Permalink solely based on timestamps

  • I have been struggling with my permalink structure, as, while using /archives/%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%hour%.%minute%.%second%/ , the comments don’t show (the correct address is in the address bar, ending in #comments when I click the link that’s in the feedback div, but comments aren’t shown, nor are they at the individual entry pages).
    At first I thought I did something wrong, but as stated in Moving from MT to WP, one problem left, mod_rewrite?, it’s because I didn’t use either %postname% or %post_id% in the permalink structure.
    In Movable Type it’s perfectly possible to have a working permalink structure solely based on timestamps. As the timestamp is truly unique, as long as you use hour, minute, second and don’t fiddle with the timestamp after the initial posting (well, and don’t post several posts in the very same second), and less likely to change than the post title, not wanting to use the id (because this might lead to problems when exporting/importing), I would very much like to see this same option in WordPress.
    I’ve gone through the WP code itself, and although I’m able to locate the code concerned, and understand what is going on, unfortunately my PHP skills are too limited to try and make this work myself. Hence the feature request.
    I can’t be the only one wanting to use a permalink structure exclusively based on timestamps, can I ? *rolls eyes in wonder*

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

  • Can I ask why you particularly favour this structure ?

    i wanted to ask that question podz but i rarely get a logical answer :p

    I’m not sure what his reasons are, but I can see favoring this technique when truly unique permalinks are needed. There was some hubbub about using permalinks as Atom IDs, and the general consensus was that you shouldn’t, because permalinks, based on titles, are subject to change. Well, ID numbers can also be subject to change as you change blog systems, and can be confusing or require lots of translation tables between number systems. However, the time stamp is unique. You aren’t going to make two posts in one second, and there is no reason to go back and change the time stamp later, like you might do with a title.
    Anyway, I think it does sound like a pretty good way to do permalinks, and you could make a good case for using that permalink as an Atom ID, which would be handy.
    peace,
    sam

    Morgaine… Let me know where the code is that you were looking at, I’ll take a look too, maybe I can come up with something.. (don’t hold your breath, but at least I’ll take a look).
    peace,
    sam

    Thread Starter morgaine

    (@morgaine)

    Well, I believe I’ve already mentioned in the initial post in this thread why I favour this structure (third paragraph). I also want to be able to post entries without title. When I would use the %postname% without entering a title, a blank would be returned, hence no permalink would be available. There’s always a post time, as opposed to a title.
    For selfish reasons I would like to be able to use timestamps only as well. Took me a while to figure out how to convert my MT blog from using IDs to using a future proof uri, and for the same reasons mentioned above, I opted to use timestamps only (well, I made the mistake to have ‘index’ at the end of my permalinks, even though the posts are accessible without the ‘index’ at the end, but I could correct this if WordPress provided the option of using timestamps only)
    I would be able to put the WP blog at the exact same location my MT blog is at the moment and nobody would note the difference (well, as far as permalink structure is concerned, I would use the occasion to make some minor design changes, write a post about my move to WP, link to WP and advertise it as being the alternative to MT).

    Thread Starter morgaine

    (@morgaine)

    Sam,
    ‘he’ actually is a ‘she’ ?? but you hit the nail on the spot, I think timestamps are the identifier that is most unique and at the same time portable to other blogging applications.
    As for the code, let me reference the excellent PHP Cross Reference of WordPress 1.2 (Mingus) and more specifically the function url_to_postid and function the_permalink.
    Hope that helps (might be wrong as I know only slightly more than nothing about PHP),
    Kind regards,
    Morgaine

    Thread Starter morgaine

    (@morgaine)

    Well, guess I AM the only one … seems I’m out of luck. *sob*
    Morgaine

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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