Forums Update: Your Local Time, # of Posts Appearing
 

I just wanted to let you know about two new updates to the forums this week. One is here already, the other hopefully will debut later today.

1) For those of you who would prefer to view more topics in the left-hand column and on the subsequent browsing pages, there is now a way to elect to view 50 or 100 topics at a time. To change this setting, click "account settings" at the top of the page; you'll need to already be signed in. After re-entering your password, there will be a page of options---on the bottom right hand side there is a box for Forum Preferences for you to choose to view 25, 50, or 100 topics.

You may find that the page loads slower for you if you opt to view more topics though it should speed up over the course of your visit as the page caches.

2) We will shortly be introducing time stamps that display your local time (instead of ET across the board); that means that the time displayed next to each post will be in your time zone. This feature is based on your browser/computer's time settings. This is a feature that is basically "turned on"---so it may seem like a slight time warp if you're on when we flip the switch.

Thank you for your patience and feedback over these last several months; should you experience any trouble with these changes or have suggestions please write to us at [email protected].

Best,
Katie

So if the clock on my computer is set to EST and I am in Thailand then it will show EST?

And if I set my clock so to an earlier time than your post, before 11.10 AM, will my post appear or be on top of yours?

If you change your own clock time it won't appear in a different spot or order. Really we're just capturing the post in GMT and then converting it to your time zone.

OK so you're basing the time on the location of the IP and every body's post will be based on my time.

Sometimes I think it would be preferable to see the date of the original post rather than the date of the last post. That way it would be easier to spot when someone has resurrected an ancient post - which more often than not seems to be for "spam" purposes. Has anyone else thought of that?

Hi Katie,
So glad we finally get to have more posts listed :)
Femi

OK, I'm confused as well. I live in central US time zone, which is showing on the bottom of my computer... but right now I'm in Thailand, so I "know" that the time on my computer is wrong by exactly 12 hours. When I post, will it show central US or Thai time???

Thanks for letting us do my threads on the opening page!

Carol

Hanuman, no, the time ZONE will not be based on the location of the IP. It is based on the time zone set on your computer.

No, everybody's post, including yours, won't be based on your TIME. That is, the time (time of day) won't be based on the time set on your computer. You computer can be set to any time zone, date, or time of day.

When you submit a post to fodors.com they will know the time that they received it based on their computer(s) time setting and convert it to GMT. When you then load a page, the (I think) it would be your browser (or their web page telling your browser) that displays that time in the time zone that you have set.

If you have your computer clock set to the wrong time, then the time displayed on the web page on your computer will be in your time zone but will be the actual time.

Suppose your clock is set one hour later than actual time and you post something at noon PST (according to your computer) then it will appear on everybody's computer to have been posted at 11:00 PST. It will be the actual time received by fodors but displayed in your computer's time zone.

That explanation is pretty close, if not spot on, to reality. One thing for sure is that it is not based on your IP.

As far as it being slower with more posts being displayed, you probably won't notice it. The fodors computer has to do a little bit more work to gather the additional posts, but your computer (and the internet) will only be handling a couple hundred more bytes (not much at all). But not knowing the capacity of your computer or internet connection or IP fodors is write in noting that it could be slower.

Don't ask me why I went into that long explanation.

Carole, I didn't see your post until just now. Your puter is set to Central Time and will always show time in that zone no matter where you are in the world.

Thanks mrwunrfl.

Exeriment 1: Current time in Thailand 11.12 AM my computer's clock set at 10.36 AM

Ok this is what is shown on my screen:

Forums Update: Your Local Time, # of Posts Appearing Posted by: Katie_H on Oct 27, 09 at 10:10pm
Posted in: Asia
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I just wanted to let you know about two new updates to the forums this week. One is here already, the other hopefully will debut later today.

1) For those of you who would prefer to view more topics in the left-hand column and on the subsequent browsing pages, there is now a way to elect to view 50 or 100 topics at a time. To change this setting, click "account settings" at the top of the page; you'll need to already be signed in. After re-entering your password, there will be a page of options---on the bottom right hand side there is a box for Forum Preferences for you to choose to view 25, 50, or 100 topics.

