If you want it to remain editable then you need to provide `default` with a function tha can be called to return a value whenever it's requested. See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.5/ref/models/fields/#django.db.models.Field.default. The Admin behaviour you're describing is intended, it's covered in the [documentation](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.5/ref/models/fields/#django.db.models.DateField.auto_now_add) (see the note).