Don't show backdated entries on Latest Things

[katherine]

Title:
Don't show backdated entries on Latest Things

Area:
entries, latest things

Summary:
Don't show backdated entries in Latest Things.

Description:
So far as I can tell, posting an entry backdated means it doesn't show up on reading lists, but it does still show up on latest things, arranged by when posted, not by the date and time set in the backdating. This doesn't seem consistent to me.

I have no idea of the technical reasons or difficulties, I admit!

Poll #5180 Don't show backdated entries on Latest Things

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 58

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This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
46 (79.3%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
1 (1.7%)

(I have no opinion)
11 (19.0%)

(Other: please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[matgb]

I rarely backdate a post, and when I do it's either because it's a new sticky post, or because I'm doing something with code that I need to test but need a public post (most recently, figuring out some CSS to display a message to logged out users only).

Those posts are of little to no relevence and I'd not want to see such things lon latest, if someone backdates they do so for some sort of reason, not wanting it on Reading pages, normally becausre it's a clutter post, is valid. I'd just assumed latest things wouldn't pick up something I backdated to 1999, and I suspect those that use the feature had done likewise.

[marahmarie]

Yeah, the whole backdating thing isn't applicable to me, either, since I never use it - at least, not anymore.

I used to use it it under just two circumstances on LJ; 1) when I was manually restoring a deleted journal, or 2) when I was manually restoring a deleted post (oh, and I used to use it for Sticky Posts, too, but I don't use Stickys anymore, so that's no longer an excuse to break out the backdating).

I don't like to delete comments, so when comments would get too out-of-control (admittedly I'm too hot-headed to be a good ringmaster under those circumstances), I was more comfortable just deleting the post they were attached to, then restoring the post after whatever brouhaha occurred finally calmed down. Comments? Automatically gone, forever.

Otherwise, backdating is not a "feature" I touch. If I don't want a post on the Latest Things page, I know I can just make it private, access-list, or subscriber-list only, then change the security just five minutes later and it will never display on Latest Things. Which is a good thing to know. :)

I also know that if I'm really worried about not wanting a post to show up on the Latest Things page, all I have to do is lock the post down to one of the security levels mentioned in the last paragraph.

Given that, I don't see why people expect backdating to eliminate Latest Things display of their posts when backdating was not designed to stop that - it was designed to backdate things, period.