[theme-reviewers] Pages: date/time stamp should not be displayed?!

Thu May 16 16:52:58 UTC 2013

I think, with respect to Static Pages, "static" also refers to "not
time-dependent". Time is irrelevant to the Static Page and its content.

Consider a static-content HTML site converted to WordPress - such as what
people refer to when using that heinous, cringe-worthy phrase, "using
WordPress as a CMS" - that static content exists outside of any sort of
time reference. Publish date is irrelevant for Static Page content.

On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 12:46 PM, Edward Caissie
<edward.caissie at gmail.com>wrote:

> No timestamp means no fixed position means not static ...
>
> Edward Caissie
> aka Cais.
>
>
> On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 12:46 PM, Edward Caissie <edward.caissie at gmail.com
> > wrote:
>
>> A published timestamp fixes the page to a point in time, thus making it
>> truly static.
>>
>> Edward Caissie
>> aka Cais.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 12:44 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>wrote:
>>
>>> Let's look at this another way: what would be the point/benefit of
>>> displaying the *publish* date/time on a Static Page?
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 12:43 PM, Edward Caissie <
>>> edward.caissie at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> My bad for not "noticing" it before now ... but that does not change
>>>> the point that it should not be in the guidelines; or the point that there
>>>> are most likely quite a few themes that should not be in the repository
>>>> based solely on that guideline as well.
>>>>
>>>> The point of something being static requires it to be fixed to a
>>>> certain place or time thus having a timestamp is more likely to indicate
>>>> the page to be static than to not have a timestamp. Having a guideline that
>>>> dictates no fixed location, as in time, seems more counter-intuitive than
>>>> useful.
>>>>
>>>> Edward Caissie
>>>> aka Cais.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 12:37 PM, Amy Hendrix <sabreuse at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> (this is becoming a bad habit!) My bad -- that wasn't the original
>>>>> version, just the oldest revision on the first page of history (D'OH!)
>>>>> but my point is that the no timestamps guideline has been around for
>>>>> several years now.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 12:33 PM, Amy Hendrix <sabreuse at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> > Sorry to follow up to my own email, but the first version of the Unit
>>>>> > Test codex page at
>>>>> >
>>>>> http://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Theme_Unit_Test&oldid=91985
>>>>> > has "Make sure datestamps or timestamps are not visible." in 2010 --
>>>>> > as authored by Cais ;)
>>>>> >
>>>>> > On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 12:28 PM, Amy Hendrix <sabreuse at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >> The guideline that Posts should display timestamps but Pages should
>>>>> >> not has been around for as long as I've been using the Theme Unit
>>>>> Test
>>>>> >> -- I completely agree that stale information on posts is always an
>>>>> >> issue, but IME the norm for just about all the users I deal with is
>>>>> >> that static pages should be seen as static, not time-dependent.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 12:21 PM, Emil Uzelac <emil at uzelac.me>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> >>> I did not have time to check latest version yet, however I do agree
>>>>> >>> that timestamp should be displayed and not dictated if that is the
>>>>> case.
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 11:13 AM, Edward Caissie <
>>>>> edward.caissie at gmail.com>
>>>>> >>> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> I was just reviewing the latest Theme Unit Test data (mostly
>>>>> because I
>>>>> >>>> cannot seem to get the entire data set to import into my local
>>>>> test
>>>>> >>>> environment) and noticed "date/time stamp should not be
>>>>> displayed" ...
>>>>> >>>> perhaps I missed some extensive discussion but where did this
>>>>> guideline come
>>>>> >>>> from?
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> This is the single most common complaint about information found
>>>>> on
>>>>> >>>> WordPress installations that I hear, the reader generally has no
>>>>> idea if the
>>>>> >>>> information is current or stale ... and more often than not those
>>>>> search
>>>>> >>>> results that appear to rank highest tend also to be the ones that
>>>>> are
>>>>> >>>> outdated.
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> I can see the category/tag meta data not being displayed (mostly
>>>>> due to it
>>>>> >>>> not being available in a default installation) but to not show
>>>>> the timestamp
>>>>> >>>> by reason of it being a guideline, that simply does not make
>>>>> sense.
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> By design? Yes. By theme author prerogative? Yes. Dictated by the
>>>>> WPTRT?
>>>>> >>>> NO.
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> Edward Caissie
>>>>> >>>> aka Cais.
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> >>>> theme-reviewers mailing list
>>>>> >>>> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>>>>> >>>> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>> >>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
>
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