diff --git a/.config/fish/functions/jrnl.fish b/.config/fish/functions/jrnl.fish
index af30b164..558db3d5 100644
--- a/.config/fish/functions/jrnl.fish
+++ b/.config/fish/functions/jrnl.fish
@@ -89,7 +89,13 @@ function jrnl --description 'Lightweight journaling tool'
     set entry "$jdir/$today.md"
     # check if journal entry exists
     if not test -f $entry
-        set contents (string join \n "# $today" "$(tail -n +2 $template)" | string collect -N)
+        set contents (cat $template | \
+        string match --invert --regex '^<!--.*-->' | \
+        string replace --all '%{date}' "$(date +'%A, %b %d, %Y')" | \
+        string collect -N)
+        echo $contents
+        return 0
+        # set contents (string join \n "# $today" "$(tail -n +2 $template)" | string collect -N)
         cat $template >$entry
         set -l prompt "Created $entry, open in $EDITOR? (y/n)"
         while read --nchars 1 -l response --prompt-str="$prompt" or return 1