Answers.Body: <blockquote>
    <p>Otherwise the clients would get informed about an update, but it is just for internal/system use.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>It sounds like you're relying on the <code>dateUpdated</code> column to notify clients of updates, which probably isn't a good idea.</p>
  
  <p>Plugins can update it, migrations can update it, re-saving a section's settings can update it, etc.</p>
  
  <p>Instead, I would add a custom date/time field and have a plugin that listens to the save element event that updates your custom field with that last "date updated" instead and base your notifications off of that.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-19T18:55:29.780Z
Answers.Text: Thank you Brad. How can I differentiate then, when a save comes from the CP or let's say from a cronjob? The latter should not update the timestamp
Answers.UserDisplayName: Volker Andres
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-19T22:14:56.517Z
Answers.Text: Pass in a querystring param from the cron job and have your plugin check for its existence?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brad Bell
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-19T17:45:12.283Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-12-19T17:45:12.283Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brad Bell
Body: <p>I am using Craft 3 to populate content over a REST api. Now I have a use case, where I want to update an internal field of an entry without changing the dateUpdated. Otherwise the clients would get informed about an update, but it is just for internal/system use. </p>
  
  <p>Can I somehow save an entry without changing the dateUpdated or do I need to find another solution for my use case?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-19T12:47:06.373Z
Comments.Text: Have you tried updating the field manually in the database via phpMyAdmin or similar?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Chattervast
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-19T16:02:17.520Z
Comments.Text: @IndigoViking No. The timestamp is saved at at least 3 tables (entries, content and elements). I would like to stay in the Craft Context and would wish for something like ->saveElement($entry, $dontUpdateTimestamp = true). I tried to hook into the save process with "Event::on(Elements::class, Elements::EVENT_BEFORE_SAVE_ELEMENT, function (Event $event)" but there is already the new timestamp and I can not manual overwrite it
Comments.UserDisplayName: Volker Andres
Tags: <plugin-elementapi>
Title: Disable dateUpdated
ThreadText: # Disable dateUpdated
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-18)
  
  I am using Craft 3 to populate content over a REST api. Now I have a use case, where I want to update an internal field of an entry without changing the dateUpdated. Otherwise the clients would get informed about an update, but it is just for internal/system use.
  
  Can I somehow save an entry without changing the dateUpdated or do I need to find another solution for my use case?
  
  **Tags:** plugin-elementapi
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Have you tried updating the field manually in the database via phpMyAdmin or similar?  
  > **username_0**: @IndigoViking No. The timestamp is saved at at least 3 tables (entries, content and elements). I would like to stay in the Craft Context and would wish for something like ->saveElement($entry, $dontUpdateTimestamp = true). I tried to hook into the save process with "Event::on(Elements::class, Elements::EVENT_BEFORE_SAVE_ELEMENT, function (Event $event)" but there is already the new timestamp and I can not manual overwrite it  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2018-12-19. Score: 1 | Accepted answer
  
  > Otherwise the clients would get informed about an update, but it is just for internal/system use.
  
  It sounds like you're relying on the `dateUpdated` column to notify clients of updates, which probably isn't a good idea.
  
  Plugins can update it, migrations can update it, re-saving a section's settings can update it, etc.
  
  Instead, I would add a custom date/time field and have a plugin that listens to the save element event that updates your custom field with that last "date updated" instead and base your notifications off of that.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Thank you username_2. How can I differentiate then, when a save comes from the CP or let's say from a cronjob? The latter should not update the timestamp  
  > **username_2**: Pass in a querystring param from the cron job and have your plugin check for its existence?  
  
  ---
  
  