Understand dates and time zones

How to get there: Dates appear across ProductLift in the changelog, post editor (schedule publish, created date, changelog date), post notifications tab, and Settings → Emails history.

ProductLift stores every date and time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in the database. The interface then converts to and from your browser's local time zone so what you see and what you pick reflect wall-clock time in your location.

What this means when you pick a date or time

Whenever you use a date/time picker, for example when scheduling a changelog post to publish at 1:00 PM or editing a changelog date, the value is treated as your browser's local time. ProductLift converts it to UTC before saving.

Under the picker you will see a small hint like:

Your local time (America/Los_Angeles)

That confirms which time zone the picker is interpreting your input in. The zone comes from your operating system settings, not from ProductLift.

What this means when you see a date or time

Timestamps you view (email history, post activity, notifications sent, changelog release dates, etc.) are converted from UTC back to your browser's local time zone before display. Two teammates in different countries will see the same event at different clock times, and both are correct for their location.

When the picker time seems "off"

If a picker or displayed time looks wrong by a few hours, the most common cause is that your computer's time zone is set incorrectly, not ProductLift. Check your operating system's date and time settings.

If you use ProductLift from multiple time zones (for example, traveling), scheduled publish times will always be interpreted in the time zone your browser is currently in.

Portal-wide time zone

ProductLift does not have a single portal-wide time zone setting. Each admin sees dates in their own local time, and each end user sees dates in theirs. This keeps the experience natural for teams and audiences spread across regions.

Where this applies

Dates and times use your browser's local zone in these places:

  • Changelog date on posts and the changelog board
  • Publish at (schedule a post to go live automatically)
  • Created at on posts
  • Notifications tab inside a post (when each notification was sent)
  • Settings → Emails history (sent and clicked timestamps)
  • Changelog cards on public boards, the What's New widget, and prioritization tables