Putting dates on content is a request I get about 3 times a year. Usually in a rant form, along the lines of “I can’t use your stupid !@#$%^ website because you don’t include dates!” But how true is this? Are dates on content really that critical? (Note: most of the time, these comments come on blog posts on my site which have dates on them.)
The Benefits of Dates on Content
Readers who want dates on content have a point. There are some benefits to putting dates on content.
- Citations require dates
- Dates give you an idea of how useful (and accurate) the content will be
- Dates show how active the site is
But are these really benefits? Let’s Look at all of them.
Citations Require Dates
It’s true that citations are required for some term papers and other writings. But most current style manuals acknowledge that not all websites display dates and that the website might change between when the page was viewed by the student and when the paper was reviewed. The APA style even specifies to write “n. d.” (no date) when no date is available.
If your instructor has indicated that they will not accept website references without publication dates, I will happily provide you with both the date that my articles were first published and another web page on my site that shows those dates. Asking nicely, and several days before your paper is due is more effective than email like above.
Dates Indicate the Usefulness and Accuracy of Content
Many people feel that seeing a current date on an article indicates that it is up-to-date and more accurate than an article that has no date. But a large amount of content on the web is what is called “evergreen.” This means that the content really has no expiration date, it is accurate and useful whether it was written today or 10 years ago today.
For example, the very first article I ever wrote: Perfect HTML — Painlessly was published on October 27, 1997. If you were looking for information about HTML validators and you saw the date on that article, you would probably think “1997!?! That article is old! It must be out-of-date!” But in reality, it is still a perfectly accurate and useful article. The same is true for my other articles.
If I put a date on my articles, I would lose readers. They would leave because they would think that the vast majority of my articles were out-of-date and therefore inaccurate. I have been writing about HTML and web design for About.com since 1997, and most of my oldest articles are still useful, accurate and read by my readers. When an article becomes inaccurate I replace it with a new, correct article, or I explain that this article is out of date.
For example, I wrote an article in January 2000 called Using Tables to Do Page Layout. At the time, this was one of the easiest and most consistent ways to do page layout on the web. But now, this method has been replaced by CSS. Since some people still want to know how to build page layouts with tables (for HTML email perhaps?) I have left the article up, but the first sentence tells them that this article is older and shouldn’t be used.
In my experience, dated content gives readers a false sense of security. Just because an article has a current date on it, that doesn’t mean that the author didn’t make an error. Undated content lets the readers decide without being biased by the date. But it becomes imperative that the owner of that content keep it up-to-date. I try to review all my evergreen content on a regular basis to remove bad links, fix small inaccuracies that might have crept in, and just keep the writing fresh. And if you find a page that needs my attention, I am always happy to receive your email so I know what to get fixed.
Dates Show How Active a Site Is
While it is true that a site that has a lot of dated content showing that they add new articles every day is clearly very active. But that can be shown without using dates on every article as well. For example, my site has a page of the updated articles that is automatically generated every night. This page includes the creation and update dates of every article I’ve worked on recently. I also maintain a blog that is updated daily and includes dates. Plus, if you’re familiar with my site you will see things change that tells you I’m still here and maintaining the site.
In fact, most people notice that a site has or has not changed from memory before they begin looking for dates. Dates only become useful when you realize that a site hasn’t changed in a long time. Then when you see a date from 2-3 months ago or longer, you can tell that it’s probably time to remove that site from your reading list.
Dates are Useful on Some Websites But Should Not Be Displayed on All
There are definitely sites and pages where dates are critical. Product reviews are helped by dates because they tell you if the review is of the current product or an older version. Medical sites should contain dates in content so that patients aren’t relying on information from years ago that has been disproven. Event listings should include dates so that you don’t show up for a concert that was over two years ago.
But dates shouldn’t be displayed on sites with content that doesn’t go “bad”. Instead, web content owners should focus on keeping their content well maintained so that older pages remain current and useful many many years after they were first written.
