diff --git a/lib/logstash/inputs/http_poller.rb b/lib/logstash/inputs/http_poller.rb
index 9b814b1..667648e 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/inputs/http_poller.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/inputs/http_poller.rb
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@
 require "manticore"
 require "rufus/scheduler"
 
-class LogStash::Inputs::HTTP_Poller < LogStash::Inputs::Base
+class LogStash::Inputs::HTTP_Poller2 < LogStash::Inputs::Base
   include LogStash::PluginMixins::HttpClient
 
-  config_name "http_poller"
+  config_name "http_poller2"
 
   default :codec, "json"
 
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class LogStash::Inputs::HTTP_Poller < LogStash::Inputs::Base
   def register
     @host = Socket.gethostname.force_encoding(Encoding::UTF_8)
 
-    @logger.info("Registering http_poller Input", :type => @type, :schedule => @schedule, :timeout => @timeout)
+    @logger.info("Registering http_poller2 Input", :type => @type, :schedule => @schedule, :timeout => @timeout)
 
     setup_requests!
   end
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ def setup_requests!
   def normalize_request(url_or_spec)
     if url_or_spec.is_a?(String)
       res = [:get, url_or_spec]
+      #substitute date variables if passed as part of the URL string
+      now_datetime = DateTime.now
+      res.gsub!(/{{%y}}/, now_datetime.year)
+      res.gsub!(/{{%m}}/, now_datetime.month)
+
     elsif url_or_spec.is_a?(Hash)
       # The client will expect keys / values
       spec = Hash[url_or_spec.clone.map {|k,v| [k.to_sym, v] }] # symbolize keys
diff --git a/spec/inputs/http_poller_spec.rb b/spec/inputs/http_poller_spec.rb
index 9543219..603e8ed 100644
--- a/spec/inputs/http_poller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/inputs/http_poller_spec.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # Workaround for the bug reported in https://github.com/jruby/jruby/issues/4637
 require 'rspec/matchers/built_in/raise_error.rb'
 
-describe LogStash::Inputs::HTTP_Poller do
+describe LogStash::Inputs::HTTP_Poller2 do
   let(:metadata_target) { "_http_poller_metadata" }
   let(:queue) { Queue.new }
   let(:default_schedule) {
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
       "metadata_target" => metadata_target
     }
   }
-  let(:klass) { LogStash::Inputs::HTTP_Poller }
+  let(:klass) { LogStash::Inputs::HTTP_Poller2 }
 
   describe "instances" do
     subject { klass.new(default_opts) }
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@
     }
 
     shared_examples "unprocessable_requests" do
-      let(:poller) { LogStash::Inputs::HTTP_Poller.new(settings) }
+      let(:poller) { LogStash::Inputs::HTTP_Poller2.new(settings) }
       subject(:event) {
         poller.send(:run_once, queue)
         queue.pop(true)