Question

This code still sets the field to today’s date

<script type="text/javascript">
    $(document).ready(function () {
        $('.date').datepicker({ dateFormat: "mm/dd/yy", changeMonth: true,
            changeYear: true, yearRange: '1900:2020', defaultDate: ''
        });

    });

</script>

How do I universally configure the field to start as blank?

Answer 1

If the field is showing today’s date it’s because of how the input field is populated. The datepicker will start with whatever value the html element has, regardless of what that is:

Demo

If you cannot control the value of the input field through changing markup, but still needs the input field to be reset, you’ll have to do this manually:

$(document).ready(function () {
    $('.date').datepicker({ dateFormat: "mm/dd/yy", changeMonth: true,
        changeYear: true, yearRange: '1900:2020'
    }).val('');
});