November 09, 2017

TimeZoneCalculator Plugin

Calculates, displays and automatically updates times and dates in different timezones with respect to daylight saving.

based on PHP timezones database (please read the FAQ for further information)
fully settings page configurable with GUI or manually
easy to integrate (ships with multi/sidebar- and dashboard-widget functionality)
display clock in WordPress Admin Bar
possible to integrate in “Right Now” box or to display as widget on the dashboard and on the user’s profile page
Calculator section in Tools-Menu with individual timezone-selection for every user
optional Ajax refresh with jQuery
fully compatible with https/SSL/TLS-sites
API for developers
fully multisite network compatible
clean uninstall

Plan your travels with the free JourneyCalculator which is based on TimeZoneCalculator.

Please find the version for WordPress

3.8 and higher here
3.3 to 3.7 here
2.8 to 3.2 here
1.5 to 2.7 here

Plugin’s website:https://www.bernhard-riedl.com/projects/

Author’s website:https://www.bernhard-riedl.com/
Attention! – Geeks’ stuff ahead! 😉

API

With TimeZoneCalculator 2.00 and higher you can also realize a html select which displays for example the airtime of your internet radio station or your broadcasts in your users’ local time. Another possibility for the usage of the upcoming function is the integration of date, time and timezone information into your travelling blog.

Parameters can either be passed as an array or a URL query type string (e.g. “display=0&format=0”). Please note that WordPress parses all arguments as strings, thus booleans have to be 0 or 1 if used in query type strings whereas for arrays real booleans should be used. – Furthermore you have to break your timezones with \n : America/New_York;EST;EWT;New York, NY, US;New York, NY, US;0;0\nEurope/Vienna;;;sleep longer in winter;get up earlier to enjoy the sun;1;0 if you want to use different timezones in a query_string. In case you use an array, an array should also be used for the timezones.

function $timezonecalculator->output($params=array())

$params:

query_time: any unix timestamp (where -1262304000 <= query_time <= 2145916800) or any English textual datetime description in the range of 1930-01-01 and 2038-01-01 which can be parsed with PHP’s strtotime function; default is set to current UTC
query_timezone: origin-timezone of query_time; you can choose a PHP timezone_string; otherwise UTC will be used
before_list: default <ul>
after_list: default </ul>
format_timezone: default <li><abbr title="%name">%abbreviation</abbr>: <span title="%name">%datetime</span></li>
format_datetime: default Y-m-d H:i
timezones: alternative timezones-array – each array entry has to be a string as described in the Manual Selection Section of the Admin Menu; default is the timezones-entries array which can be modified in the Admin Menu
prefer_user_timezones: prefer user set timezones – if they exist – to global or function call timezones; default is false
user_id: determines which user’s timezones should be used; not set as default -> use the timezones of the user who is currently logged in
use_container: if set to true (default value), the current UTC is used as query_time and the same selected timezones and format is used as set in the admin menu, TimeZoneCalculator wraps the output in a html div with the class timezonecalculator-refreshable-output – the class timezonecalculator-output will be used for all other output; if you set use_container to false, no container div will be generated
display: if you want to return the timezone-information (e.g. for storing in a variable) instead of echoing it with this function-call, set this to false; default setting is true
format_container: This option can be used to format the div container with css. Please note, that it should only be used to provide individual formats in case the class-style itself cannot be changed.
no_refresh: If set to true, TimeZoneCalculator will not produce any Ajax-Refresh-code, even if you have enabled the Ajax refresh in the admin menu.

Example for including a world-clock in your post-template (usually single.php or post.php in wp-content/themes) using WordPress the_date() function:

Find something similar to

the_date();

the_time();

and replace it with

<?php $timezonecalculator->output(array('query_time' => the_date('U', '', '', false))); ?>

This outputs your selected timezones, whereas calculations are based on the timestamp of your post instead of using the current UTC.

Shortcodes

How-to for shortcodes

General Example:

Enter the following text anywhere in a post or page to inform the clan when to meet up again:

let's meet tomorrow for a new challenge at: [timezonecalculator_output query_time="tomorrow 8pm" query_timezone="Europe/Vienna" timezones="Europe/Vienna\nAsia/Bangkok"]

Available Shortcode:

timezonecalculator_output

Invokes $timezonecalculator->output($params). Please note that you have to use a query_string to select timezones which can be parsed into an associative array. – For example: America/New_York;EST;EWT;New York, NY, US;New York, NY, US;0;0\nEurope/Vienna;;;sleep longer in winter;get up earlier to enjoy the sun;1;0

Filters

How-To for filters

Available Filters:

timezonecalculator_defaults

In case you want to set the default parameters globally rather than handing them over on every function call, you can add the filtertimezonecalculator_defaults in for example timezonecalculator.php or your own customization plugin (recommended).

