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---
title: Reimagine the Date Picker | daily.dev
description: The creator of Pikaday, a popular JavaScript date picker library from 2012, has archived the project and transformed it into a guide advocating against...
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og:title: Reimagine the Date Picker | daily.dev
og:description: The creator of Pikaday, a popular JavaScript date picker library from 2012, has archived the project and transformed it into a guide advocating against...
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# Reimagine the Date Picker

**[Lobsters](https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters)** · 2 min read · 78 upvotes · 7 comments

## Summary

The creator of Pikaday, a popular JavaScript date picker library from 2012, has archived the project and transformed it into a guide advocating against calendar widgets. The new resource encourages developers to use native HTML date inputs or simpler alternatives, arguing that complex calendar UIs lead to errors and poor usability. The guide challenges the assumption that date pickers need elaborate JavaScript libraries, emphasizing user-friendly interfaces over technically accessible but complicated components.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://dbushell.com/2025/11/10/pikaday/>

## Community discussion

Top comments from developers on daily.dev.

**@mariojsnunes** · 7 upvotes

> The native styling is unfortunately not good enough for most apps I worked on

**@alexeyzerkalenkov** · 3 upvotes

> "It doesn’t have to be so complicated!" --> the old good KISS principle. "Back to the roots", finally. :-)
>
> Always loved this approach.

**@paulafleck** · 1 upvotes

> I honestly prefer native behaviours like this, the only major downsides I see are:
> - lack of styling possibilities
> - lack of limiting the date picker to certain dates.

**@sstok** · 0 upvotes

> Nah I will just use this one https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7-HGePQ70bI pure genius

**@astermoe** · 0 upvotes

> good article, the actual pikaday page has some typos on it though that should be cleaned up, example:
> > A common alternative to date pickers is a single input with a placeholder mask. This can be used for full or partial dates. JavaScript can ***enhancement*** the experience
>
> A Minor thing, and otherwise I agree with the article.

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---

Tags: [#webdev](https://daily.dev/tags/webdev), [#javascript](https://daily.dev/tags/javascript), [#html](https://daily.dev/tags/html), [#ux](https://daily.dev/tags/ux), [#accessibility](https://daily.dev/tags/accessibility)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/reimagine-the-date-picker-vc7z9vae0)

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