It would extremely useful to have update_by and update_date columns in every table that changes (tables that aren't static like state).

Pass DNN userid for update_by and update_date is a simple update trigger. If you don't want to use a trigger then pass getdate().

This would help us both on the customer relations side and when there are multiple developers. Obviously if someone is editing from backend it is out of your control, but when using the GUI it can be tracked.