Please note that parameters which you hand over to a function call ($timezonecalculator->output) will always override the defaults parameters, even if they have been set by a filter or in the admin menu.

timezonecalculator_dashboard_widget

Receives an array which is used for the dashboard-widget-function call to $timezonecalculator->output($params). display and use_container will automatically be set to true.

timezonecalculator_dashboard_right_now

Receives an array which is used for the right-now-box-function call to $timezonecalculator->output($params). display and use_container will automatically be set to true.

timezonecalculator_world_clock_tools_page

Receives an array which is used for the world-clock-function call on the tools-page to $timezonecalculator->output($params). display, use_container and prefer_user_timezones will automatically be set to true.

timezonecalculator_user_profile

Receives an array which is used for the user-profile-function call to $timezonecalculator->output($params). display, use_container and prefer_user_timezones will automatically be set to true.

timezonecalculator_admin_bar_clock

Receives an array which is used for the admin-bar-clock-function call to $timezonecalculator->output($params). display will automatically be set to false and use_container to true. Moreover, the timezones will be set to Local_WordPress_Time. The filter timezonecalculator_admin_bar_clock_format_container will be used as default format for the clock.

timezonecalculator_admin_bar_clock_format_container

Receives a string which represents the container style.

timezonecalculator_admin_bar_clock_position

Position of the clock in the Admin Bar (see wp-includes/class-wp-admin-bar.php function add_menus). Default is 1000 which is the last position.

timezonecalculator_calculator

Receives an array which is used for the calculator-page function call to $timezonecalculator->output($params). display, use_container will automatically be set to true.

timezonecalculator_calculator_timezone

Receives a timezone-string which is used for the calculator-page.

timezonecalculator_calculator_format_date

Receives an array whereas each entry represents a date-format. The first date-format will be used as display-format in the textfield.

timezonecalculator_calculator_format_time

Receives a string which is used to determine whether to use 12 or 24-hour clock. In case this string contains a or A, the 12-hour clock will be preferred.

Installation

Copy the timezonecalculator directory into your WordPress Plugins directory (usually wp-content/plugins). Hint: You can also conduct this step within your Admin Menu.
In the WordPress Admin Menu go to the Plugins tab and activate the TimeZoneCalculator plugin.
Navigate to the Settings/TimeZoneCalculator tab and customize the timezones according to your desires.
If you have widget functionality just drag and drop TimeZoneCalculator on your widget area in the Appearance Menu. Add additional function and shortcode calls according to your desires.
Be happy and celebrate! (and maybe you want to add a link to https://www.bernhard-riedl.com/projects/)

Screenshots

This screenshot shows the Settings/TimeZoneCalculator Tab with the Selection GUI Section in the Admin Menu.
This picture presents the Preview Section of the TimeZoneCalculator Tab in the Admin Menu.
This screenshot illustrates the clock in the WordPress Admin Bar. - The date/time and display format can be customized.
The last picture shows the Calculator Section in the Tools Menu on a mobile phone.

FAQ

Installation Instructions

Copy the timezonecalculator directory into your WordPress Plugins directory (usually wp-content/plugins). Hint: You can also conduct this step within your Admin Menu.
In the WordPress Admin Menu go to the Plugins tab and activate the TimeZoneCalculator plugin.
Navigate to the Settings/TimeZoneCalculator tab and customize the timezones according to your desires.
If you have widget functionality just drag and drop TimeZoneCalculator on your widget area in the Appearance Menu. Add additional function and shortcode calls according to your desires.
Be happy and celebrate! (and maybe you want to add a link to https://www.bernhard-riedl.com/projects/)

I get the error-message `Fatal error: Class ‘DateTimeZone’ not found in` [..]

TimeZoneCalculator uses the PHP timezones library. Thus, please make sure that you have a recent version of PHP including this library installed and enabled.

If any timezone information like offset, abbreviations, etc. appears to be wrong, please leave a message for the PHP guys on their board.

Why can’t I see the ‘Selection GUI’ section?

This section is based on JavaScript. Thus, you have to enable JavaScript in your browser (this is a default setting in modern browsers like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome). TimeZoneCalculator is still fully functional without JavaScript, but you need to customize your timezones manually. If you use a device with a smaller display (e.g. mobile phone), this section will also be hidden.

