Time to Spring Forward

March 14, 2010

Paul Kim

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.

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93 Comments

Comments are closed.

  1. sid Mar 14th at 6:08 pm

    thanks for reminding the fellow bloggers who need to adjust the time 🙂

    Like

  2. ileaneb Mar 14th at 6:47 pm

    Thanks for the reminder!

    Like

  3. kiwidutch Mar 14th 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:)

    Like

  4. kunemaajabu Mar 14th 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!!

    Like

    • Paul Kim Mar 14th 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.

      Like

  5. Car Mar 14th at 7:40 pm

    i don’t understand

    Like

  6. Mike LaMonica Mar 14th 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

    Like

  7. Moses Mar 14th at 9:03 pm

    ahhh smell the roses!

    Like

  8. Margaret Mar 14th 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.

    Like

  9. deathgleaner Mar 14th at 9:26 pm

    I adjusted my blog!

    Like

  10. amycommunications Mar 14th 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?

    Like

  11. Deli Lanoux, Ed.D. Mar 14th at 9:53 pm

    Done! I’d thought it was automatic, so thanks for the reminder.

    Like

  12. maureen17 Mar 14th at 10:19 pm

    Thank you for the reminder. Looks complicated but I’m sure it’s easy enough!

    Like

  13. Pam Phillips Mar 14th at 10:43 pm

    Thank you!

    Like

  14. Marina_Ukraine Mar 14th 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.

    Like

  15. tucsontoro Mar 14th 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

    Like

  16. Anne Lessing Mar 14th at 11:37 pm

    Aahh, almost forgot! Thanks for the heads-up.

    Like

  17. AKHMAD SUDRAJAT Mar 15th at 12:31 am

    Thank you for the reminder… BTW, when will WP.com enable Google Friend Connect? I need this feature… THX

    Like

  18. skossivi Mar 15th at 12:59 am

    Thanks a lot!

    Like

  19. misterblankon Mar 15th at 1:22 am

    thanks, i’ll check.

    Like

  20. Bill Mar 15th at 2:35 am

    Thanks. By the way it’s really daylight saving time. No s on saving.

    Picky Picky Bill

    Like

  21. shamballa9944 Mar 15th at 2:58 am

    Thanks for the heads up!

    Like

  22. Shiyiya Mar 15th at 3:04 am

    *does the Arizona doesn’t use DST dance*

    Like

  23. Gay Kansas Mar 15th 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?

    Like

  24. Yi Mar 15th at 3:47 am

    Would changing time have any effects on statistics?

    Like

  25. lilmaouz Mar 15th at 4:46 am

    Hello! Thanks for the Info. (It’s posted on Fr.forum already. Have a nice day, everybody 🙂 )

    Like

  26. lasnersiregar Mar 15th at 5:09 am

    hey, thanks for this info!

    Like

  27. Jio Mar 15th at 5:29 am

    How about for bloggers in the Philippines? The Wikipedia article does not help at all. Thanks again!

    Like

  28. julianusginting Mar 15th at 6:32 am

    thx u for remind me…hehee..

    Like

  29. Kuya Marc Mar 15th 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…

    Like

  30. Jennifer Mar 15th 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.

    Like

  31. Kam Mar 15th at 7:50 am

    Thanks for the information, now ready rendez-vous for the 28th at 02h ^_-
    Have a nice day * * *

    Like

  32. niceandnew Mar 15th at 8:55 am

    Daylight Saving and all, huh? Damn, I find it complicated 😦
    Let’s try to do it though 🙂

    Like

  33. Aiman Amani Mar 15th at 10:58 am

    Thanks for reminding but I’m living in Malaysia where the climate is about the same throughout the year 🙂

    Like

  34. lesdaprez Mar 15th at 11:08 am

    Thank you for the reminder…

    Like

  35. Xzion Mar 15th at 2:12 pm

    Thanks for the warning 🙂

    Like

  36. jagdish bali Mar 15th at 3:10 pm

    don’t understand. what about India?

    Like

  37. Brad Mar 15th 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.

    Like

  38. nfs1b Mar 15th at 4:30 pm

    Thank You for the reminder!

    Like

  39. Lagunatic Mar 15th 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. 😉

    Like

  40. Holly Meyers Mar 15th at 4:42 pm

    Thanks for mentioning the best sport in the world! I’m off to Spring Training next week! – Holly (UrbanYogaDen)

    Like

  41. daimlergunrow Mar 15th 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.

