diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index dea4d70..11de42e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 .project
 .buildpath
 .settings
-.DS_Store
\ No newline at end of file
+.DS_Store
diff --git a/DatesPlugin.inc.php b/DatesPlugin.inc.php
index 0b6568c..d2ba4bf 100644
--- a/DatesPlugin.inc.php
+++ b/DatesPlugin.inc.php
@@ -3,101 +3,207 @@
 /**
  * @file plugins/generic/dates/DatesPlugin.inc.php
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2014-2021 Simon Fraser University
- * Copyright (c) 2003-2021 John Willinsky
+ * Copyright (c) 2014-2026 Simon Fraser University
+ * Copyright (c) 2003-2026 John Willinsky
  * Distributed under the GNU GPL v3. For full terms see the file docs/COPYING.
  *
- * @class dates
- * @ingroup plugins_generic_dates
+ * Dates Plugin for OJS 3.5
  *
- * @brief dates plugin class
+ * Adds publication and editorial workflow dates
+ * to the public article page.
  */
 
+use APP\core\Application;
 use APP\decision\Decision;
 use APP\facades\Repo;
+
 use PKP\plugins\GenericPlugin;
+use PKP\plugins\Hook;
+
+class DatesPlugin extends GenericPlugin
+{
+    /**
+     * Register the plugin
+     */
+    public function register($category, $path, $mainContextId = null)
+    {
+        $success = parent::register($category, $path, $mainContextId);
+
+        if ($success && $this->getEnabled($mainContextId)) {
+            Hook::add(
+                'Templates::Article::Details',
+                [$this, 'addDates']
+            );
+        }
+
+        return $success;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Plugin display name
+     */
+    public function getDisplayName()
+    {
+        return __('plugins.generic.dates.displayName');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Plugin description
+     */
+    public function getDescription()
+    {
+        return __('plugins.generic.dates.description');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Safe PHP 8.1+ date formatting
+     */
+    protected function formatDate($dateString, $locale = 'en_US')
+    {
+        if (!$dateString) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        $timestamp = strtotime($dateString);
+
+        if (!$timestamp) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        $formatter = new \IntlDateFormatter(
+            $locale,
+            \IntlDateFormatter::MEDIUM,
+            \IntlDateFormatter::NONE
+        );
+
+        return $formatter->format($timestamp);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Add article dates to template output
+     */
+    public function addDates($hookName, $args)
+    {
+        error_log('DATES PLUGIN HOOK FIRED');
+
+        /**
+         * VERY IMPORTANT:
+         * For frontend template hooks:
+         *
+         * $args[1] = TemplateManager
+         * $args[2] = output (by reference)
+         */
+        $templateMgr = $args[1];
+        $output =& $args[2];
+
+        $article = $templateMgr->getTemplateVars('article');
+        $publication = $templateMgr->getTemplateVars('publication');
 
-class DatesPlugin extends GenericPlugin {
-	/**
-	 * Called as a plugin is registered to the registry
-	 * @param $category String Name of category plugin was registered to
-	 * @return boolean True if plugin initialized successfully; if false,
-	 * 	the plugin will not be registered.
-	 */
-	function register($category, $path, $mainContextId = NULL) {
-		$success = parent::register($category, $path, $mainContextId);
-		if (!Config::getVar('general', 'installed') || defined('RUNNING_UPGRADE')) return true;
-		if ($success && $this->getEnabled()) {
-			HookRegistry::register('Templates::Article::Details', array($this, 'addDates'));
-		}
-		return $success;
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Get the plugin display name.
-	 * @return string
-	 */
-	function getDisplayName() {
-		return __('plugins.generic.dates.displayName');
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Get the plugin description.
-	 * @return string
-	 */
-	function getDescription() {
-		return __('plugins.generic.dates.description');
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Add dates to article landing page
-	 * @param $hookName string
-	 * @param $params array
-	 */
-	function addDates($hookName, $params) {
-		$request = $this->getRequest();
-		$context = $request->getContext();
-
-		$smarty = $params[1];
-		$output =& $params[2];
-
-		$article = $smarty->getTemplateVars('article');
-
-		$dates = "";
-		$submitdate = $article->getDateSubmitted();
-		$publishdate = $article->getDatePublished();
-		$reviewdate = "";
-
-        $decisions = Repo::decision()->getCollector()
+        if (!$article || !$publication) {
+            error_log('DATES PLUGIN: article or publication missing');
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $request = Application::get()->getRequest();
+        if (!$request) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $context = $request->getContext();
+        if (!$context) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $dates = [];
+
+        /**
+         * Better locale handling for OJS
+         */
+        $locale = $context->getPrimaryLocale();
+        if (!$locale) {
+            $locale = 'en_US';
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Submitted date
+         */
+        $dateSubmitted = $article->getData('dateSubmitted');
+
+        if ($dateSubmitted) {
+            $dates['submitted'] = $this->formatDate(
+                $dateSubmitted,
+                $locale
+            );
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Published date
+         * IMPORTANT:
+         * This comes from publication, not article
+         */
+        $datePublished = $publication->getData('datePublished');
+
+        if ($datePublished) {
+            $dates['published'] = $this->formatDate(
+                $datePublished,
+                $locale
+            );
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Accepted date via editorial decisions
+         */
+        try {
+            $decisions = Repo::decision()
+                ->getCollector()
                 ->filterBySubmissionIds([$article->getId()])
                 ->getMany();
 