You may find that the page loads slower for you if you opt to view more topics though it should speed up over the course of your visit as the page caches.

2) We will shortly be introducing time stamps that display your local time (instead of ET across the board); that means that the time displayed next to each post will be in your time zone. This feature is based on your browser/computer's time settings. This is a feature that is basically "turned on"---so it may seem like a slight time warp if you're on when we flip the switch.

Thank you for your patience and feedback over these last several months; should you experience any trouble with these changes or have suggestions please write to us at [email protected].

Best,
Katie

10 Replies | Jump to last reply | Add a Reply Flag this topic
Hanuman on Oct 27, 09 at 10:28pm
So if the clock on my computer is set to EST and I am in Thailand then it will show EST?

Hanuman on Oct 27, 09 at 10:30pm
And if I set my clock so to an earlier time than your post, before 11.10 AM, will my post appear or be on top of yours?

Katie_H on Oct 27, 09 at 11:00pm
If you change your own clock time it won't appear in a different spot or order. Really we're just capturing the post in GMT and then converting it to your time zone.

Hanuman on Oct 27, 09 at 11:14pm
OK so you're basing the time on the location of the IP and every body's post will be based on my time.

MichaelBKK on Oct 28, 09 at 10:02am
Sometimes I think it would be preferable to see the date of the original post rather than the date of the last post. That way it would be easier to spot when someone has resurrected an ancient post - which more often than not seems to be for "spam" purposes. Has anyone else thought of that?

Femi on Oct 28, 09 at 10:04am
Hi Katie,
So glad we finally get to have more posts listed
Femi

simpsonc510 on Oct 28, 09 at 10:59am
OK, I'm confused as well. I live in central US time zone, which is showing on the bottom of my computer... but right now I'm in Thailand, so I "know" that the time on my computer is wrong by exactly 12 hours. When I post, will it show central US or Thai time???

Thanks for letting us do my threads on the opening page!

Carol

mrwunrfl on Oct 28, 09 at 11:05am
Hanuman, no, the time ZONE will not be based on the location of the IP. It is based on the time zone set on your computer.

No, everybody's post, including yours, won't be based on your TIME. That is, the time (time of day) won't be based on the time set on your computer. You computer can be set to any time zone, date, or time of day.

When you submit a post to fodors.com they will know the time that they received it based on their computer(s) time setting and convert it to GMT. When you then load a page, the (I think) it would be your browser (or their web page telling your browser) that displays that time in the time zone that you have set.

If you have your computer clock set to the wrong time, then the time displayed on the web page on your computer will be in your time zone but will be the actual time.

Suppose your clock is set one hour later than actual time and you post something at noon PST (according to your computer) then it will appear on everybody's computer to have been posted at 11:00 PST. It will be the actual time received by fodors but displayed in your computer's time zone.

That explanation is pretty close, if not spot on, to reality. One thing for sure is that it is not based on your IP.

As far as it being slower with more posts being displayed, you probably won't notice it. The fodors computer has to do a little bit more work to gather the additional posts, but your computer (and the internet) will only be handling a couple hundred more bytes (not much at all). But not knowing the capacity of your computer or internet connection or IP fodors is write in noting that it could be slower.

mrwunrfl on Oct 28, 09 at 11:08am
Don't ask me why I went into that long explanation.

Carole, I didn't see your post until just now. Your puter is set to Central Time and will always show time in that zone no matter where you are in the world.

Hanuman on Oct 28, 09 at 11:10am
Thanks mrwunrfl.

Exeriment 1: Current time in Thailand 11.12 AM my computer's clock set at 10.36 AM

Looks like the time is based on the IP and everybody else's time has been adjusted to Thailand's time on my computer only.

Good work Hanuman - now you've managed to make a simple post SO complicated that I've had to take sedation, just to understand ANY of it. You are my hero. Never stop. lol lol lol.

What do you mean IP? I read that as meaning ISP.

The time is now 10:06 PM PST

And it was 10:07 when I clicked submit. The time shows as 9:07pm for that last post. I think fodor's clock is wrong.

I just did a time sync to "internet time" with time-b.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov
and my clock changed to 9:xx PM, from 10:xx PM.

