When a new blog is created, by default the publish date goes to when the post/draft was first initiated, rather than the date it actually ends up being published. If the author neglects to change the publish date using the optional field while still in draft, they have no recourse to correct it, which becomes a problem for users who start drafts weeks or months ahead of when they are published. If CONFSERVER-11740 is not going to be implemented any time soon, perhaps this is an alternative solution that may be easier to do.