-		// Loop through the decisions
-		foreach ($decisions as $decision) {
-			// If we have a review stage decision and it was a submission accepted decision, get to date for the decision
-			// Note that since version 3.4 the decision value has changed from '1' to '2' for accepted
-			if ($decision->getData('stageId') == '3' && $decision->getData('decision') == '2'){
-				$reviewdate = $decision->getData('dateDecided');
-			}
-		}
-
-		$dates = array();
-		$dateFormatShort = PKPString::convertStrftimeFormat($context->getLocalizedDateFormatShort($locale));
-
-		if ($submitdate)
-			$dates['received'] = date($dateFormatShort,strtotime($submitdate));
-		if ($reviewdate)
-			$dates['accepted'] = date($dateFormatShort,strtotime($reviewdate));
-		if ($publishdate)
-			$dates['published'] = date($dateFormatShort,strtotime($publishdate));
-
-		// Only show dates if there was a review
-		if ($reviewdate){
-			$smarty->assign('dates', $dates);
-			$output .= $smarty->fetch($this->getTemplateResource('dates.tpl'));
-		}
-		return false;
-	}
-}
+            foreach ($decisions as $decision) {
+                if (
+                    (int) $decision->getData('decision')
+                    === (int) Decision::ACCEPT
+                ) {
+                    $dates['accepted'] = $this->formatDate(
+                        $decision->getData('dateDecided'),
+                        $locale
+                    );
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+        } catch (\Throwable $e) {
+            /**
+             * Never break article rendering because of plugin issues
+             */
+            error_log(
+                'DatesPlugin decision lookup failed: '
+                . $e->getMessage()
+            );
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Debug log
+         */
+        error_log(
+            'DATES PLUGIN DATA: ' . print_r($dates, true)
+        );
 
-?>
+        /**
+         * Assign to Smarty
+         */
+        $templateMgr->assign(
+            'datesPluginDates',
+            $dates
+        );
+
+        /**
+         * THIS is the crucial part:
+         * append rendered template output
+         */
+        $output .= $templateMgr->fetch(
+            $this->getTemplateResource('dates.tpl')
+        );
+
+        return false;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c170a39..656b4c2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Dates plugin for OJS 3.4
+# Dates plugin for OJS 3.5.0.4 / PHP 8.4
 
 Display Received, Accepted and Published dates on the article landing page.
 
@@ -6,4 +6,5 @@ Once enabled the plugin will show the dates automatically for all published arti
 
 ***
 Plugin created by The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (https://tsv.fi/en/).
+Updated by SOAP | Stichting OpenAccess platforms
 ***
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 2fb1ab4..20e8965 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
 /**
  * @file plugins/generic/dates/index.php
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2014-2021 Simon Fraser University
- * Copyright (c) 2003-2021 John Willinsky
+ * Copyright (c) 2014-2026 Simon Fraser University
+ * Copyright (c) 2003-2026 John Willinsky
  * Distributed under the GNU GPL v3. For full terms see the file docs/COPYING.
  *
  * @ingroup plugins_generic_dates
diff --git a/locale/en/locale.po b/locale/en/locale.po
index 10cec70..6420c63 100644
--- a/locale/en/locale.po
+++ b/locale/en/locale.po
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 
 "plugins/generic/dates/locale/en_US/locale.po
-"Copyright (c) 2014-2021 Simon Fraser University
-"Copyright (c) 2003-2021 John Willinsky
+"Copyright (c) 2014-2026 Simon Fraser University
+"Copyright (c) 2003-2026 John Willinsky
 "Distributed under the GNU GPL v3. For full terms see the file docs/COPYING.
 "dates plugin localization strings
 
