Display exact date of older posts

[clever]

Each post lists the date when it was posted. But older posts say something like "3 weeks ago" rather than the precise date. Is there any way to change this to show the exact date?

This would help get a little more context when reading or searching after I haven't been around here for a few weeks. Actually, what I'd really like is a way for the forum software to display both the date and the age, e.g. 7/11/07 (2 weeks ago).

Can I do this somehow?

[kanem]

I also would like to be able to see the exact date of posts. Could one of the admins please say if this is possible or not?

[p_quarles]

This was implemented a long time ago, and the (very old) post to which you replied shows the date. Age switches to calendar time after it exceeds 4 weeks old.

[kanem]

This was implemented a long time ago, and the (very old) post to which you replied shows the date. Age switches to calendar time after it exceeds 4 weeks old.
Yes, I noticed that. But I need to know the exact date of a post which is less than 4 weeks old, so the question still stands.

[LaRoza]

Yes, I noticed that. But I need to know the exact date of a post which is less than 4 weeks old, so the question still stands.

Wait until it is four weeks?

[kanem]

Wait until it is four weeks?
Is that a joke? Well I guess these responses mean that it's not possible (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Seriously, there have been several times I've wanted to see the date (and time) of a fairly recent post. This is just the first time that I've needed it enough to post about it.

If it is indeed the case that changing these vague descriptions of post dates to more exact times is not possible, then I'll just leave off by voicing my displeasure that potentially useful information would be purposefully disregarded in favour of fuzzy math. I'd like to know the thought process of whomever decided on this system. Are people intimidated by exact dates and times? Is "2 weeks ago" supposed to have a more conversational tone to it? Are we just trying to be different from every other forum out there? :confused:

[LaRoza]

Is that a joke? Well I guess these responses mean that it's not possible (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Seriously, there have been several times I've wanted to see the date (and time) of a fairly recent post. This is just the first time that I've needed it enough to post about it.

If it is indeed the case that changing these vague descriptions of post dates to more exact times is not possible, then I'll just leave off by voicing my displeasure that potentially useful information would be purposefully disregarded in favour of fuzzy math. I'd like to know the thought process of whomever decided on this system. Are people intimidated by exact dates and times? Is "2 weeks ago" supposed to have a more conversational tone to it? Are we just trying to be different from every other forum out there? :confused:

Yeah, sorry it was a joke. I do not know of a way to do what you want exactly. I do think the relative times for recent posts is a good scheme though.

[kanem]

Yeah, sorry it was a joke. I do not know of a way to do what you want exactly. I do think the relative times for recent posts is a good scheme though.
That's okay. The part of me that was sure it was a joke thought it was funny.

Well, I give up. I don't feel like arguing with the powers that be over this.

[Joeb454]

Have you tried searching for the thread? If you posted in it maybe search your post history or something.

Just a thought :) I don't know if you already have

[kko1]

Each post lists the date when it was posted. But older posts say something like "3 weeks ago" rather than the precise date. Is there any way to change this to show the exact date?

I'd like to echo this clever request, especially to display the exact time. Exact times are good.

For comparison, the "last edited" -feature shows the exact time:
Last edited by [Insert User Name]; 17 Hours Ago at 12:49 PM. Reason: [Reason optional, could also be a whim]

(The next post, below the "edited post" doesn't include the time. So, we can't always know which is newer.)

[clever]

OP here. When I originally made the post asking about this, I was hoping that someone would point out an option in the User Control Panel that I could enable to show the exact dates. I was surprised that such an option didn't seem to be there.

Like others, I still think it would be useful to display the exact date. It could be implemented as an option in the control panel for those users who seek this behavior. I would again suggest a hybrid approach, showing both the exact date as well as the age, e.g.:

4/20/08 (1 week ago)

[notwen]

+1

I've also had a use for this in the past and would greatly appreciate it if this was brought into consideration. =]

[noremac]

Yeah, I would much prefer having exact times and dates to a post. "Days ago" or "Weeks Ago" just doesn't cut it for me personally. I don't really know why it annoys me, but it does. Guess I am used to the more popular method.

I suppose it does help keep order to more than one conversation in a single thread. Helps keep them organized and you can really see when replies were made. Seeing how long after someone posted after someone else, helps you know who the post was directed to. Anyone understand where I am coming from?

[kko1]

Yeah, I would much prefer having exact times and dates to a post. Helps keep them organized and you can really see when replies were made. Seeing how long after someone posted after someone else, helps you know who the post was directed to. Anyone understand where I am coming from?

I hear you. Context in time.

[Scunge]

I also would like exact times, in particular on the thread listing. Here's why...

When I read the forums, I get the latest topics with new posts. Now I know that those in bold are those which the system thinks has new posts. I say "thinks" because it's based on a time which is, I suspect, only updated when I log out, or after a period of inactivity, or when I do a special operation to reset it. The first two are inconvenient for normal forum browsing, and the last is prone to problems - if I do the operation as soon as I do the search, I lose the boldness, and if I do the operation after I've finished with the list of topics, it will miss those posted to in-between.

Anyway, the way I have gotten used to, on these types of forums, of knowing where I am and what I have considered reading or not, is to note the time of the latest last-post-time, i.e. of the topic at the top of the list. Then, next time I bring up the list of topics with new posts, I stop reading when I reach that time.

But the e.g. "5 hours ago" thing is just too vague. I don't really have a good idea when to stop reading back.

So I'd like to see exact last-post times, and if those are displayed, then it just makes it consistent to see exact times of all posts as well.

Edit: Unix timestamps would do the job for me as well (see next post).

[LaRoza]

We could have Unix timestamps, in fact, I'd vote for that.

[Lorelei-]

I'd definately like to see exact dates and times on posts, as it would make it a lot easier when you do searches for things because it would make it easier to pinpoint if the information is relevant to whatever distro you're running or not.

On another note related to dates and things, am I right in thinking that up until fairly recently if you viewed someone's profile it would tell you how long it was since they were last active on here? Asking because I'm sure it used to say that but it now seems to have disappeared, but I wanted to check if this was something that had changed or if it was a problem at my end.

[Oldsoldier2003]

I'd definately like to see exact dates and times on posts, as it would make it a lot easier when you do searches for things because it would make it easier to pinpoint if the information is relevant to whatever distro you're running or not.

On another note related to dates and things, am I right in thinking that up until fairly recently if you viewed someone's profile it would tell you how long it was since they were last active on here? Asking because I'm sure it used to say that but it now seems to have disappeared, but I wanted to check if this was something that had changed or if it was a problem at my end.

http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=626917

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Seems to work just fine here...

[Lorelei-]

Maybe it just doesn't work on people that aren't very active? Or if people aren't online...although I'm sure it used to display how long it was since they were last online??

Maybe its just me that it likes to hide dates from.