Content Created Date and Start Publishing Time Adds 6 Hours On Save

[jjThornton]

Hi,

A site that I work on has switched servers, and it seems that each time I save a content page it adds 6 hours to the Start Publishing and Created Date fields, while the Modified Date seems to get updated with the correct time. In the DB the field format looks accurate for all the datetime fields.

Is anyone aware of why this may occur, or where would be the a good starting point to understand what is happening?

The version of Joomla is 3.9.5, and it is running on CENTOS 7.7 server. This did not seem to be an issue on the previous server, at least it had not been noticed. Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you in advance.
jj

[Webdongle]

3.9.15 is the current version

[brian]

It is nothing to do with your joomla version, although of course you should be up to date.

Please go to the global configuration and check the value of the "website time zone"

[jjThornton]

Hi Brian,

Thank you very much for your prompt response.

I have not modified the Joomla version yet due to various extension dependencies, and given that the problem did not appear to exist prior to the server migration. I thought I would just see if there were any known reasons for this issue within the community.

I checked the Global Configuration -> Location Settings as you suggested, and came up with the same value as your attached image:

Screenshot 2020-02-14 at 18.51.44.png

I greatly appreciate your time and help in this matter.

Kind regards.

[Webdongle]

The Timestamp will reflect the time difference between the 'Website Time Zone' setting and the coputer time.
e.g. If the 'Website Time Zone' is set to a city one hour ahead of your PC then the timestamp will be 1 hour ahead of the computer time.

To test that
1. Set the 'Website Time Zone' to a city 1 hour ahead of your computer time.
2. Create an Article and observe the Creation Timestamp is 1 hour ahead of your computer time.
3. Reset the 'Website Time Zone' to a city in your time zone
4. Refresh the Article and observe the Timestamp now shows time on your PC (could be a minutes difference depending on how long it takes you)
Switching servers should make no difference to that.

If the above does not happen for you then update your Joomla and test again.

[jjThornton]

Hi Webdongle,

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I have followed your steps and changed the time in the Global Configuration as you have suggested, and all of the times update as expected. When I save an article however, the Start Publishing and Created Date still advance by 6 hours, while the Modified Date remains unchanged.

I will try updating Joomla to the latest version and see if that does anything.

[jjThornton]

I have tried the following:
Updated Joomla to 3.9.15
Disabled installed extensions to remove possible interference from non-core sources.
Restarted the webhosting server.

The problem persists despite these efforts.

Given that the Article Modified date works as expected, but the Start Publishing, and Created Date seem to get updated incorrectly by adding 6 hours with each save, would you have any further recommendations regarding where I can direct my attention in order to understand what may be happening here?

[Webdongle]

Is it set to a city in the same timezone as you are in?

[jjThornton]

Hi Webdongle,

Thank you so much for your help.

If I change the Website Time Zone in the Location Settings of the Global Configuration to my timezone, or any other for that matter, this modifies the initial value of the save, but does not appear to affect the fact that 6 hours are added with each subsequent save that is made. The values for Start Publishing and Created Date always go up by 6 hours.

It seems so odd, but I am sure that there is a logical explanation, if only I could work out what it is.

[Webdongle]

The six hours deficit should change with different settings in global. This is strange. https://forumpostassistant.github.io/docs/ please