4 ms·

I absolutely hate it when a blog doesn't have a date or has incomplete dates. When was this posted? Someone else here posted a link to a related post (https://

I absolutely hate it when a blog doesn't have a date or has incomplete dates. When was this posted? Someone else here posted a link to a related post (https://back7.co/home/raspberry-pi-recovery-kit https://back7.co/home/raspberry-pi-recovery-kit). A "related article" has the title "Project Retrospective: Raspberry Pi Field Unit from 2015". No idea which year this was posted either. Too much whitespace and too much scrolling.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
jasode 6y ago
>I absolutely hate it when a blog doesn't have a date or has incomplete dates. When was this posted? Depending on the CMS authoring tool used, sometimes the raw HTML ("View Source") has meta info of the timestamp. In this particular case, the raw html has this: <meta itemprop="datePublished" content="2020-08-25T18:00:00-0700"/> Obviously, any meta timestamp is self-reported so you have to judge if it's a legitimate date (e.g. possibly cross-reference with archive on Wayback Machine, etc.). The web landing page also shows "Aug 25" in light gray underneath this story's photo: https://back7.co/ https://back7.co/
- gruturo 6y ago
  Also it features a Pi 4 so it can't be older than June 2019. (but yes, I do share your frustration and sometimes spend more time looking for ANY date than reading an article...)
leoedin 6y ago
I agree with you in general. In this case, though, the article talks about "a few months over the quarantine" and "including a 3 month break due to life and COVID impacts". That makes it pretty easy to date!
- mrunkel 6y ago
  But it won't in four years.
  - dubcanada 6y ago
    Are we going to get another COVID?
    - 0xdeadb00f 6y ago
      Another outbreak is possible, possibly meaning more quarantine.
- 0xdeadb00f 6y ago
  That doesn't make it easier for me to date at all. For one, I probably don't live where this guy lives - the quarantine timeframe has been different everywhere.
jehb 6y ago
One common thing I've noticed from working in web publishing for the past couple of decades is that design is often created to serve the frequent homepage reader who is familiar with your publication, not the first-time entrant who came in via an individual page. The unstated assumption is that you will start on the homepage, and navigate from there to the article you want to read. Leaving the year off of the article isn't an anti-pattern to them because it should be clear that it's recent from the fact that you found it on their homepage. Never mind that this rarely matches with reality. Even with pretty comprehensive web analytics to show actual usage patterns, it's common for site developers, designers, and publishers to make decisions based on this unconscious bias.
falcolas 6y ago
For something like this, which does not include time-sensitive material, why does a date matter? This is as close to timeless content as you’re like to find WRT a Raspberry Pi case project.
simonebrunozzi 6y ago
Here's a great feature for a browser add-on - perhaps something that takes a look at the Wayback Machine, or google cache, or something, and gives you a little hint in one of the page corners that tells you when was the last time this page has been updated, or when it was created in the first place.
blisterpeanuts 6y ago
It says "Aug 25" in grayish letters under the image.
back7co 6y ago
This is good feedback, thank you. I'll add the date at the top of the article in the article text from now on, and should be able to go back and update old articles. As for whitespace, it's the CMS and template. I am able to create projects like these because I can leverage a CMS (Squarespace here). My projects usually get picked up/noticed when they are live, no one usually looks at my older stuff. Cheers!
stiglitz 6y ago
Many research papers are undated too. It’s aggravating, but I can see why authors do it (especially for any blogs with ad revenue attached).

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

jasode 6y ago

>I absolutely hate it when a blog doesn't have a date or has incomplete dates. When was this posted? Depending on the CMS authoring tool used, sometimes the raw HTML ("View Source") has meta info of the timestamp. In this particular case, the raw html has this: <meta itemprop="datePublished" content="2020-08-25T18:00:00-0700"/> Obviously, any meta timestamp is self-reported so you have to judge if it's a legitimate date (e.g. possibly cross-reference with archive on Wayback Machine, etc.). The web landing page also shows "Aug 25" in light gray underneath this story's photo: https://back7.co/ https://back7.co/

gruturo 6y ago
Also it features a Pi 4 so it can't be older than June 2019. (but yes, I do share your frustration and sometimes spend more time looking for ANY date than reading an article...)

leoedin 6y ago

I agree with you in general. In this case, though, the article talks about "a few months over the quarantine" and "including a 3 month break due to life and COVID impacts". That makes it pretty easy to date!

mrunkel 6y ago
But it won't in four years.
- dubcanada 6y ago
  Are we going to get another COVID?
  - 0xdeadb00f 6y ago
    Another outbreak is possible, possibly meaning more quarantine.
0xdeadb00f 6y ago
That doesn't make it easier for me to date at all. For one, I probably don't live where this guy lives - the quarantine timeframe has been different everywhere.

jehb 6y ago

One common thing I've noticed from working in web publishing for the past couple of decades is that design is often created to serve the frequent homepage reader who is familiar with your publication, not the first-time entrant who came in via an individual page. The unstated assumption is that you will start on the homepage, and navigate from there to the article you want to read. Leaving the year off of the article isn't an anti-pattern to them because it should be clear that it's recent from the fact that you found it on their homepage. Never mind that this rarely matches with reality. Even with pretty comprehensive web analytics to show actual usage patterns, it's common for site developers, designers, and publishers to make decisions based on this unconscious bias.

falcolas 6y ago

For something like this, which does not include time-sensitive material, why does a date matter? This is as close to timeless content as you’re like to find WRT a Raspberry Pi case project.

simonebrunozzi 6y ago

Here's a great feature for a browser add-on - perhaps something that takes a look at the Wayback Machine, or google cache, or something, and gives you a little hint in one of the page corners that tells you when was the last time this page has been updated, or when it was created in the first place.

blisterpeanuts 6y ago

It says "Aug 25" in grayish letters under the image.

back7co 6y ago

This is good feedback, thank you. I'll add the date at the top of the article in the article text from now on, and should be able to go back and update old articles. As for whitespace, it's the CMS and template. I am able to create projects like these because I can leverage a CMS (Squarespace here). My projects usually get picked up/noticed when they are live, no one usually looks at my older stuff. Cheers!

stiglitz 6y ago

Many research papers are undated too. It’s aggravating, but I can see why authors do it (especially for any blogs with ad revenue attached).