making "calendar" postings -- watch out for timezone effects

[stomper]

Hey there, I recently made an event posting using the calendar feature. I put time, location, etc. info in and a relevant posting appeared on my local chapter page. So far, so good.

However, when I viewed this page while LOGGED OUT, the time was wrong. I realized that the site probably uses one time zone as standard, and then adjusts to the users' time zone when they are logged in.

So:

1) all users might want to check that the time zone in their profile is correct.

2) Anyone posting a calendar event should be careful to put the correct time in the text of the post, not just in the calendar database. For unregistered users of the site, or registered users with incorrect time zones in their profiles, there is no other way for them to get the correct time.

Hope that helps!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Actually, there's a bug in

Actually, there's a bug in the site's software which I have been researching and troubleshooting for the past few days. I found that the bug was triggered by Daylight Savings Time, so we've actually been dealing with this unaware since March 13. We are not the only ones affected. Other sites are having the same problem. iJoe and I are working on this. He plans to dedicate tomorrow to fixing this problem, since it requires some code changes to some PHP files; of course, there will first be backups, testing in the lab environment, etc.

A few days ago, I notified all the Chapter Presidents to be sure to add the date and time to the body of their event postings. I also added a note that it's a good idea to always do so.

I have been checking each of the events going forward daily to make sure the description boxes in the event posts include the meeting time and contacting people whenever there is a discrepancy.

Stay tuned.