    Like

  42. Sharlet Mar 15th 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.

    Like

  43. Moco Scribe Mar 15th at 11:25 pm

    Thank you for reminding us!

    Like

  44. gramescualin Mar 15th at 11:48 pm

    ok,i will change..thanks

    Like

  45. blancarivas Mar 16th at 2:20 am

    thanks for the tip

    Like

  46. Pingback: Misc Stuff-Make Sure To Change Your Blog Time For Daylight Savings Time!!!!!!! « Anime Full Circle
  47. aoinnoji Mar 16th at 6:00 am

    reminds me of benjamin franklin^^..! thanks for reminding, mate!

    Like

  48. Andy Mar 16th at 7:47 am

    Thanks for that!:)

    Like

  49. Logan Mar 16th 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.

    Like

  50. Lane Mar 16th 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!)

    Like

  51. cm7yre Mar 16th at 2:05 pm

    Thanks 😀 I would have forgotten it 😀

    Like

  52. kunstsoldaat Mar 16th at 2:36 pm

    spring can be so borinkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk…

    Like

  53. siking Mar 16th 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?

    Like

  54. لؤي Mar 16th at 4:04 pm

    Thanks for the update 😉

    Like

  55. abossybabe Mar 16th 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!

    Like

  56. Pingback: Set Your Blog’s Timezone by City — Blog — WordPress.com
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  58. oliviaandstuff Mar 16th at 10:42 pm

    Thank God you reminded me!

    Like

  59. Web Solutions Mar 17th at 4:34 am

    Thanks for reminding me and really nice and great

    Like

  60. Desiree Mar 17th at 5:41 am

    thank youuuU!!!

    Like

  61. sadiahaidarig Mar 17th 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

    Like

  62. webmistress Mar 17th at 1:35 pm

    I always forget about this even though its an annual thing lol

    Like

  63. Pingback: ブログのタイムゾーンを町の名前で指定 — ブログ — WordPress.com
  64. TEVG Mar 17th at 5:32 pm

    Time owns all of us. Arrgh!

    Like

  65. bruceredor Mar 17th 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?

    Like

  66. bruceredor Mar 17th 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!

    Like

  67. tcer Mar 17th at 9:21 pm

    Thanks for the reminder!!! I always seem to forget. lol.

    Like

  68. Pingback: Time Changes. Skips ahead an hour. « Diyhades's Blog
  69. Tony Mar 18th at 7:21 am

    Here in Tasmania we go the other way & depart Daylight saving time on the 1st Sunday in April

    Like

  70. Andrik Supriadi Mar 18th at 7:29 am

    thanks ya….

    Like

  71. shan Mar 18th at 8:10 am

    Thanks for the reminder !

    Like

  72. artrievals Mar 19th at 2:08 am

    thanks. nice to read info..

    Like

  73. chichappens Mar 19th at 8:23 am

    So much easier. Thanks!!!

    Like

  74. oraculix Mar 19th 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 . 🙂

    Like

  75. P Mar 19th at 3:30 pm

    thank you!

    Like

  76. linnya Mar 21st at 11:25 pm

    Thank you very much~!

    Like

  77. jaws45221 Mar 22nd at 5:18 am

    I joined wordpress a few months ago and its a big hit

    Like

  78. theirishway Mar 23rd at 9:47 am

    Wish I’d read this earlier – I live in England and because our time delay is later I got a very bad tempered brother when I called an hour earlier than I thought I was doing. Mother’s day is different too. Times is hard …

    Like

  79. cikguict Mar 24th at 4:26 am

    tq for ur info

    Like

  80. longjhonsilver Mar 24th at 10:12 am

    so good but i don’t understand one thing why are they playing with the clock each year just leave it as it is?

    Like

  81. colourmagazine Mar 24th at 2:34 pm

    I am from Greece so i have to change the “clock” in Sunday !

    Like

  82. Ron Mar 24th at 3:29 pm

    Re:- Update: There’s a full listing of when Daylight Saving Time begins around the world in this article on Wikipedia.

    Actually, it doesn’t list that information. But why does this seem to be such a massive problem – based on comments here? Surely everybody should be aware of the prevailing situation in their own country?

    If anyone in Britain is baffled, clocks go forward on March 28, and back on October 31 this year.

    Like

  83. helpourveterans Mar 24th at 7:18 pm

    I think some people are still catching up with the time change. Oh well, spring cleaning continues.

    Like

  84. Ah Fat Mar 24th at 11:10 pm

    I forgot you have to do so!
    now it reminds me, sadly i am going to lose an hour

    Like

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