit form.</li>
                                       <li><kbd>Ctrl+Enter</kbd> or <kbd>Cmd+Enter</kbd> submits the edit form, saving the entry and closing the modal.</li>
+                                      <li>Typing <code>@today</code>/<code>@date</code> or <code>@now</code>/<code>@time</code> followed by a space or punctuation in a rich text field inserts the current date or time.</li>
                                       <li><kbd>Esc</kbd> closes the details pane and deselects the entry, giving the table full width.</li>
                                       <li><kbd>Ctrl+N</kbd> creates a new entry.</li>
                                   </ul>

ghostwriter/oplog/tests/test_views.py

@@ -175,6 +175,27 @@ def test_view_exposes_active_time_zone(self):
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
         self.assertContains(response, 'data-time-zone="America/Los_Angeles"')
 
+    @override_settings(DATE_FORMAT="Y/m/d")
+    @patch(
+        "ghostwriter.context_processors.get_editor_shortcuts_date_config",
+        return_value={
+            "date": "2026/07/21",
+            "expiresAt": 1784707200000,
+            "serverTime": 1784678400000,
+            "refreshUrl": "/ajax/editor-shortcuts/date",
+        },
+    )
+    def test_view_documents_date_time_shortcuts(self, _mock_date_config):
+        response = self.client_mgr.get(self.uri)
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertContains(response, "@now")
+        self.assertContains(response, "@time")
+        self.assertContains(response, "@today")
+        self.assertContains(response, "@date")
+        self.assertContains(response, 'id="gw-current-date"')
+        self.assertContains(response, '"2026/07/21"')
+
     def test_view_displays_last_sanitization(self):
         OplogSanitization.objects.create(
             oplog=self.oplog,

ghostwriter/reporting/tests/test_rich_text_docx.py

@@ -79,6 +79,39 @@ def test_func(self):
 class RichTextToDocxTests(SimpleTestCase):
     maxDiff = None
 
+    def test_trailing_empty_paragraph_after_list_is_omitted(self):
+        doc = docx.Document()
+        HtmlToDocx.run(
+            "<ul><li><p>dc01.gbi.local</p></li>"
+            "<li><p>fs01.gbi.local</p></li>"
+            "<li><p>portal.gbi.example</p></li></ul><p></p><p></p>",
+            doc,
+            None,
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            [paragraph.text for paragraph in doc.paragraphs],
+            ["dc01.gbi.local", "fs01.gbi.local", "portal.gbi.example"],
+        )
+
+    def test_internal_empty_paragraph_is_preserved(self):
+        doc = docx.Document()
+        HtmlToDocx.run("<p>Before</p><p></p><p>After</p>", doc, None)
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            [paragraph.text for paragraph in doc.paragraphs],
+            ["Before", "", "After"],
+        )
+
+    def test_trailing_hard_break_is_preserved(self):
+        doc = docx.Document()
+        HtmlToDocx.run("<p>Before</p><p><br></p>", doc, None)
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            [paragraph.text for paragraph in doc.paragraphs],
+            ["Before", "\n"],
+        )
+
     def test_table_cell_paragraphs_remain_in_the_cell(self):
         doc = docx.Document()
         HtmlToDocx.run(