There Are Three Dates

Looking For Time

I'm making a plugin for my text editor to add some automation¹. An early feature was the ability to use a hotkey to update the dates for each post.

Where It Started

My notes have a metadata section that includes a created attribute and an optional updated attribute. The template I use to make a new post creates them both with the date and time the files was created automatically filled in.

Something like this:

The Draft Situation

The friction I'm feeling comes from publishing my drafts and scratch notes. The created date is meaningful. It's when I first started working on a thing. If I overwrite that when I post the completed version, I lose it.

I could use the updated field. That's weird too. The first rounds of changes that take a post from draft to published are edits. Not updates. Updates come from revisions after the first real version is out the door.

Hitting A Triple

Today's realization is that two dates aren't enough. I need three: Created, Completed, and Updated.

That'll let me publish the scratch and draft notes with the initial created date. I'll add the completed date when the first full version is complete. The updated attribute comes in if I go back to rework the piece.

Feed Time

I want to keep track of the dates in general. Even if I didn't, it's still important the plans I have to add feeds to my site. Since I publish my drafts, they need a date to work properly. When I finalize a piece and mark it done it'll go into my main feed.

A post could be several days old by the time I move it from "draft" to finalized.

If it keeps the original "created" date it could easily be days old. It wouldn't resurface in feed readers. But, marking it updated isn't accurate. Any changes during the draft stage are just edits.