diff --git a/instances/jobs.py b/instances/jobs.py
index d3170397..565eda74 100644
--- a/instances/jobs.py
+++ b/instances/jobs.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from libvirt import (VIR_CONNECT_LIST_STORAGE_POOLS_ACTIVE, VIR_DOMAIN_JOB_NONE,
 from vrtManager import util
 from vrtManager.connection import wvmConnect
 from vrtManager.create import wvmCreate
-from vrtManager.instance import wvmInstance
+from vrtManager.instance import check_snapshot_name, wvmInstance
 
 from accounts.models import UserInstance, UserSSHKey
 from appsettings.settings import app_settings
@@ -305,6 +305,7 @@ class CreateSnapshot(Kind):
                 "memory": bool(raw.get("memory")), "quiesce": bool(raw.get("quiesce"))}
 
     def validate(self, user, params):
+        check_snapshot_name(params["name"])
         # recovery counts a listed snapshot as taken by the job
         if params["name"] in _proxy(_authorized(user, params["instance"])).instance.snapshotListNames(0):
             raise util.OperationError(f"A snapshot named {params['name']} already exists")
diff --git a/instances/templates/instances/snapshots_tab.html b/instances/templates/instances/snapshots_tab.html
index d21797a2..075c34bc 100755
--- a/instances/templates/instances/snapshots_tab.html
+++ b/instances/templates/instances/snapshots_tab.html
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 {% load i18n %}
+{% load tz %}
+{% get_current_timezone as TIME_ZONE %}
 {% load bootstrap_icons %}
 {% load operations %}
 <div class="tab-pane" id="snapshots" role="tabpanel">
@@ -38,7 +40,7 @@
             <form action="{% url 'instances:snapshot' instance.id %}" method="post" role="form" aria-label="Create snapshot form">
                 {% csrf_token %}{% submission_key %}
                     <div class="input-group mb-3">
-                        <input type="text" class="form-control form-control-lg" name="name" placeholder="{% trans "Snapshot Name" %}" maxlength="14">
+                        <input type="text" class="form-control form-control-lg" name="name" placeholder="{% trans "Snapshot Name" %}" maxlength="64" pattern="[A-Za-z0-9_\-][A-Za-z0-9._\-]{0,63}" title="{% trans "Letters, digits, '.', '_' or '-'; not starting with '.'" %}" required>
                         <span class="input-group-text">|</span>
                         <input type="text" class="form-control form-control-lg" name="description" placeholder="{% trans "Snapshot Description" %}" maxlength="45">
                         {% if instance.external_snapshots or busy or held %}
@@ -90,7 +92,7 @@
                     <table class="table" id="internal-snapshots">
                         <thead>
                             <tr>
-                                <th scope="col">{% trans "Date" %}</th>
+                                <th scope="col">{% blocktrans %}Date ({{ TIME_ZONE }}){% endblocktrans %}</th>
                                 <th scope="col">{% trans "Name" %}</th>
                                 <th scope="col">{% trans "Description" %}</th>
                                 <th scope="colgroup" colspan="2">{% trans "Action" %}</th>
@@ -99,7 +101,7 @@
                         <tbody>
                             {% for snap in instance.internal_snapshots %}
                                 <tr>
-                                    <td>{{ snap.date|date:"M d H:i:s" }}</td>
+                                    <td>{{ snap.date|date:"Y-m-d H:i:s" }}</td>
                                     <td><strong>{{ snap.name }}</strong></td>
                                     <td>{{ snap.description }}</td>
                                     <td style="width:30px;">
@@ -138,7 +140,7 @@
                     <table class="table" id="external-snapshots">
                         <thead>
                             <tr>
-                                <th scope="col">{% trans "Date" %}</th>
+                                <th scope="col">{% blocktrans %}Date ({{ TIME_ZONE }}){% endblocktrans %}</th>
                                 <th scope="col">{% trans "Name" %}</th>
                                 <th scope="col">{% trans "Description" %}</th>
                                 <th scope="colgroup" colspan="2">{% trans "Action" %}</th>
@@ -147,7 +149,7 @@
                         <tbody>
                             {% for ext_snap in instance.external_snapshots %}
                                 <tr>
-                                    <td>{{ ext_snap.date|date:"M d H:i:s" }}</td>
+                                    <td>{{ ext_snap.date|date:"Y-m-d H:i:s" }}</td>
                                     <td>
                                         <strong>{{ ext_snap.name }}</strong>
                                         {% if ext_snap.current %}<span class="badge text-bg-secondary">{% trans "current" %}</span>{% endif %}
diff --git a/instances/tests/test_snapshot_jobs.py b/instances/tests/test_snapshot_jobs.py
index 69b03d7d..fa98a9de 100644
--- a/instances/tests/test_snapshot_jobs.py
+++ b/instances/tests/test_snapshot_jobs.py
@@ -62,6 +62,13 @@ class SnapshotJobsTestCase(TransactionTestCase):
                          {"name": "a", "submission_key": "key-snap0001"})
         self.assertFalse(Operation.objects.exists())
 
+    def test_a_name_that_is_empty_or_not_a_snapshot_name_is_refused_on_the_page(self):
+        for name in ("", ".hidden", "a b"):
+            response = self.client.post(reverse("instances:snapshot", args=[self.instance.pk]),
+                                        {"name": name, "submission_key": "key-snap0001"}, follow=True)
+            self.assertContains(response, "Snapshot names are 1-64 letters")
+        self.assertFalse(Operation.objects.exists())
+
     def test_create_recovery(self):
         op = Operation(params={"instance": self.instance.pk, "name": "a", "external": True},
                        intent={"compute": self.instance.compute_id})
diff --git a/vrtManager/instance.py b/vrtManager/instance.py
index 451c6e18..0c5f0b95 100644
--- a/vrtManager/instance.py
+++ b/vrtManager/instance.py
@@ -348,6 +348,11 @@ class wvmInstances(wvmConnect):
             ) from error
 
 
+def check_snapshot_name(name):
+    if not SNAPSHOT_NAME.fullmatch(name):
+        raise util.OperationError("Snapshot names are 1-64 letters, digits, '.', '_' or '-' and do not start with '.'")
+
+
 def agent_command(dom, command, arguments=None):
     """The answer of one guest agent command that waits AGENT_TIMEOUT seconds
     at most: libvirt's own calls for it wait for a hung agent indefinitely,
@@ -1618,10 +1623,7 @@ class wvmInstance(wvmConnect):
         accepts it only without memory, which keeps the whole state anyway).
         free_percent, free_min_gib: the free space each pool keeps (see
         _check_snapshot_space)."""
-        if not SNAPSHOT_NAME.fullmatch(name):
-            raise util.OperationError(
-                "Snapshot names are 1-64 letters, digits, '.', '_' or '-' and do not start with '.'"
-            )
+        check_snapshot_name(name)
         if quiesce:
             if memory:
                 raise util.OperationError("A snapshot with memory is not quiesced; it keeps the whole guest state")