[wp-hackers] Storing absolute time stamps

[Otto]

On 6/25/07, Mark Jaquith <mark.wordpress at txfx.net> wrote:
> Because DST (or other time-shifting scheme) start/end dates *aren't*
> constant, it doesn't make sense to have timezones coded into
> WordPress.  That'd be a big maintenance burden.

As of php 5.1 and up, all that stuff is built in:
http://php.net/manual/en/function.date-default-timezone-set.php

It seems to me that the best way would be to allow the user to enter a
timezone string directly, and then to act accordingly. Some of this
work has already been done here:
http://drakecms.sourceforge.net/index.php?option=content&id=32&Itemid=10
http://drakecms.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/drakecms/trunk/includes/i18n/

> Allowing the user to specify start/end dates (and new offset within
> that range) is a possible solution, but it's pretty geeky.  Plugins
> can solve this issue, which moves the maintenance burden off of
> WordPress core and doesn't present needless options to people who
> don't live in a timezone-shifting area of the world.  Plugins can
> also be updated more frequently than WordPress, so when politicians
> change the dates or start/stop timezone shifting, the people using
> the plugin can just update.

Putting it all in a plugin makes sense, but there needs to be some way
for a plugin to override the timezone functionality throughout
Wordpress. Can that be easily done?