# Short date format on old posts: YYYY vs 'YY

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/short-date-format-on-old-posts-yyyy-vs-yy/295184>\
**Category:** UX\
**Tags:** completed\
**Created:** [February 13, 2024, 10:51am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/short-date-format-on-old-posts-yyyy-vs-yy/295184 "2024-02-13T10:51:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![LWinterberg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/lwinterberg/32/361644_2.png) [@LWinterberg](https://meta.discourse.org/u/LWinterberg)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 10:51am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/short-date-format-on-old-posts-yyyy-vs-yy/295184/1 "2024-02-13T10:51:48Z")

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I just had a user proudly proclaim:

> There’s also [this](https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/project-rates-and-recording/32238/2) post on the forum from only 2 months ago

in support of his feature request. But as it turns out, the post wasn’t from Dec 13 - it was from Dec '13. I since have changed the relevant strings in my install from 'YY to YYYY to avoid this confusion, but given we’ll be living in a world where this confusion will keep happening until 2031 and stay relevant for old posts well into the 2040s, I’d say it’s worth changing everywhere. The clarity gained from “hey watch out you’re digging deep in the archives” is well worth the additional 1.5 characters.

It also solves some i18n issues - '24 is already informal in English, and very unusual everywhere else AFAICT. 2024 meanwhile is well-understood everywhere and a better international default.

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