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Customize the inserted date/time in Pages '08 Apps
In Pages, I couldn't get both the date and the time inserted in the combination of formats that I wanted. (You can see the available formats by double-clicking on an inserted date/time field.) Here's how I added a customized format. I'm working with Pages 3.0.2 and Mac 10.5.3 on an iMac G5. One has to be comfortable editing a plist file.

Quit Pages. Select Pages in the Finder, Control-click on it, and pick Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu. Then, after backing it up somewhere just in case, open the following file:
/Contents/Frameworks/SFWordProcessing.framework/Versions/A/Resources/English.lproj/Defaults.plist
You can do this using TextEdit or the Property List Editor (if you have that installed). In TextEdit, look for the following lines:
  <string>Custom</string>
  <integer>0</integer>
  <integer>0</integer>
  <string></string>
This is a "custom" date and time format, and once you set it to your liking, it will appear in your list of Date Format options. The two integers represent the date and time, respectively.

First, note that you only have certain formats you can work with. These are defined in the Formats tab of the International preference pane in your System Preferences, and you can alter them there. As you will see, there are options for Full, Long, Medium, and Short Date formats, and for Medium and Short Time formats. Take note of what they are.

Now, back to the plist file. The first integer represents the date format, thusly:
  1. 0: null - that is, nothing appears for the date
  2. 1: Short Date
  3. 2: Medium Date
  4. 3: Long Date
  5. 4: Full Date
Now change the second integer to represent your desired time format:
  1. 0: null - that is, nothing appears for the time
  2. 1: Short Time
  3. 2: Medium Time
(If you are doing this in the Property List Editor, drill down as follows: Root » SFWPDateTimeFormats » 7. The first Number represents the date, and the second represents the time.)

So, for Monday, June 16, 2008 11:23 AM, the text should look like this:
  <string>Custom</string>
  <integer>4</integer>
  <integer>1</integer>
  <string></string>
Now save the file and reopen Pages. When you double-click on a date, you should see your desired format as the final option in the list. You are done. I expect that one could add a further Custom format by creating an eighth sibling, but I haven't tried that.

I am not aware if it would be possible to use date or time formats other than those defined in the System Preferences, but perhaps hunting among the plist files will help. A possibly relevant one is mentioned in the comments to this earlier tip about modifying Numbers, but I can't figure out how to make it work with the above.
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