Web Savvy -- Page 8 -- Outdated Pages

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How can you tell if a web site or page is up-to-date and current?

There are several methods for making sure a web site or page is current:

1. Check for a last date of revision or update. Often reputable web masters and authors place such a date near the top or bottom of the page.
2. A related technique is to check the dates of "current" news stories or items in a works cited if one is available.
3. Bring up the web page in Firefox. This is a browser available on most computers at Georgia Perimeter College and are freely available. In FireFox select on PageInfo under Tools. In Firefox, click on PageInfo under Tools.Firefox will pop up a small box with the date of last revision written inside it. Note: this technique will not give a true date for PHP, ASP, CFM, or other pages built on the fly. These pages always appear current, though they can be built of outdated material.
4. Check the web site's external links and images. Broken images and links that go nowhere are a sign that the site is neglected and probably out of date.

Here are screen shots of different methods of learning a page's date...

Click on this thumbnail to see how to date a page using a revision date on the page itself.

Click on this thumbnail to see how to date a page using Mozilla's PageInfo.