Posted: Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 5:41 pm. Filed in HowTo, WordPress.com, settings.
Tags: daylight savings, settings
Time to Spring Forward
Ah, spring, when a young person’s fancy turns to … blogging. And time changes. (Maybe baseball too, if that’s your thing.)
WordPress.com blog time settings follow the UTC time standard. This method allows us to keep the stats database lean and fast. That translates into free stats for everyone!
UTC doesn’t change over the course of a year. Because of this, you’ll need to adjust your blog settings to account for Daylight Saving Time manually. If you live in the USA, today – Sunday, March 14 – is the day to spring forward and adjust your WordPress.com blog’s time one hour ahead.
Update: There’s a full listing of when Daylight Saving Time begins around the world in this article on Wikipedia.
To account for Daylight Saving Time, log in to your dashboard, click on Settings > General, and scroll to Timezone. Then change your timezone to one hour ahead of your actual time zone. If you have your timezone set to, for example, UTC-8 (PST), you’ll need to change it to UTC-7.
We’ll make another announcement before the “fall back” change, which is on November 7, 2010.
March 14th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
thanks for reminding the fellow bloggers who need to adjust the time
March 14th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Thanks for the reminder!
March 14th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Thanks! I have no clue how my timezone relates to UTC (I’m in the Netherlands) I just always set my time to post as “01.00″ and it seems to work well …
Thanks though for the helpful info for the people who will want to change their time-zone settings:)
March 14th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
good and timely advice. as for some of us who live in Africa, just on the equator to be specific, i guess this does not affect us. Happy reading tho!!
March 14th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
I’ve updated the post to include a link to a Wikipedia article with a full listing of Daylight Savings Time start dates around the world.
March 14th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
i don’t understand
March 14th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Today is the beginning of a time change in the USA to account for Daylight Savings Time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time — this is just a reminder for people in the US to adjust their blog’s time settings.
March 14th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Hi Paul-
Thanks for your post! Check out what happens in the in the 1 hour we moved forward. It’s my 3rd post…hope I put this comment in the right place! Thanks again~ Mike
http://digg.com/odd_stuff/This_is_What_You_Lose_by_Jumping_Ahead_One_Hour
March 14th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
ahhh smell the roses!
March 14th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
I like to schedule my posts to be ready for early risers in the U.S., but don’t feel a need to be real particular about the exact hour. We’re so scattered around the world, regular readers will see each post as they are able to regularly come on. But, this is great for those who need to be particular.
Thank you.
March 14th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
I adjusted my blog!
March 14th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Hello guys & please do forgive me i don’t have time to learn by myself as usual which will be the best time to show on my blog as i’d only love to stay hidden every time i’ll be on the internet. Unfortunately, everyone finds out instantaneously whenever i access the net-i can’t find out how they do-and this brings me the most stress in the world: what could i do, please?
March 14th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Done! I’d thought it was automatic, so thanks for the reminder.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Thank you for the reminder. Looks complicated but I’m sure it’s easy enough!
March 14th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Thank you!
March 14th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Thank you for the reminder Paul.
But, I looked Wiki like you said me and Ukraine is not present on their list, but please do not be surprised at this, Ukraine is not present in much things in the world, its normal !!!
Anyway, thanks, I always read WP tips and advice.
Marina Demchuck.
Rivne [Rovno] Ukraine.
March 14th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Thanks I’ll check that but I’m in Arizona and we stubbornly don’t play the Daylight Savings game!
Megan
March 14th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Aahh, almost forgot! Thanks for the heads-up.
March 15th, 2010 at 12:31 am
Thank you for the reminder… BTW, when will WP.com enable Google Friend Connect? I need this feature… THX
March 15th, 2010 at 12:59 am
Thanks a lot!
March 15th, 2010 at 1:22 am
thanks, i’ll check.
March 15th, 2010 at 2:35 am
Thanks. By the way it’s really daylight saving time. No s on saving.
Picky Picky Bill
March 15th, 2010 at 2:58 am
Thanks for the heads up!
March 15th, 2010 at 3:04 am
*does the Arizona doesn’t use DST dance*
March 15th, 2010 at 3:36 am
> “WordPress.com blog time settings follow the UTC time standard. This method allows us to keep the stats database lean and fast. That translates into free stats for everyone!”
You’re seriously claiming that if you coded to account for DST, stats would cost users money?
March 15th, 2010 at 5:25 am
No, just explaining the current situation.
March 15th, 2010 at 3:47 am
Would changing time have any effects on statistics?
March 15th, 2010 at 5:33 am
Other than counting some visitors on one day rather than another, there won’t be any effect on your stats.
March 15th, 2010 at 4:46 am
Hello! Thanks for the Info. (It’s posted on Fr.forum already. Have a nice day, everybody
)
March 15th, 2010 at 5:09 am
hey, thanks for this info!
March 15th, 2010 at 5:29 am
How about for bloggers in the Philippines? The Wikipedia article does not help at all. Thanks again!
March 15th, 2010 at 5:39 am
Doesn’t seem that Daylight Saving Time is observed in the Philippines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time_around_the_world#Philippines
March 15th, 2010 at 6:32 am
thx u for remind me…hehee..
