To add current date or time or timestamp in DB field automatically Using Rules in model use it like below : <?php /** * @return array validation rules for model attributes. */ public function rules () { return array ( array ( 'title' , 'length' , 'max' => 255 ), array ( 'title, created, modified' , 'required' ), array ( 'modified' , 'default' , 'value' => new CDbExpression( 'NOW()' ), 'setOnEmpty' => false , 'on' => 'update' ), array ( 'created,modified' , 'default' , 'value' => new CDbExpression( 'NOW()' ), 'setOnEmpty' => false , 'on' => 'insert' ) ); } ?>