What is the issue with the code for displaying the times of the talks/sessions in the right timezone on the web page being built for the digital summer school in August using Webflow?

Published on
September 22, 2023

Issue with Displaying Times of Talks/Sessions in the Right Timezone on a Webflow Page

When building a web page for a digital summer school in August using Webflow, one common issue that may arise is displaying the times of talks or sessions in the correct timezone. This issue can be resolved by following a few steps:

  1. Setting the Default Timezone: In the Webflow Designer, navigate to Project Settings (located in the top-right corner). Under the SEO & Hosting tab, scroll down to the Timezone section. Select the appropriate timezone for the event.

  2. Using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): To accurately display session times across different timezones, it is advisable to store the session times in UTC format in your Webflow CMS or as global variables. This ensures consistency and makes it easier to calculate the correct time for each user.

  3. Converting Times to Local Time: To display the session times in the user's local timezone, you can use JavaScript to convert the UTC times to the visitor's local time. Here's an example code snippet:

    ```javascript
    // Get the current user's local timezone offset
    var timeZoneOffset = new Date().getTimezoneOffset();

    // Convert the UTC time to local time by adding the offset
    var sessionTime = new Date(utcTime + (timeZoneOffset * 60000));

    // Format the sessionTime in the desired format and display it on the webpage
    document.getElementById("session-time").innerText = sessionTime.toLocaleString();
    ```

    In this code, utcTime represents the stored UTC time for the session, and "session-time" is the ID of the element where you want to display the converted time.

  4. Updating Timezone Changes: Keep in mind that some timezones may observe daylight saving time or have changes in their offset due to different factors. Ensure that your web page stays up-to-date with any timezone changes by adjusting the stored UTC times accordingly.

By following these steps, you can overcome the issue of displaying the times of talks or sessions in the correct timezone on your web page built with Webflow.