If you have Windows, double-click the time at the bottom right and on the Date and Time Properties display, see your time zone and the "Internet time" tab.

That internet time (and fodor's time) doesn't account for Daylight Savings Time, which we currently are in until November 1.

This post should appear on Hanuman's computer showing 12:25 PM, Wednesday.

And this one on Carole's at 12:28 AM, CDT.

Dogster,

It's a slow day at the office and it's hot as hell. While waiting for the imminent rain here's some more of my jiberish.

mrwunrfl,

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical label that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol for communication between its nodes. An IP address serves two principal functions in networking: host identification and location addressing.

FYI your last post as it appear on my computer:
mrwunrfl on Oct 28, 09 at 12:25pm
That internet time (and fodor's time) doesn't account for Daylight Savings Time, which we currently are in until November 1.

This post should appear on Hanuman's computer showing 12:25 PM, Wednesday.

Ok, so you did mean IP, not ISP. I do understand what it is and by your definition, host ID and location addressing, it has nothing to do with the time shown on your computer.

That (fodors) time server had everything to do with displaying it wrong here on a slow day in So Cal (no baseball).

Well, the utility of whole time thing eludes me, but I now have 50 posts showing on my first page. Yea! And the loading time was fine.

My head just exploded reading this thread. #-O

I can't tell if there are still questions/issues. Just let me know and I'll pass them on to more knowledgeable folks here on the topic.

I just woke up and realized Hanuman might be right.

The question is why does fodors webpage show that this post was made at 8:43AM when local time is 09:43?

And is the time determined by doing an IP address lookup or is it from my browser/computer time as you mentioned in your OP?

I have checked in with our developer for some guidance. He has written me a few responses for some of the questions posted here. I would try to write them in my own words but I'd probably muddy the waters a bit.

For simpsonc510-
No, it will show the time on the computer, so it'll be the same timezone at the bottom of his/her computer. It doesn't know s/he's in Thailand.

For hanuman-
We don't care what time they set. We care when we receive it. We store it in GMT, and their browser displays it in their own local time.

For mrwunfrl-
The time conversions are not happening on our servers, they are happening on the users browser itself. So, we transmit GMT to the browser, and the browser is displaying it in whatever timezone the computer thinks it's in. It really doesn't even care what time their computer thinks it is, only the time zone the computer thinks it is.

IP is Internet Protocol, and ISP is Internet Service Provider, but neither is relevant, because we don't care about either for converting times.

I don't know the answer to why we display a post as being made at 8:43AM when local time is 09:43. We received his post at 12:43 EDT (16:43 GMT). We don't do any date manipulations on our end. We sent 16:43GMT to his browser, and it interpreted that as 8:43AM on his computer.

The question would be does his computer think it's in the right time zone? Is it possible that his timezone is wrong, and he has simply set the time to be an hour ... off. (ahead or behind). Like, if someone's computer in New York, had it's time zone set to California, but had the time set three hours ahead of california time. Then, it would show New York time, but think it's in California. Make sense? If that were the case, a post from that computer would always show up as ... three hours in the past. (Because their computer in GMT is actually three hours in the future.)

mrwunfl, yep. Like Katie says, I think they're just using javascript to ask your browser to convert the time. The code looks like this:
var d = new Date(1256748226000);
lti.innerHTML = d.format("mmm d, yy 'at' h:MMtt");
lti.setAttribute("title",d.format("yyyy-mm-dd'T'HH:MM:ss"));
The number in the Date() is a unix timestamp. I wonder if there's something online that will convert from unix timestamps to a localtime... Yep! http://www.epochconverter.com/ So, you paste the number in there, (after chopping off the last three digits... Probably microseconds) and see what time it says for you. My bet is it'll be the same as what fodors says it is. If that's the case, the browser (and likely your computer) think they're in the wrong time zone, like Katie mentions. (I put in 1256748226, and got
GMT: Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:43:46 GMT
Your timezone: Wed 28 Oct 2009 12:43:46 PM EST
from http://www.epochconverter.com/ )

Yes, that is what I thought. I did view the page source and saw that code with unites of thousands of seconds.

So it is not based on the IP address.

While I can't even begin to understand all that info about the time, I do know I like it! Much easier to figure out when people posted an item.