Here's a tutorial on how to create a CGridView with external date filters the trick is to create hidden columns within the CGridView Filters something like in the example below: ![grid](<img width="660px" src="http://snag.gy/5dXk2.jpg " alt="grid")>

first we have to create a Class File for the column that we will put our hidden fields
you can save this file under protected/components folder

this tutorial does not only apply to date filtering but also to other forms of filtering that is outside the CGridView