All web content should be dated: yay or nay?

I think it's better to be safe than sorry. What would it hurt to have a "Page last modified xx/xx/xxxx" at the bottom of every page?

I know it's annoying when I'm searching the 'net for solutions to issues I have with software. I follow the instructions with no success and then find out because it was for like version 3.1 and I had 6.7.

Well, the reason I bring this up is because so much web content is not dated at all. About.com is a prime example. That site has a huge amount of content, it comes up in searches a lot, and the site has been around for a really long time. There is no way of knowing if the content you are reading is 8 years old or 2 months old.

If you think the date could be a problem you could always put it somewhere people wouldn't notice, like in the footer (as Wikipedia does, although I think they should move that date someplace more noticeable, since it is very important to the relevance of information). Users tend to ignore a lot of information if it doesn't seem relevant to them. They can be blind to significant parts of a page a lot of the time.

Dates are important because they could be the difference between information being right or wrong. This came up when I was learning how to write a PHP application last month. How do I know if this technique is still current when there is no date on the article?

There is also a trust factor involved. What have you got to hide? You're witholding key information from the visitor when you won't tell them when the information was published.

When I think about different types of web content there are very few that come to mind that don't need dates. And even then you have to think about the future. If this web is still around in it's current form 20 years from now that date starts to matter more.

I would say I like it when its all time/date stamped, but then again it would preferably needed on sites with articles, blogs, and news...

I think if it is time dependant information (news article, update info, time specific info, something where the date published is important to the content) then yay, however general content and stuff that could still be relevent over time then nay.

If it had a date on it, and it was old, the visitor would probably go somewhere else, right? I wouldn't want people leaving my site at first glance when they see an old date. Maybe it's a "responsible" thing, but I don't know if it is really in the best interest of the website's owner. But then, the reader might get pissed because you made them read though a bunch of outdated crap, and they decide never to go to your site again.

I would say it depends on the nature of the information. For instance, the best method to cut down a tree with an axe probably won't ever change and therefore won't be time sensitive in the future, whereas if you write about cutting edge development methods, they could be outdated in weeks.

I voted 'sometimes' because it really depends on the content in question.