zlacker

Thanks for linking that. TIL: sorting rank is a function of timestamp and votes, so when the mods push a story back to the front page, instead of special-casing the behavior, they just (get a computer to) fabricate a submission timestamp that puts the story in appropriate place on the front page.

It's a clever hack, alright, but dang if I didn't start to think I was going crazy, because something felt off with timestamps and surely the mods wouldn't be silently messing with those...

>>TeMPOr+(OP)
It's not a great solution because it confuses the people who notice. The problem is that it's even more confusing if we re-up posts that say "3 days ago" or whatever onto the front page. Then the threads fill up with "why is this 3 days ago post on the front page"?

Another option would be to clone the old submission into a new one, but then we get more dupes. And I don't know of any viable fourth option.

>>dang+zj1
Fourth option - don't show dates or timestamps at all. The age of the actual article is what matters, and people can find that out by actually reading the article.

Would that not be viable?

>>dang+zj1
Maybe display the old timestamp, but also display a visible "re-up" tag next to it? This way it'll be obvious the submission was reinserted manually to give it a second chance.

>>krapp+vi2
I think there's a lot of information in those timestamps. They convey the rhythms of the site. Of course that's also why fudging them causes confusion...

>>TeMPOr+4Y2
Well that's certainly a fourth option! I'll think about it.