Stardates Explained - 20111021.1054

You don't understand the startdates?

Take, for example, 20111021.1054

Let me stick some spaces in some helpful places:

2011 10 21 . 10 54

That better?

20111021 means 21st October 2011, and 1054 is in 24-hour clock format, IE 10:54AM

Stardates in the Star Trek universe work in an entirely different way. Wikipedia has a good explanation on how Stardates work.