Displaying time in 24h format?

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AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around the possibility of displaying time in a 24-hour format along with the date in dd.mm.yyyy style. Users express frustration over cultural differences in date formats, particularly between American and international standards. Some participants note that while they prefer the 24-hour format, others have complained, leading to a reversion to the original format. There is a consensus that an unambiguous date format, such as "03-Sep-2008," would be beneficial for clarity. Overall, the conversation highlights the challenges of accommodating diverse user preferences in a global forum setting.
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Is it possible to display time in 24h format? I have a feeling it was possible before I left for vacations, but I can be wrong.

24h format plus dd.mm.yyyy please :wink:
 
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Borek said:
Is it possible to display time in 24h format? I have a feeling it was possible before I left for vacations, but I can be wrong.

24h format plus dd.mm.yyyy please :wink:

blah, I changed it to 24h and everyone whined, now I set it back... can't please everyone :cry:
 
Problem is the culture difference, Borek, between both sides of the atlantic, also mm.dd.yyyy. Somebody will always be confused.
 
The majority of users, I believe, are in the US.
 
Does it have to be identical for all forum members? I know that phpBB & SMF allow per user configuration of date & time formats. I will take care about my cultural habits by myself, just give me the opportunity :wink:
 
Evo said:
The majority of users, I believe, are in the US.

Hah, this is exactly why Americans are not liked in many places - they don't understand that others can be different :devil:
 
Borek said:
Hah, this is exactly why Americans are not liked in many places - they don't understand that others can be different :devil:
:smile: We understand and agree that everyone needs to get on board with our standards. :-p
 
Greg Bernhardt said:
Borek said:
Is it possible to display time in 24h format? I have a feeling it was possible before I left for vacations, but I can be wrong.

24h format plus dd.mm.yyyy please :wink:
blah, I changed it to 24h and everyone whined, now I set it back... can't please everyone :cry:
Joking aside, the date format is quite irritating to those of us outside the U.S.. Decades of experience allow me understand "dd/mm/yy" instantly, but I have to think for a few seconds when I see "mm.dd.yy".

Wouldn't the best solution be an unambiguous format such as "03-Sep-2008"?
 
Evo said:
The majority of users, I believe, are in the US.
Not according to this: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=252402

Evo said:
:smile: We understand and agree that everyone needs to get on board with our standards. :-p
Two American tourists, Billy Ray and Bobby Joe (let's say), are shipwrecked and find themselves washed ashore on a remote Polynesian island. After scouting around they discover two things: they are likely stuck on the island for weeks or even years, and the natives spoke a strange and difficult language. A nervous Billy confides to Bobby, "Bobby Joe, this is going to be hard ... real hard. We're going to have to teach all these here folk how to speak English."
 
  • #10
Gokul43201 said:
I wonder what the real percentage is, I believe there is a website that showed where people were hitting the forum from and the majority then was the US.

Two American tourists, Billy Ray and Bobby Joe (let's say), are shipwrecked and find themselves washed ashore on a remote Polynesian island. After scouting around they discover two things: they are likely stuck on the island for weeks or even years, and the natives spoke a strange and difficult language. A nervous Billy confides to Bobby, "Bobby Joe, this is going to be hard ... real hard. We're going to have to teach all these here folk how to speak English."
So true, hard to believe there are still places that don't speak English. :wink: Hey, English is not my first language, btw. I spoke French before learning English.
 
  • #11
Evo said:
I wonder what the real percentage is, I believe there is a website that showed where people were hitting the forum from and the majority then was the US.
Greg provided these statistics in the Library article on the history of physicsforums.

https://www.physicsforums.com/library.php?do=view_item&itemid=83 said:
Demographics:
PF average 100,000+ visitors, 100+ new members and 1000+ posts per day.

80% search engines, 10% referral sites, 10% direct traffic

80% of our visitors are from North America. 10% Europe, 5% asia and 5% other.

55% use Internet Explorer. 38% use FireFox. 5% Safari, 1% Opera

70% on high speed internet, 10% dialup

88% on Windows, 8% Mac, 3% Linux

Looks like some changes have been made to the date/time display format. Old posts are time-stamped like this:
Aug 26th, 08, 04:51 AM
 
  • #12
I like the date format change. Thanks Greg.
 
  • #13
The new date format looks weird and will take some getting use to, but given our international usership this is an excellent compromise.
 
  • #14
Evo said:
I wonder what the real percentage is, I believe there is a website that showed where people were hitting the forum from and the majority then was the US.

http://www.quantcast.com/physicsforums.com/geo
weird statistics. It is strange how they come up Demographics, Business etc.
 
  • #15
Ok, now the date display format looks odd, there's supposed to be a space between the month and the day, right? This is how it looks now:
Aug29-08, 07:54 AM
 
  • #16
Defennder said:
Ok, now the date display format looks odd, there's supposed to be a space between the month and the day, right? This is how it looks now:
Aug29-08, 07:54 AM
I believe Greg said it was a space issue, if I am remembering correctly.
 

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