Changelog

3.37

SSLified further links

3.36

replaced deprecated function calls to wp_get_current_user() and removed $user_ID-globals – thanks for the notification to highgatecreative

3.35

SSLified further links

3.34

changed the permission-denied message in uninstall.php core-trac #14530
removed support link
fixed some typos

3.33

adapted trigger of error-messages on settings-page to work with copy & paste
fixed a warning with clock in Admin Bar – thanks for the notification to bnizette
fixed some typos

3.32

changed h3 to h2 on profile-page as follow-up to this post about hierarchy of headings in admin screens
small clean-up

3.31

small security improvements
implemented h1 on settings-page as follow-up to core-trac #31650

3.30

remember last used timezone in calculator
added support link
set 403 http-status code for unauthorized ajax-calls

3.21

marked calculator & settings-page semantically
enhanced uninstall procedure
set appropriate http-status codes for wp_die()-calls

3.20

made settings-page retina/hdpi-display ready
adapted settings-page to be fully touch-display enabled
renamed settings-page sections
moved vendor-code to separate directory
fixed small potential bug
cleaned-up code
implemented minor design changes
SSLified links
added assets/icons

3.10

implemented responsive web design on settings-page and calculator (thanks for feedback to Alfred Dahlmann, Veronika Grascher and Christian Heiling)
removed calls to screen_icon()
improved performance
extended length of format-parameters to provide space for example for mobile css-classes
fixed some bugs (thanks for patches to Robert Koch and Yasen Tenev)
removed filter timezonecalculator_available_admin_colors
cleaned-up code

3.00

changed settings-page to jQuery
improved usability
discontinued support for Prototype
updated jshashtable to 3.0
removed legacy-code -> minimum-version of WordPress necessary is now 3.3
renamed option include_wordpress_clock_admin_head to include_wordpress_clock_admin_bar
added caching for continent/timezone-select fields
removed option ajax_refresh_lib
removed deprecated function getTimeZonesTime()
applied PHP 5 constructor in widget
tested with PHP 5.4
removed PHP closing tag before EOF
removed reference sign on function calls
adapted plugin-links to the new structure of wordpress.org
cleaned-up code

2.45

made add-link to link manager for WordPress 3.5 and higher optional
fixed some HTML5 deprecated warnings

2.44

extended length of format_timezone-string to 150 chars
adapted ‘Defaults’-string to use WordPress internal i18n
updated support section
updated project-information

2.43

changed handling of contextual help for WordPress 3.3
implemented WordPress 3.3 Admin Bar add_node() function
adapted handling of default settings
external files are now registered in init-hook

2.42

changed spin-url to also be delivered according to the site’s protocol

2.41

fixed a bug with Ajax-update functionality in a SSL-environment. Thanks to huyz who has mentioned this in the forum https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-generalstats-makes-https-call-to-admin-ajax-even-if-site-is-http
adapted Admin Header Clock to WordPress 3.2 Admin Menu

2.40

revised the security model (replaced option Allow anonymous Ajax Refresh Requests with All users can view timezones and added the option Capability to view timezones to define the capability of a certain user to access the timezones)
de-coupling of Ajax-refresh-functions and output of wp_localize_script (TimeZoneCalculator is now compatible with WP Minify)
small enhancements

2.31

adapted Admin Bar implementation to re-worked WordPress code

2.30

Changed default Ajax library to jQuery (Prototype is by default now only used for the settings and calculator pages)
added support of Admin Menu header clock for WordPress 3.1 Admin Bar
Code clean-up in the Ajax-refresh-files
Small bug-fixes and enhancements

2.20

added jQuery as alternative to Prototype for the Ajax refresh in the front-end

2.10

added $params['user_id'] as argument of $timezonecalculator->output() to make it possible for users to access the timezones of other users
the access to the user’s timezones-selection can be restricted
reworked and extended a few internal functions
corrected a few typos and fixed potential bugs

2.00

start Changelog
completely reworked API methods and internal structure
Security improvements (wp_nonce, capabilities)
reworked Admin Menu
extracted JavaScript-code
offer new function $timezonecalculator->output()
all timezones, that are not set to specific datetime are now Ajax refreshable
the timezone-name can now also be displayed if you opt-out from displaying the timezone-abbreviation
localized datetimes and timezones
added Admin Menu header clock
possible to add in “Right Now” box on dashboard
the calculator and a world-clock can be displayed in the tools-Menu.
users are now able to choose their own timezones
added log functionality
reworked handling of settings in the Admin Menu
deprecated old function GetTimeZoneTime()
added contextual help to settings menu
updated license to GPLv3