Hiding Dates on Blogs?

[navjotjsingh]

Recently it seems a new trend has emerged to hide dates on blog posts. Most of the blogs I see hide dates on the front page. Some hide it everywhere from first page, category, archives and even single post pages. But sometimes due to comment time, it can be judged...and some odd ones have even removed dates from comments.

Does it help in any case? How well would you justify the hiding of dates in a blog?

[ap4a]

It's a waste of time in my opinion. If the content is useful it'll be useful no matter. If it isn't useful then the date won't help the article. And, in fact, having the date can help place content into context. I have a couple of articles on my site that are considered quite useful and are linked through from universities but while the theory behind the content is still relevant and useful, the actual methods discussed aren't as relevant any longer. Hiding the date on those to make them seem fresh and up to date would have the adverse effect of making it look like I was currently advocating out moded methods when I'm not.

[Indyan]

I dont really find the need to do it. 9rules requires all their blogs to display dates.

[akira07]

hide dates on my blog? i not and never do it, because i have no reason. Besidely, if i hide the date, how can my visitor know which is update/new article and which is the old one?

[sarahG]

I've done it on some sites and not on others. It depends on the relevancy and also how often the site is updated. On my own blog sites the dates serve a purpose so that people can see when something was posted (plus it's in the URL too anyway).

However, on some client sites, especially those who don't actually update their blog which powers the news and events section, I've removed the date as it makes the site look unused / not updated, which isn't good for a professional image. I also run a site selling templates and eBooks on osCommerce and have a handful of posts on there. As I don't have much to say about it a lot of the time my posts are infrequent however I don't want people to come to the site and think it's abandoned and so then they don't spend money, so I've removed the dates.

So for blogs, no there's no post. For business sites that are not frequently updated, then it can be a better idea.

I remember someone once posting in a separate forum and made a comment about a particular site and said it must be abandoned. Their reasoning behind this? Because it was December and the site didn't have 'Christmas decorations' on it. An unbelievable reason as decorations on a site are usually pretty tacky (some can be done tastefully but most are just tacky backgrounds and flashing lights!), and most professional sites wouldn't change their design just for Christmas anyway! It's still something that stuck in my mind though. If you're selling something and your site looks abandoned then potential buyers will have less faith in buying from it.

[Rarst]

I don't really care about (not)displaying dates. I only dislike when they are included in URLs - makes them cluttered.

I think it's minor issue not worth deep thinking. :) Just pick a policy and stick to it. Some people who can't decide either use coded dates that disappear for old posts.

[sarahG]

I don't really care about (not)displaying dates. I only dislike when they are included in URLs - makes them cluttered.

I don't think they look cluttered. It's definitely easier to instantly see when a post was published with a date in the URL. However, to be honest I wish I'd used /category-name/post-name/ instead now. I didn't realise I could do this until I'd published around 400 posts so I won't be changing now. But all new sites I set up use this format.

[Indyan]

You can always change it. Just set up a 301 redirect. That way you would hold on to your serp as well as traffic. There are quite a few wpress plugins to implement this.

[sarahG]

There probably is a plugin that can do the job but I've not had the time to look for one that does the job right/well. And setting up 750+ redirects now doesn't sound appealing!

[Kevin]

I think it's important for any blog which is updated frequently and often to include the date. The only real benefit of removing the date is if content is only added every few months or whatever which might give a bad impression of the site (ie. that it's been left to rot).

[Jeffro]

I sincerely hate any website that doesn't in some form or fashion display a timestamp of when a particular piece of information was published. Again, it deals with relevancy but I also don't want to share that information with others if I know it can be out of date. Who wants to look like an noob when sharing information only to have your friends tell you that the information is 2 years old :(

Also, if I can't find out if your news story or opinion is date relevant to the story at hand, you won't find me linking to your content.

[athlon24]

It really depends in the kind of blog if it needs to put the date of not. for a news site, of course, you need to put the date but for something that gives timeless information I think we can discard the date. Now that it's been said I'll rip off the dating in one of my blog (http://pleasantreveries.co.cc) as I found that piece of information useless and are detrimental.

But in monetizing, your blog will not be approved by advertisers such as TLA if your blog doesn't have a date.

[navjotjsingh]

There probably is a plugin that can do the job but I've not had the time to look for one that does the job right/well. And setting up 750+ redirects now doesn't sound appealing!

You don't need 750+ redirects manually. Just use Platinum SEO Plugin instead of All in One SEO, check the option of auto 301 redirect and then change the permalink structure. And all redirects will be made automatically.

Platinum SEO Plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/platinum-seo-pack/

[sarahG]

You don't need 750+ redirects manually. Just use Platinum SEO Plugin instead of All in One SEO, check the option of auto 301 redirect and then change the permalink structure. And all redirects will be made automatically.

Platinum SEO Plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/platinum-seo-pack/

I said there'd be a plugin ;) I doubt I'll do it on my main site though as I think the dates there are relevant, but a couple of other smaller sites would benefit I think. I don't use the All in One SEO pack on blogs, I don't see the point. However, cheers for the link, one day when I have the time I'll try it out on a smaller site :)

[wahmsuzanne]

I think it's important for any blog which is updated frequently and often to include the date. The only real benefit of removing the date is if content is only added every few months or whatever which might give a bad impression of the site (ie. that it's been left to rot).

Pretty much exactly what I was going to say ... or for some content where the date would never be an issue ... my son has a corn snake blog and he doesn't update very often right now ... but the corn snakes basics and caring for them is not going to change with time ... so I think it would be OK to leave the dates off ... *SmiLes* Suzanne

[athlon24]

corn snakes? your son has a corn snake pet? that's eerie cool. Hmm, blog tips are also boundless in time, maybe it is possible to put up one without dates.