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Make Post Dates Relevant To Historical Blogs

Occasionally, we see a request from somebody who wants to publish a blog with historically significant dates, which precede Blogger compatible dates.

In one case, we see a request in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger, about writing a blog, as "published" in the 1960s.
I'm doing a History project, and I'm blogging as if I was in the 1960's. I was excited to see that I could change that date - but soon realized that it won't let me go back further than 1970.
Unfortunately, blog dates will go back no farther than 1970.

If you want to write a historical blog, and precede 1970, you'll have to use fake dates.

The Internet came into existence well after 1970. Tim Berners-Lee did not even start development of the World Wide Web until March, 1989.

If your blog subject needs to pre date 1970, you'll have to use fake dates.
  • Disable post date and time displays.
  • Write the posts, with the dates in the post titles - or post bodies.
  • Change the post dates, to sequence the posts.
  • Use label searches, and linklists, instead of an archive gadget.
There will, unfortunately, be limitations.

Disable post date and time displays.
Use "Configure Blog Posts", and disable the post header date (Post Page Option #1), posted by (Post Page Option #2), and the post footer date / time stamp (Post Page Option #3). Don't clutter the blog, with "irrelevant" post dates and names.

Write the posts, with the dates and names in the post titles - or post bodies.
You won't be able to post fake dates above the post titles, because there is no text field, that you could position above the post title, and change for each post. You can either put the "date" in each title, or after the title, in the post body. Likewise, the name.

Change the post dates, to sequence the posts.
As we all know, the best way to sequence the posts is by changing the post dates. You can publish the posts in reverse order to be displayed - or you can write and post in any order, then change the dates as you wish.

If you make a mistake, and have to change the real post dates - and if changing the real dates requires changes in the real URLs, remember to change the posts to draft status, as necessary. This will reset the posts, when you need to change the post URLs.

Use label searches, and linklists, to index the posts.
You won't want to use an Archive gadget, which will, again, clutter the blog with "irrelevant" post dates. You'll need a linklist, to replace the archives index. And you can add label searches, to index posts in date groups.

You can't fake everything.
The post URLs will still contain the actual ("irrelevant") post dates. Posts that you publish this month, for example, will contain "2015/05".

The actual ("irrelevant") dates will always display, in the post URL window. Sorry, the magic goes only so far.

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