# Date inaccuracy in thread scroll bar **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [January 15, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565 "2021-01-15T04:31:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/1 "2021-01-15T04:31:01Z")
I was looking at the thread in Politics about the Trump impeachment inquiry, from September 2019. It got revived today. The last post date before it was revived just says “Jan 27” with no year (it was last year, 2020). Then there is a “12 months later” notation, and then the time stamps are still in the hours and minutes earlier form (i.e. from today). The scroll bar on the side says Jan 2020 instead of Jan 2021 for the last few posts, no matter how far down you scroll, even when only the last post is visible. In fact, around post 6865 the date stamp goes from Jan '20 (i.e. January 2020) to Jan 16 (i.e. January 16th). Since today is January 14th, that can’t be this year’s post – and then there’s the “12 Months Later” notation before post 7035. So the dating for this thread is out of whack. I haven’t noticed this on any other threads, but I thought someone ought to look at it and see if it is a more widespread issue than this one thread. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/2 "2021-01-16T16:04:01Z")
Would you happen to have a link to the thread you’re describing? A “thread about Trump from 2019” covers about half of 2019’s umpteen thousands of threads. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/3 "2021-01-16T16:30:55Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > the thread in Politics about the Trump impeachment inquiry, from September 2019 > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Would you happen to have a link to the thread you’re describing? A “thread about Trump from 2019” covers about half of 2019’s umpteen thousands of threads. Only one post in the thread and you can’t read or quote it accurately? Does every response have to have the snark? Here is the link to the last post in the thread. > [@The Trump Impeachment Inquiry](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/7039): > > Didn’t Al Qaeda believe they were doing the right thing? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/4 "2021-01-16T17:08:09Z")
Thanks for the reference. And yes, you’re totally right about this one being weird. As I write today is Jan 16th, and post 6893 is labeled “Jan '20” which is a year ago while 6894 is labeled “Jan 17” which is 364 days ago. So that part at least is good. As you say, the last 2020 post is 7034 which now says “Jan 28” meaning Jan 28 2020. It does seem odd to see 7034 dated “Jan 28” and then 7035 dated “Jan 14”, but that’s an artifact of them using the “MMM dd” format for anything from the last 364 days. And will only be obvious in a busy thread with posts almost every day. It seems the only anomaly is in the “Jan 2020” at the very bottom of the scroll bar. Me adding a new post here on Jan 16th 2021 didn’t update that. I’d bet that come Feb 2021 it’ll display correctly whether or not I’m still the last poster. The closer we look at some of these simplified date formatting behaviors, the wackier they are. But my conclusion is it’s a result of how they’re simplifying things for display, rather than any underlying database screwup about which post really dates from when ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/5 "2021-01-16T17:32:52Z")
If you look at the date stamps on the individual later posts from January 2020, they abruptly change from “Jan '20” which would be the appropriate designation looking backward from today and referring to the month and year, to “Jan 16” referring to the month and day, even though it was almost a year ago (as you noted). I think that is where the anomaly started, presumably a glitch in converting the dates of this thread to the new software, and one which I believe has no way to right itself now. I think it’s only a coincidence that there were no posts between January last year and January this year, as far as the year dating goes. We’ll see in February. I predict it will remain saying 2020 for the rest of this year, including any new posts that might be added. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/6 "2021-01-17T00:02:38Z")
You may well be right. It’ll be fun to watch in any case. For very nerdly debugger guru values of “fun”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/7 "2021-01-19T22:36:24Z")
Here is a visual of the problem, compare the dates: [![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/d/dedd223b1264c193968d6b22a06e675bc715db44.png) ](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/d/dedd223b1264c193968d6b22a06e675bc715db44.png) The post is [#7040](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/840771/7040) in topic “The Trump Impeachment Inquiry”. The timeline date on the right indicates that post #7040 was submitted in January of 2020, when in fact it was submitted January of 2021. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/8 "2021-01-20T01:09:21Z")
Moved to Site Feedback (from ATMB) since this is about Discourse’s software. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/9 "2021-01-20T01:17:32Z")
Interesting. My slider shows 7036 posts in that thread. I can see from the reply link that @LSLGuy’s post was indeed #7040. I presume the difference is due to an ignored poster. Also, the slider doesn’t say “Jan 2020” at all; it shows “Jan 15” (which is still wrong, but maybe right for some time zone?): [![](https://i.imgur.com/IURop3N.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/IURop3N.png) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/10 "2021-01-20T01:20:46Z")
Fascinating. Just now (20:20 Eastern on 01/19/21) I displayed that thread and I see what @Max_S posted ~3 hours ago. I do NOT see what Dr Strangelove posted just 2 minutes ago as I’m typing. On a hunch I logged out, cleared cache, and logged in again. No help. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/11 "2021-01-20T01:37:38Z")
If I remove the one person I had on ignore, it looks like @Max_S’s (and @LSLGuy’s) screen. So there’s a further oddity in the date display. The real post #7036 is by **Buck\_Godot** , from Jan 14. I’m not sure if Discourse is grabbing the date from that instead of the right one, but if it is, it’s still wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/12 "2021-01-20T05:17:23Z")
Right now, post 6923 (20 Jan 2020) is labelled “Jan '20”. Post 6924 (21 Jan 2020) is labelled “Jan 21”. Posts from within the last year show month and date; earlier posts show month and year. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/13 "2021-01-20T16:20:24Z")
Yup. That’s all working normally. And has been as we watch each successive day in Jan 2021 go by so the posts from the corresponding date in 2020 change from “Jan {day number}” to “Jan '20” which is the month “Jan” followed by the 2-digit year number “20”… That’s not the issue we’re following. The issue we’re following is that at the very bottom of the scroll bar on the right, just below the “7039/7040” there’s a date which is normally the date of the last post. Which has been and still is stuck on “Jan 2020” despite the fact there are several posts a year later in Jan 2021. That’s wrong and weird and I/we have not noticed any other threads with that behavior. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/14 "2021-01-20T16:31:46Z")
Hadn’t noticed that bit. However, it now says “7037/7037 Jan 15”, and under that is the correct date, Jan 16, of the final post. “Curiouser and curiouser”, said Alice… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/15 "2021-01-20T17:26:45Z")
Ref @Dr.Strangelove above, it seems to somehow be connected to whether the thread contains posts by ignored posters. But when I clear my (short) ignored list and get a fresh pageview, that doesn’t change anything. I still see the erroneous “Jan 2020” at the bottom. But you don’t. Curiouser indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/16 "2021-01-20T19:49:16Z")
What do you see if you log out first? ~Max ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/17 "2021-01-20T22:05:16Z")
I don’t know – I don’t log out. I’m not sure I even remember what my password is. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/18 "2021-01-20T22:15:15Z")
Maybe you can try opening a private window and browsing to the thread? Just right click the [link](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/840771/7040) and it will probably say open in private/incognito. (long-tap on touch devices) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/19 "2021-01-20T23:03:24Z")
“7040/7040 Jan 2020”. Interesting that it grew three more messages… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565/20 "2021-01-20T23:31:15Z")
Maybe you have someone on ignore. ~Max [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/date-inaccuracy-in-thread-scroll-bar/930565.md?page=2)