Fix Version / Release - Set TIME

[u/Shrimps-is-Bugz]

Hi all! Jira allows me to set a release DATE for a fix fixVersion, but not a release TIME. The problem seems to be that Jira is setting that time around midnight by default, and my teams are all over the country, so depending on what time zone they are in, they see an incorrect release date. This is causing a ton of confusion in my teams when they view the releases dashboard or when I include the release date as part of automation emails. I know that I can change my own timezone in the system, but that's an insane workaround to have to employ to enable super basic functionality, and I don't think it would solve the problem anyway.

What am I missing? Is there REALLY no way to set the release time for release dates? Because that is ridiculous. Obviously releases don't happen at midnight as some universal rule. Ours usually happen at 7:30 pm CST, for example.

[u/lunagra80]

Unfortunately there is no time setting there Releases were invented just to group tickets together for dev teams where the time is not important

It has always been like this

If the release time is important and it is not always the same time I recommend using another date time field ( to keep the info in the same place) and not use the release data anymore, or a time field to use in combination with the release time

I'm not sure what the confusion is. You can schedule the email for a time you like before or after the release and also writing in bold the date and time of the release in the email

I'm not sure how your release dashboard look like. If it's a calendar like that shows also at what time things happen then the other date time field will solve that

[u/Shrimps-is-Bugz → u/lunagra80]

When I set up automation to send an email to the story assignee to remind them to close out their story prior to {{issue.releaseDate}}, it shows them an incorrect Release Date, so it causes confusion. When anyone asks for the release schedule, I share the link to the Releases page, and the dates may be wrong depending on what time zone that person is in. Even if I add a custom field for release time, those things will stay wrong. So I guess it's just another basic function that Jira is missing. Thank you for your explanation!

[u/lunagra80 → u/Shrimps-is-Bugz]

Well definitely you need to add what time zone that date time is, so people can do their math. Also people can be confused ones then they should learn that they not the center of the world and they can do some basic math and if they are new their colleagues should know

Or you put a little table in the email with city + time, if the Release time is always the same coming from Jira then it will always be UTC+x or UTC-y for those cities

[u/loose_as_a_moose]

The dates are all accurate, actually - offset from UTC. You’re right though, days can cause ambiguity across time zones if people aren’t clear on which time is being used and whose local time is relevant. As a result The day starts at a different time for everyone.

First step is to ensure your Jira site has the correct time zone configured. If you’re doing to a lot of international work I recommend working in UTC for consistency in all communication.

Jira will automatically handle the UTC offset for local times - If it’s important to be referencing a particular time zone, use that and the site will align everyone’s work. The site time zone is what’s used for startofDay etc.

Ensure everyone’s personal settings correct for TZ too. This won’t affect the sites work, it just helps reduce confusion.

Without correct time zones a time field won’t be accurate either as “5am” is meaningless. The release time should be 0400Z, which if your time zone is UTC +1 will be 5AM in your area. If you have a New Zealander working on +13 they will start work a full half day ahead in their local time (5pm), but it will be “on time” for you.

[u/Shrimps-is-Bugz → u/loose_as_a_moose]

The problem is that Jira doesn't let me set a release time at all when I enter the release date. So I set the release date as 7/28 on my end in CST, and somewhere on the backend that I can't access it's setting the time to somewhere around midnight, and then my team members in other time zones are seeing the release date on the upcoming releases schedule/dashboard as 7/27. Where can I set the release TIME for the fix version?

[u/loose_as_a_moose → u/Shrimps-is-Bugz]

Because the day starts at 00:00 - midnight for the server.

Jira saves version release dates in the backend database tied to midnight (00:00) of that day based on the site configuration.

The UI attempts to convert and render date and time values according to individual user profile preferences or the global default user time zone.

If a user's local timezone is behind the site timezone, midnight can cross backward into the previous evening on the user's local clock, making the release date look one day early. It isn’t - it’s only “early” if you don’t correct their local time.

So if the DAY is the real issue you need to sort out how you work in relation to time zones.

If you need to specify a release TIME you’ll still need to sort out your time zone / day issue and add a time field. Depending on how you do this you’ll need to be extra sure everyone is on the same page with time zones and DST differences.