Should I remove date from my blog posts? - I often get asked.
Getting rid of the date and time from a blog post is in the thought of most bloggers today. Now let’s get to this question with 2 more questions.
- While a ‘blog’, by definition contains posts or updates that are published in a chronological order, if the content is timeless then what is the point in using date and time?
- On the other hand, what if we just leave the date and time of the posts as such, even though the content of a blog are timeless (aka evergreen)?
What is timeless or evergreen content?
Evergreen content is something that is always useful and applicable, no matter when it is read. Say for instance you read a blog post that gives you tips on how to be productive. Depending upon the kind of the tip shared, the same post can be evergreen or otherwise.
If the post shares tips on how to avoid distraction and how to be determined in order to be productive, then no matter if the post is read today or 2 years from now, the information is still valid.
But if the same blog post points out some kind of software or an app that helps you to stay productive, that particular app may be outdated in 2 years from now!
The debate of removing date from blog posts
Opinions are varied as to why one should or should not remove the date from a blog post.
Some readers may be turned off to read a blog post and couldn’t figure out when it was written. However, if the piece of information or the content in the post is regardless of time and is applicable at all times, then it is OK to remove the date and time from a blog post.
If the content is not timeless (say news, or reviews about latest digital products etc.), then for sure, you can not think about removing the date.
So why worry about removing date from blog posts?
There are reasons.
- Sometimes it is hard to get people to comment or get involved in posts which are dated back, that is older posts.
- People sometimes think before giving link-backs or mentions to older posts.
- Older posts are less sexier as compared to fresh content. I know that there are people who start reading a blog post after seeing the date and time stamp and confirming that the content is fresh.
So .. on to removing the date from a blog post…
How to remove date from blog posts (WordPress)
Go to your WordPress dashboard and click on Appearance > Editor. Open the single.php (Single Post) file.
You might want to have a back up of the file if something goes wrong, just in case. So just copy the content of the file and save it in a text or word document in your computer.
Then look for this line of code
<?php the_time('F j, Y'); ?>
and remove it.
This step will remove the time stamp from single posts (since the file is single.php). If you want to remove the date as well, check for
<?php the date();?>
and remove it.
If you want to remove the date from the main page as well, you need to do the same in index.php file.
Alternatively, you might just let WordPress take care of it by installing the Date Exclusion SEO plugin (but the plugin hasn’t been updated for a while now!)
Just click on ‘Add New’ on the ‘Plugins’ tab on the left sidebar of your WordPress dashboard. Search for the Date Exclusion SEO plugin and install and activate it.
What can Date Exclusion SEO plugin do for you?
You can remove dates from the front page, the tag pages, the category page and all, aged, or explicit posts.
How to use this plugin? Well, you will have to play with the parameters basically and here are the meanings of the same:
- Remove Dates From Posts – removes date from all single post pages regardless
- Remove Dates from Tag Pages – removes date from tag pages
- Remove Dates from Category Pages – removes date from category pages
- Remove Dates from Front Page – removes date from front page
- Number of Days to Expiry – number of days to expire for single post page
- turn off specific posts by comma delimited list of post ids
- (Optional) add alternative text to replace date functions
- (Optional) Turn off each date function depending on theme
Is removing the date from blog posts ethical?
Well, at the time of writing this post I have removed the date and time stamp of blog posts on this blog. But I’ve always had this question at the back of my mind.
I feel as if I’m doing something wrong. Even though I am *tempted* to think that all my blog’s content is evergreen, in reality it is not so.
Sure some of the pillar content could be evergreen - but certainly not all of the information is evergreen.
If I want to make sure that my readers get up to-date information without having to worry about the date and time, I have to go back and edit all the old posts now and then, to keep them fresh.
But that is not realistic and is not practically possible as well!
For instance, if I’m talking about search engine optimization in any of my posts, I cannot be sure that the information is still applicable in a month from now - there is so much going on in the SEO world.
I cannot write a detailed post about link building today and hope that the information will still be applicable in a year from now - it certainly won’t be - coz things change so fast.
On top of it, if I remove the date from that particular link building post, a reader who reads the post a year later will not know that the post is old. He/she might try out the wrong technique and if the tip I shared was something like getting links from link networks, the reader could get penalized for implementing an outdated SEO technique.
And I would be solely responsible for it (of course, I expect the reader to do due diligence - but from my point of view I am responsible for spreading out dated and dangerous information).
Some of the leading blogs I know have disabled showing dates on blog posts. Are they doing something wrong? I won’t comment coz every blogger might have his/her views on the topic.
