Overview
This article explains the setting “Prompt selected user types to choose their timezone on login” found under Main Settings > General Settings > Localization Settings > Time & Days. It controls whether specific groups of users are asked to choose their own personal time zone the first time they log in after the setting is enabled for their user type, so that the dates and times they see in the system reflect where they actually are, instead of always showing the institute’s own local time.
Menu Path: Main Settings > General Settings > Localization Settings > Time & Days.
What This Setting Does
When this setting is turned on for one or more user types, every user belonging to one of the selected types will be asked, the next time they log in, to pick the time zone they are located in. This request appears as a pop-up window that cannot be dismissed or skipped without making a choice and saving it. Once a user has chosen a time zone, the pop-up will not appear again for that user afterward – it is only shown once. Users can still open their own profile page at any later time and change the time zone they picked, without needing to be prompted again.
The setting lets you choose any combination of the following user types:
- Student (Learner)
- Teacher (Lecturer)
- Parent (Guardian)
- Employee (administrative and office staff) accounts are not covered by this setting. Employees always see the institute’s own time zone and are never prompted to choose a personal one.
Configuration: Main Settings > General Settings > Localization Settings > Time & Days > “Prompt selected user types to choose their timezone on login.”
Where It Is Used
- Login welcome pop-up: right after logging in, a user of a selected type who has not chosen a personal time zone yet sees a welcome pop-up asking them to pick one before they can carry on using the rest of the portal.
- My Profile page: once a personal time zone has been chosen (or if a user wants to set or change it), the option is also available at any time from the user’s own profile page.
- Everywhere dates and times are shown: once a personal time zone is active for a user, every date and time the system displays to that user – timetables and schedules, session and homework due dates, exam and assessment schedules, dashboard timelines, notifications, messages, meetings and bookings – is automatically shown converted from the institute’s time zone into that user’s own chosen time zone.
Business Logic / Behavior
Prerequisite
Before enabling this setting, make sure the Institute’s Time Zone, also under Main Settings > General Settings > Localization Settings > Time & Days, is correctly set to where the institute is actually based. Every user’s personal time zone is applied as an offset from this institute time zone, so if the institute time zone is wrong, every converted time will be wrong too, even for users who correctly choose their own zone.
Business rules that follow from how this setting works:
The setting is a simple multiple-choice list of user types (Student, Teacher, Parent). You may select none, one, some, or all of them.
- If a user type is not selected, or no user types are selected at all, users of that type are never prompted, have no personal time-zone option, and always see the institute’s own time zone.
- If a user type is selected, each user of that type sees the pop-up exactly once – on the first login after the setting is enabled for their type, or on their very first login if their account was created after the setting was already active.
- If a user does not complete the choice (for example, they close the browser), they are simply asked again on their next login, since no time zone has been saved yet.
- Once a personal time zone is saved, the pop-up will not reappear for that user, and all dates and times shown to them from then on use their personal time zone.
- The setting applies at the level of the whole institute and stays the same across every school year/period; in a group of schools, each school configures it separately.
- Users can always revisit and change their personal time zone from their profile page later, for example after relocating, without this setting needing to prompt them again.
Higher Education Mode (Setting Enabled)
Higher-education institutions often have Students, Teachers, and Parents spread across different cities, countries, or continents, especially with online or distance-learning programs. Enabling this setting for these user types means each of them sees class times, exam schedules, assignment deadlines, and notifications converted into their own local time, instead of having to work out the time difference from the institute’s time zone themselves. This is the expected way to use the setting in this mode.
K-12 Mode (Setting Disabled)
K-12 schools are typically single-campus or single-region institutions, where Students, Teachers, and Parents live in or near the same city or time zone as the school. In this mode the setting is normally left disabled, with no user types selected, so nobody is prompted for a personal time zone, and everyone simply sees the institute’s own local time everywhere in the system. This keeps the login process short and avoids an unnecessary extra step for users who would choose the same time zone as the institute anyway.
Example(s)
Example 1 – Higher Education (setting enabled for Students and Teachers)
- “Riverdale International University” runs its main campus in London, with the Institute’s Time Zone set accordingly. The university also has Teachers and Students who teach or study remotely from other countries. The Administrator enables “Prompt selected user types to choose their timezone on login” for Students and Teachers, leaving Parents unselected.
- A Teacher based in New York logs in for the first time after the change and sees the welcome pop-up: “Welcome! To help us show the correct time for your activities. Please take a moment to choose your preferred Time Zone.” They select their local time zone and save.
- From then on, a class session scheduled for 14:00 London time appears on that Teacher‘s own timetable as 09:00, their local time.
- A Parent of one of the students is not affected, since Parents were not included in the setting, and continues to see all times in London time.
Example 2 – K-12 (setting disabled)
“Green Valley School” is a single-campus school where all Students, Teachers, and Parents live in the same town as the school. The Administrator leaves the setting disabled, with no user types selected. Nobody sees a time-zone pop-up when logging in, and every timetable, notification, and deadline is shown to everyone in the school’s own configured Institute’s Time Zone.
When to Use
When to Enable
- The institute has Students, Teachers, and/or Parents based in different regions or time zones than the institute itself (typical of higher education, online, or distance-learning programs).
- You want the affected users to see class times, deadlines, and notifications automatically converted to their own local time, without having to calculate the difference themselves.
When to Disable
- All users of the institute are based in the same city or region as the institute itself (typical of most K-12 schools).
- You want to keep the login process as short as possible and avoid asking a question whose answer would be the same as the institute’s own time zone anyway.
- You want every user to see exactly the same times as shown on the institute’s own official schedule, with no individual variation.
Notes
- This setting never affects Employees (administrative/office staff); they always see the institute’s own time zone.
- Related setting: Institute’s Time Zone: Main Settings > General Settings > Localization Settings > Time & Days – the base time zone the institute operates on, and the reference point every personal time-zone conversion is calculated against. It should be configured correctly before relying on this setting.
- The pop-up is designed to interrupt each user only once; it will not reappear once a personal time zone has been saved, unless that stored value is later cleared.
- If this setting is turned on for a user type that already has existing accounts, only their next login will trigger the pop-up – it does not appear immediately inside a session that is already open.
