diff --git a/webapp/config/web.xml b/webapp/config/web.xml
index 512a86899..e5339d4d1 100644
--- a/webapp/config/web.xml
+++ b/webapp/config/web.xml
@@ -299,6 +299,15 @@
     <url-pattern>/about</url-pattern>
   </servlet-mapping>
   
+  <servlet>
+    <servlet-name>FreeMarkerTestController</servlet-name>
+    <servlet-class>edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker.TestController</servlet-class>
+  </servlet>
+  <servlet-mapping>
+    <servlet-name>FreeMarkerTestController</servlet-name>
+    <url-pattern>/freemarkertest</url-pattern>
+  </servlet-mapping>
+  
   <servlet>
     <servlet-name>FakeSelfEditController</servlet-name>
     <servlet-class>edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.FakeSelfEditController</servlet-class>
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/AboutController.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/AboutController.java
index 96ebcd2db..8eb77e674 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/AboutController.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/AboutController.java
@@ -2,9 +2,7 @@
 
 package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker; 
 
-import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
@@ -25,13 +23,6 @@ public class AboutController extends FreeMarkerHttpServlet {
     
         body.put("aboutText", portal.getAboutText());
         body.put("acknowledgeText", portal.getAcknowledgeText()); 
-        
-        // Test of #list directive in template on undefined, null, or empty values
-        // Basic idea: empty list okay, null or undefined value not okay
-        // List<String> apples = new ArrayList<String>();  // no error
-        // List<String> apples = null; // error
-        // body.put("apples", apples);
-        // no apples in body: error
    
         String bodyTemplate = "about.ftl";             
         return mergeBodyToTemplate(bodyTemplate, body);
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreeMarkerSetup.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreeMarkerSetup.java
index fc37d9265..aed8a75bc 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreeMarkerSetup.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreeMarkerSetup.java
@@ -28,20 +28,34 @@ public class FreeMarkerSetup implements ServletContextListener {
 		// Specify the data source where the template files come from.
 		// RY Now being done for each request, in order to support multi-portal apps
 		// and dynamic theme-loading.
-//		try {
-//			cfg.setDirectoryForTemplateLoading(new File(templatePath));
-//		} catch (IOException e) {
-//			log.error("Error specifying template directory.");
-//		}
+		// try {
+		// 	cfg.setDirectoryForTemplateLoading(new File(templatePath));
+		// } catch (IOException e) {
+		// 	log.error("Error specifying template directory.");
+		// }
 		
 		String buildEnv = ConfigurationProperties.getProperty("Environment.build");
 		if (buildEnv != null && buildEnv.equals("development")) {
 		    cfg.setTemplateUpdateDelay(0); // no template caching in development 
 		}
 		
-		// Specify how templates will see the data-model. This is an advanced topic...
-		// but just use this:
-		cfg.setObjectWrapper(new DefaultObjectWrapper());
+	    // Specify how templates will see the data-model. This is an advanced topic...
+        // but just use this:
+        cfg.setObjectWrapper(new DefaultObjectWrapper());
+        
+		
+		// Set some formatting defaults. These can be overridden at the template
+		// or environment (template-processing) level, or for an individual
+        // instance by using built-ins.
+		cfg.setLocale(java.util.Locale.US);
+		
+		String dateFormat = "M/d/yyyy";
+		cfg.setDateFormat(dateFormat);
+		String timeFormat = "hh:mm a";
+	    cfg.setTimeFormat(timeFormat);
+		cfg.setDateTimeFormat(dateFormat + " " + timeFormat);
+		
+		//cfg.setNumberFormat("#,##0.##");
 		
 		try {
             cfg.setSetting("url_escaping_charset", "ISO-8859-1");
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/TestController.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/TestController.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3544267c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/TestController.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/* $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ */
+
+package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Calendar;
+import java.util.Date;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+/**
+ * A place for storing test cases.
+ * @author rjy7
+ *
+ */
+public class TestController extends FreeMarkerHttpServlet {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    protected String getTitle() {
+        return "Test";
+    }
+    
+    protected String getBody() {
+        
+        Map<String, Object> body = new HashMap<String, Object>();
+        
+        // Test of #list directive in template on undefined, null, and empty values.
+        // Basic idea: empty list okay, null or undefined value not okay.
+        List<String> apples = new ArrayList<String>();  // no error
+        // List<String> apples = null; // error
+        body.put("apples", apples); // without this: error        
+        
+        Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
+        Date now = cal.getTime();
+        body.put("now", now);
+        // In template: ${now?date}, ${now?datetime}, ${now?time}
+   
+        // Create the template to see the examples live.
+        String bodyTemplate = "test.ftl";             
+        return mergeBodyToTemplate(bodyTemplate, body);
+
+    }
+
+}
+
diff --git a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/test.ftl b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/test.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1d9d898fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/test.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+<#-- $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt -->
+
+<#-- FreeMarker test cases -->
+
+<h2>Dates</h2>
+
+<p>${now?datetime}</p>
+<p>${now?date}</p>
+<p>${now?time}</p>
+
+<h2>Apples</h2>
+
+<#list apples as apple>
+    <p>${apple}</p>
+</#list>
\ No newline at end of file