"5 hours ago"? huh?

[wje_lf]

I'm looking at a thread in another forum on this site. The entries are listed with the following "times":

1. 6 hours ago
2. 5 hours ago
3. 5 hours ago
4. 5 hours ago
5. 5 hours ago
6. 5 hours ago
7. 4 hours ago

You've dumbed it down, and we lose precision. Why not just put the date and time? That way, even as the thread ages a bit, we can figure out how much time elapsed between one post and the next.

We can figure it out. Math isn't hard.

It's like idiot lights instead of gauges on dashboards. *grumble grumble*

[oz]

Hi, wje_lf

This matter has been under discussion for several weeks in the admin forum.

Thanks for the feedback.

[jayd512]

I've never minded the timing format here. I don't see a reason to know that something was posted at 3:17 pm... just so long as I know it's around 2 hours old. Or 2 days. Is there really a need to overhaul this, just for the sake of a little unnecessary precision?

[MatthewGx]

jayd512, don't worry, we won't I'm kind of in the same boat with you.

"That way, even as the thread ages a bit, we can figure out how much time elapsed between one post and the next." - if the thread ages a bit, then how important is it really to know the exact time?

If a few people could provide a few good reasons to change this, we're open to ideas... otherwise, it seems like changing it back and calculating the time ourselves is an unnecessary step we can remove. Thoughts?

[TTIO]

What's wrong with putting both? eg. "Posted at 3:17 - 4 hours ago"

[MatthewGx]

Although I don't think that's doable without some vBulletin hacking, it probably is doable. However, we'd need a good reason to do this because I still don't see one. If this is mainly about old postings, does it really matter whether something was posted 4 months ago versus 4 months ago, 10 days, and 3 hours?

[wje_lf]

I can see two valid objections to this idea.

1. It takes a lot of effort (i.e., money) to implement.
2. The change would confuse or disorient people.

I have no reply to the first one. Youse guys are the deciders. :)

To the second one: just make it configurable. If people do not change their configuration, the default is to make it behave just as it does now.

But a completely invalid objection is: why would someone want this?

Different people have different styles of working. I'm used to seeing timestamps. All this "x hours ago" stuff disorients me, seems to patronize me (though I know that's not your intent), and makes me feel I've stumbled into a kindergarten class.

Further, these forums aren't just about technical advice. It's technical advice delivered with just the right human spin. How much time should I invest in an answer? If I'm going to advise someone (perhaps after a half dozen posts in a thread) that he should go elsewhere for help (perhaps to google), how can I word it for maximum effectiveness, balanced against the right amount of courtesy? The rhythm of the previous posts can help determine that.

But no, it's dumbed down.

idiot lights grumble grumble

[Jonathan183]

Choice is good ... so if it can be done for reasonable effort

Personally I don't care on time of day/day of week etc after a week or so, but this is personal taste ... bit like which distro is best

[MatthewGx]

Ok, fair enough... I'm a fan of choice. Currently, this is only configurable on a global level. Let me see what I can do to make it on a user level. Thanks for the idea! I'll keep you updated.

[TTIO]

Sounds good