How Can I Accurately Determine a User's Time Zone Using JavaScript and PHP?

Determining User's Time Zone: A Comprehensive Guide

Determining the time zone of your users is crucial for displaying accurate time-based information. This article will delve into the methods available to achieve this, addressing the specific concerns raised by the OP.

Extracting Time Zone Information

One popular method, as suggested by the OP, involves using new Date().getTimezoneOffset()/60. This expression calculates the offset between the user's local time and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in hours. However, it does not provide the actual time zone identifier.

Dynamic Time Zone Detection

To dynamically determine the user's time zone, you can utilize JavaScript libraries such as jstz.min.js. This library employs various techniques to ascertain the user's time zone based on HTTP headers and browser information.

Integrating with PHP

To integrate time zone detection into PHP, you can leverage the code snippet provided in the answer:

<script type="text/javascript">
  $(document).ready(function(){
    var tz = jstz.determine();
    var timezone = tz.name(); // For example: "Asia/Kolkata"
    $.post("url-to-function-that-handles-time-zone", {tz: timezone}, function(data) {
       //Process the timezone in the controller function and get
       //the confirmation value here. On success, refresh the page.
     });
  });
</script>

This script sends the detected time zone to your PHP function (url-to-function-that-handles-time-zone), which can process and confirm the time zone before refreshing the page with the correct time.

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