What’s the matter with the date in the blog post?
When we talk about whether its ethical or not, we need to take a bit closer look. Now, disabling or removing the date from the blog post is not a clever way to cheat search engines.
Many bloggers do this thinking so - they think just by removing the date, the search engines won’t know the publish date of the post and hence will consider the content to be fresh.
But search engines are quite smarter and know the publish date of a particular post even if you remove the date from blog posts.
But wait a second, its not really about the published post any more. It is about the last updated date.
With a blog, we have the privilege of going back to a post and update it with additional information or remove out dated information to keep the post fresh and valid - something we can’t do in print books.
So in my opinion, all that matters is not the publish date but the updated date of a post.
If you happen to update your blog post a year after its publish date, all that matters now is the updated date. Hence I find that displaying the post’s last updated date is more relevant and useful.
1. There is no point in displaying the post’s original publish date when the post has been updated very recently.
2. If there is no published date and no last updated date displayed, there is no way a reader could verify if the information is valid on the day they’re reading it.
Here’s a visual summary:
If you liked this presentation, feel free to embed it on your blog by using the code below!
So I’ve now decided to show the “last updated date” on the post - this is a win-win for me and the reader.
The reader gets to know if the information they read is still valid or not. And if I put effort into a post by updating it to add more relevant and timely information, I get to show that too!
Let’s see how this goes. I invite your discussion on removing date from blog posts.
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I’m using wp-soul theme. I am unable to remove from index page.
Thanks for the tutorial Jane, just removed the time stamp from my blog. A tech blog covering long lasting content should definitely remove time stamps, whereas Gadgets Blog it’s the first thing.
That’s right Amit. Gadgets are surely timely content.
Wish I could edit my above comment
No worries
Useful plugin, thanks for this awesome post.
You’re welcome Bharat.
I just removed the timestamps on my blog, I got a bit sick of seeing the dates all the time. I decided to leave the dates on the comments though.. So far a bit of an improvement overall..
I always find the date a distracting part of reading a post so having it removed should be a relief for others as well..
Hey Timon, opinion differs
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Awesome post, i like the plugin. thanks
You’re welcome Nitin.
Most readers visiting a site will be interested in knowing whether the site is updated or not.That is where the date of the post starts looking good..However there are a lot of sites which are doing well without date,time stamps…In the end it all depends upon the audience of the site..News related sites have little choice in this debate.
agree with you….
infact such a bold step shud b taken only when we are sure of our readers….
some people get discouraged by this prospect of no dates….
inability to see dates deters many readers…..so the decision should be taken based on typical debating within oneself………….
Very interesting results! My initial instinct is that I like dates on posts, but your findings make sense. Great info for all bloggers to keep in mind!
I found your point interesting to show last updated date rather than showing old dates or completely hiding it..
Yup I’m trying this out. Let’s see how this goes!
I don’t think one should be removing the time stamp from posts even if the content is evergreen. I can’t say exactly why, but sometimes I am searching the date when the post were published.
And surprisingly, I don’t see a timestamp on many of the blogs.
I’m with you Abhi. Whenever I read a particular strategy or a solution type post, I want to know if its still valid now.
Articles without dates when it was posted? I think this is only applicable if you are writing a book where dates are not important. For a blog, I think readers should know when a post was submitted. I always check the date of the posts I read because they may not be applicable if they are very old. Things change, you know.
Even for books, we always look at the published date or the revised date - just to make sure if the information is up-to-date. So for blog posts, I guess that’s how we prefer it!
Interesting post and debate, when I visit a post I have to admit I usually look for the date stamp first. I do end up reading the post but I tend to like to know when the post was published or updated. I’m in two minds about removing time stamp on my blog, though I do have an extremely large amount of evergreen content too. Might be something I consider doing in the future, and now at least I know how to, so thanks Jane
You’re very welcome Fabrizio
First let me say thank you for the tutorial on how to remove date and time from a blog post
Thanks
Now let me contribute my own understanding: Imaging you buy a news paper that has no date and time of publication, how can you read or enjoy what you’re reading? Do you know why they say something is evergreen? because of the date it was published and how intresting the article is. you can have a poem that was written is 1975 and read it today and it’ll still sound fresh and if you check the back of the publication, you’ll see the published date of that poem.
Removing date and time is not a wise choice to do and to me, it remove the value the post or blog is supposed to get or have. Hope i said it clear enough
Babanature recently posted..My Top 5 Video Editing and Screen Caption tools For Bloggers
Thanks for your wonderful insight Baba
So true!
