Inserting created_at data with Laravel

In your User model, add the following line in the User class:

public $timestamps = true;

Now, whenever you save or update a user, Laravel will automatically update the created_at and updated_at fields.

Update:
If you want to set the created at manually you should use the date format Y-m-d H:i:s. The problem is that the format you have used is not the same as Laravel uses for the created_at field.

Update: Nov 2018 Laravel 5.6 "message": "Access level to App\\Note::$timestamps must be public", Make sure you have the proper access level as well. Laravel 5.6 is public.

You can manually set this using Laravel, just remember to add 'created_at' to your $fillable array:

protected $fillable = ['name', 'created_at']; 

Currently (Laravel 5.4) the way to achieve this is:

$model = new Model();
$model->created_at = Carbon::now();
$model->save(['timestamps' => false]);