diff --git a/locale/es/locale.po b/locale/es/locale.po
index 2252631..f2eefd4 100644
--- a/locale/es/locale.po
+++ b/locale/es/locale.po
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 
 "plugins/generic/dates/locale/es_ES/locale.po
-"Copyright (c) 2014-2021 Simon Fraser University
-"Copyright (c) 2003-2021 John Willinsky
+"Copyright (c) 2014-2026 Simon Fraser University
+"Copyright (c) 2003-2026 John Willinsky
 "Distributed under the GNU GPL v3. For full terms see the file docs/COPYING.
 "dates plugin localization strings
 
diff --git a/locale/fi/locale.po b/locale/fi/locale.po
index 19d6f2e..a055f99 100644
--- a/locale/fi/locale.po
+++ b/locale/fi/locale.po
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 
 "plugins/generic/dates/locale/fi/locale.po
-"Copyright (c) 2014-2021 Simon Fraser University
-"Copyright (c) 2003-2021 John Willinsky
+"Copyright (c) 2014-2026 Simon Fraser University
+"Copyright (c) 2003-2026 John Willinsky
 "Distributed under the GNU GPL v3. For full terms see the file docs/COPYING.
 "dates plugin localization strings
 
diff --git a/locale/it/locale.po b/locale/it/locale.po
index ac71d5e..e015aaa 100644
--- a/locale/it/locale.po
+++ b/locale/it/locale.po
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ msgid ""
 msgstr ""
 
 "plugins/generic/dates/locale/it_IT/locale.po
-"Copyright (c) 2014-2021 Simon Fraser University
-"Copyright (c) 2003-2021 John Willinsky
+"Copyright (c) 2014-2026 Simon Fraser University
+"Copyright (c) 2003-2026 John Willinsky
 "Distributed under the GNU GPL v3. For full terms see the file docs/COPYING.
 "dates plugin localization strings
 
diff --git a/templates/dates.tpl b/templates/dates.tpl
index 4a7e169..784253f 100644
--- a/templates/dates.tpl
+++ b/templates/dates.tpl
@@ -1,22 +1,30 @@
 {**
  * plugins/generic/dates/templates/articleFooter.tpl
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2014-2021 Simon Fraser University
- * Copyright (c) 2003-2021 John Willinsky
+ * Copyright (c) 2014-2026 Simon Fraser University
+ * Copyright (c) 2003-2026 John Willinsky
  * Distributed under the GNU GPL v3. For full terms see the file docs/COPYING.
  *
  *}
-<div class="item dates">
-        <div class="value">
-        {if array_key_exists('received', $dates)}
-                        {translate key="plugins.generic.dates.received"} {$dates.received} <br/>
-        {/if}
-        {if $dates.accepted}
-                {translate key="plugins.generic.dates.accepted"} {$dates.accepted} <br/>
-        {/if}
-        {if $dates.published}
-                {translate key="plugins.generic.dates.published"} {$dates.published} <br/>
-        {/if}
-        </div>
-</div>
 
+{if $datesPluginDates}
+<div class="item">
+		{if $datesPluginDates.submitted}
+     		<div class="value">
+				<strong>Submitted:</strong> {$datesPluginDates.submitted}
+			</div>
+		{/if}
+	
+		{if $datesPluginDates.accepted}
+     		<div class="value">
+				<strong>Accepted:</strong> {$datesPluginDates.accepted}
+			</div>
+		{/if}
+	
+		{if $datesPluginDates.published}
+     		<div class="value">
+				<strong>Published:</strong> {$datesPluginDates.published}
+			</div>
+		{/if}
+</div>
+{/if}
diff --git a/version.xml b/version.xml
index f76b82c..21d6585 100644
--- a/version.xml
+++ b/version.xml
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 <!--
   * plugins/generic/dates/version.xml
   *
-  * Copyright (c) 2014-2023 Simon Fraser University
-  * Copyright (c) 2003-2023 John Willinsky
+  * Copyright (c) 2014-2026 Simon Fraser University
+  * Copyright (c) 2003-2026 John Willinsky
   * Distributed under the GNU GPL v3. For full terms see the file docs/COPYING.
   *
   * Plugin version information.
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@
 <version>
 	<application>dates</application>
 	<type>plugins.generic</type>
-	<release>3.4.0.1</release>
-	<date>2025-10-13</date>
+	<release>3.5.0.4</release>
+	<date>2026-05-01</date>
 	<lazy-load>1</lazy-load>
 	<class>DatesPlugin</class>
 </version>