Set NOW() as Default Value for datetime datatype?

My solution

ALTER TABLE `table_name` MODIFY COLUMN `column_name` TIMESTAMP NOT
NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;

I use a trigger as a workaround to set a datetime field to NOW() for new inserts:

CREATE TRIGGER `triggername` BEFORE INSERT ON  `tablename` 
FOR EACH ROW 
SET NEW.datetimefield = NOW()

it should work for updates too

Answers by Johan & Leonardo involve converting to a timestamp field. Although this is probably ok for the use case presented in the question (storing RegisterDate and LastVisitDate), it is not a universal solution. See datetime vs timestamp question.

EUREKA !!!

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For all those who lost heart trying to set a default DATETIME value in MySQL, I know exactly how you feel/felt. So here it is:

`ALTER TABLE  `table_name` CHANGE `column_name` DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT 0

Carefully observe that I haven't added single quotes/double quotes around the 0.

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Important update:

This answer was posted long back. Back then, it worked on my (probably latest) installation of MySQL and I felt like sharing it. Please read the comments below before you decide to use this solution now.

As of MySQL 5.6.5, you can use the DATETIME type with a dynamic default value:

CREATE TABLE foo (
    creation_time      DATETIME DEFAULT   CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    modification_time  DATETIME ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
)

Or even combine both rules:

modification_time DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

Reference:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/timestamp-initialization.html
http://optimize-this.blogspot.com/2012/04/datetime-default-now-finally-available.html

Prior to 5.6.5, you need to use the TIMESTAMP data type, which automatically updates whenever the record is modified. Unfortunately, however, only one auto-updated TIMESTAMP field can exist per table.

CREATE TABLE mytable (
  mydate TIMESTAMP
)

See: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/create-table.html

If you want to prevent MySQL from updating the timestamp value on UPDATE (so that it only triggers on INSERT) you can change the definition to:

CREATE TABLE mytable (
  mydate TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
)