How to store the timezone?

Question

Hi i am using PHP to store the timezone.The timezone coming from dropdown and when I try to store it if its (GMT+5.30) or (GMT+anything) the plus symbol doesnt stored on database.It stored as (GMT 5.30).How can I store it correctly?

Answer 1

Store all your times in UTC, that way you can easily convert them to any timezone that you require.

As for the timezone - I would store this in a seperate column either with the offset from UTC or even better store the locale of the timezone e.g. "America/New_York" that way you can accomodate for daylight saving times also.

Answer 2

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