March 15th, 2010 at 6:36 am
Thanks for the reminder… Ever since I moved from Seattle, WA, USA, to Manila, Philippines in 2006, I’ve been fixed for knowing my local time as UTC+8. However, forgetting about daylight saving time does affect when I call my parents & friends in the USA. Seattle is either UTC-8 or UTC-7 (or PHL-16 or PHL-15, respectively), but didn’t write down the DST changes on my calendar, anymore. Luckily, my computer clocks (Windows XP, GNU Linux, Mac OS X, and Palm OS) keep me updated on what time it is in Seattle.
For everyone’s information, I’ve been a webmaster since 1996 (Seattle, WA, USA). I generally keep a clock set to UTC/GMT, since I’m also a amateur radio operator. When calling Seattle, I do forget if it’s UTC-8 or UTC-7. No problems when I call a 24-hour Wal-Mart…
March 15th, 2010 at 7:19 am
I’m more confused now than I was before!
To find the time I prefer http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.html On individual places it gives the date for switching to DST and includes the UTC offset.
March 15th, 2010 at 7:50 am
Thanks for the information, now ready rendez-vous for the 28th at 02h ^_-
Have a nice day * * *
March 15th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Daylight Saving and all, huh? Damn, I find it complicated
Let’s try to do it though
March 15th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Thanks for reminding but I’m living in Malaysia where the climate is about the same throughout the year
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Thank you for the reminder…
March 15th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Thanks for the warning
March 15th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
don’t understand. what about India?
March 15th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
India doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time so you don’t need to change anything, Jagdish.
March 15th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Totally confused. I get what DST is, but why does my WP.org blog adjust just fine for DST? It knows UTC and adjusts based on the setting I give in “General.” I told it to follow Chicago time.
As much as I love WP.com, it seems weird that I can do all this just fine in WP.org blogs but not the .com installation.
March 16th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Now you can on WordPress.com: http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/set-your-blogs-timezone-by-city/
March 15th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Thank You for the reminder!
March 15th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
If you’re reading my blog you probably don’t know/don’t care what time of day it is anyway.
March 15th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Thanks for mentioning the best sport in the world! I’m off to Spring Training next week! – Holly (UrbanYogaDen)
March 15th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Does this make anyone else ponder on time? or is that just me…
Like, did you know, if you waved your left hand around at the speed of light it would age more slowly than your other hand.
Wowza.
March 15th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
My best regards to you, Paul. It’s mind-boggling to do “timely” changes. Happy to drop in and read all the funny comments on your blog.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
Thank you for reminding us!
March 15th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
ok,i will change..thanks
March 16th, 2010 at 2:20 am
thanks for the tip
March 16th, 2010 at 6:00 am
reminds me of benjamin franklin^^..! thanks for reminding, mate!
March 16th, 2010 at 7:47 am
Thanks for that!:)
March 16th, 2010 at 8:23 am
Instead of using the UTC format, I set mine to a city in my time zone (in this case, Chicago), and it seems not to need to be manually changed for daylight savings.
March 16th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
We just updated the timezone setting to add cities. http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/set-your-blogs-timezone-by-city/
March 16th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Fort some dumb reason in the UK we don’t shift for nearly another two weeks. Everyone in London is going crazy waking up too early and blaming Scotland (sorry, Scotland!)
March 16th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Thanks
I would have forgotten it 
March 16th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
spring can be so borinkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk…
March 16th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
But if I chose the city in my timezone, instead of the UTC-something, I don’t have to readjust it twice a year, right?
March 16th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
That’s right. Just announced: http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/set-your-blogs-timezone-by-city/
March 16th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Thanks for the update
March 16th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Thanks for the reminder. I’m at work for the weekend, but unfortunately on days! So I won’t benefite from an 11 hour instead of 12 hour nightshift!
March 16th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Thank God you reminded me!
March 17th, 2010 at 4:34 am
Thanks for reminding me and really nice and great
March 17th, 2010 at 5:41 am
thank youuuU!!!
March 17th, 2010 at 9:45 am
Thanks for the reminder I am in Islamabad but i didn’t find my timwzone city in the list.What should i do for this
March 17th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
I always forget about this even though its an annual thing lol
March 17th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Time owns all of us. Arrgh!
March 17th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
When will be be able to set up a coordinated approach around the globe about time changes? Why can’t we do it on the same date on all continents?
March 17th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
This also reminds me of an old American adage to help set the clocks : “Spring Forward” (you set the clocks forward one hour in the spring; and “Fall Back” (you set the clocks back an hour in the autumn). It works!
March 17th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Thanks for the reminder!!! I always seem to forget. lol.
March 18th, 2010 at 7:21 am
Here in Tasmania we go the other way & depart Daylight saving time on the 1st Sunday in April
March 18th, 2010 at 7:29 am
thanks ya….
March 18th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Thanks for the reminder !
March 19th, 2010 at 2:08 am
thanks. nice to read info..
March 19th, 2010 at 8:23 am
So much easier. Thanks!!!
March 19th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Well… if you’re a pilot or an otherwise “globalized” person, you could as well leave your settings to plain vanilla UTC .
March 19th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
thank you!