Welcome to the ultimate guide on managing dates and time zones in Bubble.io and Make.com! 🌍⌛ Understanding how dates are read, sent, and formatted is crucial for seamless business automation. Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of handling dates effectively.

Understanding Date Tokens

First things first, if you’re working with dates in Make.com, you need to familiarize yourself with date tokens. These tokens help you format dates and times accurately. You can find a comprehensive guide on the Make.com Help Center. They cover everything from years, months, and days to seconds and Unix timestamps, which are commonly used for date and time manipulations.

Time Zones: The Game Changer

Time zones can be a tricky aspect of working with dates. When you receive a date in Make.com, it usually comes with a time zone. If the time zone isn’t specified, Make.com assumes it’s in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

Knowing your local time zone is essential. A quick Google search for “time zone [your city]” will help you determine your UTC offset. For instance, if you’re 8 hours ahead of UTC, your time zone will be UTC+8. This is crucial for ensuring that your dates are displayed and managed accurately across different platforms.

Working with Different Platforms

Let’s explore how different platforms handle dates and time zones:

Airtable

Airtable dynamically adjusts dates to match your local time zone. This means that regardless of the time zone in which the date was written, it will always be displayed in your local time zone. This can be convenient, but it also means that you need to be mindful of time zone differences when sharing data between different users.

Google Sheets

In Google Sheets, dates are static and do not change based on the viewer’s time zone. This can lead to discrepancies when working with dates across different platforms. To pull accurate date values from Google Sheets into Make.com, ensure that the date format is set correctly in Google Sheets.

Manipulating Dates in Make.com

In Make.com, you can manipulate dates using various functions:

Formatting Dates

Formatting dates involves changing how a date is stored or sent. For example, you might need to convert a UTC date into a Unix timestamp. Use the ‘formatDate’ function to achieve this. Here’s a quick example:

{{formatDate(date; 'x')}}

This will convert the date into a Unix timestamp in milliseconds.

Converting Time Zones

To convert a date into a different time zone, you need to know the target time zone. You can find a list of time zones in the TZ Database. For instance, to convert a date to the Hobart time zone (UTC+10), you would format the date like this:

{{formatDate(date; 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss;Australia/Hobart')}}

This will adjust the date to the Hobart time zone, considering any daylight savings adjustments.

Parsing Dates

Sometimes, you receive date strings that need to be parsed into date objects. Use the ‘parseDate’ function to convert a text date into a date object. Specify the date format and the time zone:

{{parseDate('08/11/2021 14:19'; 'MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm'; 'Australia/Perth')}}

This will convert the text date into a date object in the specified time zone.

Avoid Common Mistakes

One common mistake is to manually adjust for time zones by adding or subtracting hours. This can lead to errors, especially during daylight savings changes. Always use the ‘formatDate’ or ‘parseDate’ functions to handle time zone conversions accurately.

Conclusion

Mastering dates and time zones in Bubble.io and Make.com is essential for effective business automation. By understanding date tokens, time zones, and using the right functions, you can ensure that your dates are accurate and consistent across different platforms. Happy automating! 🤖🎉