I have actually been wrestling with myself on whether I should turn the dates off. I used to do it but then I turned it on because I began writing posts on specific dated events. I’m so indecisive! lol.
That makes the two of us Leon!
Hi Jane, Very nice article and Now I fully understand why date is important and also about the last updated date. But as you spotted 2 examples 1.) About the seo technique which is 1year old, in this case the last updated date makes sense 2.) if you writing a review on product or simply an ebook then it won’t matter a lot, How about when you writing about features particularly this post wherein you talk about date/time feature of wordpress and it doesn’t falls in either of 1.) oudated techinque or 2.) product review than what is the best case ?
Riya, even this post is not evergreen. The plugin I’ve mentioned might go off the directory (just saying) or there could be a better plugin which could do the job much more effectively. Or who knows may be WordPress could roll out an update with the option to hide date from blog posts and pages
Anything can change, right?
Well, agree anything can change, but what i asked was for this blog post which talks about removing date, as this post neither falls under any technique nor a product review so if we define cases then
Case A : For any technique which is revised, You must update the post and provide last updated date
Case B : For any product or book review, if dates isn’t provided , works fine
Case C : ??? For example this particular post, its neither case a or case b
So what is your suggestion ? So i want to understand post as this one which doesn’t falls under any technique or review must follow which practice Case A) to show last updated date or Case B) its fine to remove date , Please suggest
Hi Jane, great post! Actually I recently thought about this in depth as I returned back to blogging more regularly and what I’ve noticed after awhile is yes, you want your posts to be evergreen, but there’s something about transparency and validity which comes with branding.
Hence, it’s very important that your readers don’t perceive you as someone trying to trick them. So I decided to put the date back on the posts and remove it instead from the comments.
I think this allows more intermediate bloggers to gauge how recent the content is and really, comments are optional. However, if given is always appreciated.
What are your thoughts on this?
I had the same question regarding whether removing date from my posts is ethical. I also struggle to determine if a post is evergreen (or timeless enough) to be posted without a date.
Although I adore your view (and will most likely rethink my decision after this) I decided to put the dates back just so visitors can tell how recent the posts are. You really give me a lot to think about, Jane
This is a tough one. When I am reading another blog and notice the post is from a few years ago my brain instantly tells me the information is probably not relevant anymore. However, if the date wasn’t there it is up to me to decide on my own. Ideally, I would like to know but I certainly see not displaying it being a huge benefit on your own blog. People will be less inclined to read or interact with a post that is dated. I have considered removing the date as well and will probably revisit this decision.
removing the date from your article or post helps a lot Firstly, it makes the post evergreen and more importantly, the readers find it good to give a feedback whenever they read it.
Thanks for providing best way to removing date from the blog posts. It is the most important due to increase your number of click on the search engine results page.
I found this post very interesting. On some of my blogs, I remove the date, because it is not so relevant. For example, I have a blog where I review toys. On that particular site, the date/time stamp does not matter so much. My opinion on a particular toy will not usually change. I may, however, amend a post to include a link to the new review if an updated version of the item is released.
When you’re talking about marketing strategies online, the date may be more of a concern. I do find myself checking dates for those types of posts. I guess it all depends on the type of content you’re posting.
you have given light to the problem precisely….
I think removing or not removing the date depends on the matter of your blog after all……
When it comes to a news blog or something that deals with exclusive matter time stamp is important, but for tips related blogs no need of time stamps I think. Will try out the plugin you mentioned above.
It’s interesting to see this topic getting so much attention lately. WP Beginner wrote a similar post not that long ago that also generated a lot of interest. Ultimately, I agree that the last updated date is most helpful for users.
it is easy to remove the date and time (after reading your post),but i think if a blog have tech news as well as blogging tips then date should not be removed from there.
Love your suggestions, Jane, and will be definitely implementing it at Traffic Generation Café.
This blog post has been quite interesting to me as I’ve been wondering whether to remove the date from my blog’s posts.
I think removing the date is going to be a decision that depends on the blog themselves. If the content doesn’t age then it could be removed. However if the blog contains guides or tutorials, keeping the date would be a good idea so readers could work out for themselves if the guide is relevant today or now out of date. When I’m looking for tutorials online, the first things I look for is a date so I know if the guide is up to date or not.
For times though, almost universally I thinm they can be removed. Knowing the exact time a post was published is not going to be useful to most readers. The only people who would find them useful I imagine would be blog readers who post 3 or 4 times a day.