How does one display the actual times for multiple time zones in a calendar?
This should be simple. Suppose someone is flying from Boston to San Francisco on January 2. They have one event at 6:00 PM on January 1: Dinner with Mary, and another event at 9:00 AM on January 3: Breakfast with Susie. The Boston event is EST; the California event is PST. And suppose when they return to Boston on January 12 they have a doctor's appointment the next day at 10:00 AM.
But if one sets the time zone for Lightning (Thunderbird > Preferences [MacOS] > Calendar .. Time Zone), one gets either EST or PST. If the Calendar option is set to EST, the California times are 3 hours too late; and if time zone is set to PST, the eastern times are too early.
In Lightning, how does one make multiple events display times appropriate for their time zones?
Is there any way to make Lightning use the system time zone by default when setting times? E.g., my Macbook automatically sets its time zone based on its location. So can for new events in Lightning, can it use PST if I'm in California and EST if I'm in Boston?
All Replies (5)
In the Event window, do you see the TZ selector, as in the attached picture?
Nope.
Please see the attached screenshot.
I notice you don't have a Menu Bar with Options/Show Timezones, but if pressing Alt doesn't show it, right-click on the Event Toolbar, Customize..., and drag the Show Timezones button onto the bar (see picture).
I'm working on a Mac, so my menu bar is at the top of the screen and not at the top of the window. But thanks to your reply, I was able to locate the option. Now I can see the timezone items.
But this still doesn't entirely solve the problems
First, I use Tripit when traveling, which is when I need timezone information the most. But Tripit just creates calendar entries which appear as a dedicated calendar in Lightning. They're not editable in Lightning, but they can be changed in Tripit. Besides, Tripit is conscious of events' geographic location and usually, but not always, handles timezones correctly.
Second, and more troubling, if I'm in California and (1) set the computer's timezone to automatically change based on location and (2) set Lightning's timezone to, say, "Los Angeles" (Preferences > Calendar > General .. Timezone -> America/Los Angeles), then all events, even those in Boston, use PST.
Rather than doctor each event individually, which would take an enormous amount of time, I would like:
- Ideally, Lighting to be smart about timezones, much the way Tripit usually is, and decide on timezone based on (a) the location of the event or (b) the location of the computer when the event is added
- If not this, then to be able to select multiple events, or even specify a range of dates, and set events within that range to a particular timezone
You'll probably find better answers in the Calendar forum, but I don't think Lightning can apply the time zone based on location specified in events. If you're in Calif. and create a new event, the times are PST, but if the event is in Boston, you have to click the time zone widget and select America/New York to have the times shift 3 hours forward.
I don't think you can set a time zone for a selection of events, but if it's set in one, events can be copied and pasted, Ctrl+C/V.
But I don't use Lightning to schedule events, and am rarely in a different time zone, so I can't really suggest or test a practical method.