Date and Time Formatting in Streamline

Intellistack Streamline gives workflow builders control over how date and time values behave across a workflow - from data entry to search and delivery. Admins can set organization-level defaults for timezones and date/time formats. Builders can use those defaults or set a workflow-level timezone and formatting settings. Date-only fields and time-only fields are not timezone aware and display exactly as entered. Datetime fields (fields that capture both a date and a time together) are timezone aware - builders control whether those values display in a fixed timezone (Fixed time) or adjust to each viewer's local timezone (Adopt user's browser time). This ensures participants always see dates and times that match what was entered, without unexpected shifts or conversion errors.

Who Has Access?

All users with permission to edit a project can edit the Formatting settings for that project. Only Admins can set organization-level defaults.

Key Capabilities

Organization-Level Timezone and Formatting

• Set a default timezone for your organization's date and time fields

  

• Set default formatting options for how dates and times display across all workflows

  

Workflow-Level Timezone and Formatting

• Set a default timezone for an entire workflow from within the workflow builder
• All date and time fields inherit this setting as their baseline behavior

Timezone Awareness by Field Type

• Date fields (date only) and time fields (time only) are not timezone aware - they always display exactly as entered, with no timezone conversion
• Datetime fields (a date and time together in one field) are timezone aware - the Time Zone Display setting controls how the value is shown to participants

Fixed Time Datetime Fields

• Set Time Zone Display to Fixed time to always display the datetime value in the workflow timezone, regardless of the viewer's location
• A time entered as 5:00 PM EST displays as 5:00 PM EST for every participant - in Eastern, Pacific, or any other timezone
• Appropriate for surgery times, scheduled appointments, and any datetime where the entered time must never change

Adopt User's Browser Time Datetime Fields

• Set Time Zone Display to Adopt user's browser time to automatically convert the displayed time to each viewer's local timezone
• A time entered as 5:00 PM Eastern displays as 2:00 PM Pacific for a participant in the Pacific timezone
• Appropriate for meeting invitations, event reminders, and calendar-type datetimes
• Only takes timezone for browser facing steps such as forms and sign

Timezone Labels on Datetime Fields

• Datetime fields can display a timezone label alongside the value in session (for example, "4:00 PM ET" or "3:00 PM Pacific Time")
• Gives participants clear visibility into which timezone a datetime value represents

Consistent Date Search

• Date-based searches use the same timezone context as the original entry
• Searching for "March 15" returns records entered as March 15, without UTC interpretation causing mismatches

Part 1: Set the Workflow-Level Timezone

Step 1: Open the workflow

Projects > Choose your project

Step 2: Open Workflow Formatting Settings

Settings > Formatting

Step 3: Select the default date and time settings

The defaults here are taken from your organization settings. Override any of the following fields to set workflow-specific behavior.

Note: The Date Format you select applies uniformly to every date field in the workflow. All date fields will display in the same format - you cannot set different date formats for individual fields within the same workflow.

Date Format

Controls how the date portion of a field value is displayed to participants. The default renders as MM/DD/YYYY.

Time Format

Controls how the time portion of a datetime field value is displayed. Options include 12-hour (hh) and 24-hour (HH) formats, with optional seconds. Formats that include the z token append the workflow timezone abbreviation to the displayed time (for example, "11:59 PM EST").

Time Zone

Sets the timezone for the workflow. All date and time fields in the workflow use this as their reference. Workflows inherit the organization default unless a builder sets a different value here.

Time Zone Display

Controls whether datetime field values in the workflow stay fixed in the workflow timezone or adjust to each viewer's local timezone. This setting applies only to datetime fields (date + time combined). Date-only fields and time-only fields are not affected.

Step 4: Save the workflow

Click Save changes to apply the formatting settings.

Upgrading an Existing Workflow

If your workflow was created before this feature was released, the new formatting controls are not active yet. You will need to opt in before you can configure Date Format, Time Format, Time Zone, and Time Zone Display.

Choosing to upgrade is intentional - these are more powerful settings than what existed before, and enabling them may change how dates and times display in your workflow. Review your datetime fields after switching to make sure they look the way you expect.

What you will see

When you open Settings > Formatting on an existing workflow, you will see this message:

Upgrade your workflow's formatting settings Configure date/time formats and your time zone for the workflow. This standardizes how dates, times, and regional formats are displayed across this workflow. Enabling this may disrupt how your previously collected data appears.

Click Switch to new controls to enable the new formatting options. This action cannot be undone.

What to review after switching

Once you have switched to the new controls:

• Datetime fields - Check any fields that capture both a date and a time. Confirm whether each should be set to Fixed time or Adopt user's browser time based on your use case. These fields are timezone aware and may display differently than before.
• Date format consistency - The Date Format you choose applies to every date field in the workflow. Verify that the selected format works for all date fields, not just the most prominent one.
• Existing records - Records collected before the switch display according to the new settings. Spot-check a few existing submissions to confirm dates and times appear as expected.

Feature Considerations

Only datetime fields are timezone aware. Date-only fields and time-only fields are not timezone aware and always display exactly as entered. The Time Zone Display setting (Fixed time / Adopt user's browser time) only affects datetime fields (fields that capture both a date and a time together).

Date format applies uniformly across all date fields in the workflow. The Date Format setting controls the display of every date field in the workflow. You cannot set different date formats for individual fields. If your workflow has date fields with different display needs, consider whether a single format covers all cases before saving.

External integrations may not honor workflow timezone settings. Systems pushing or pulling date data via integrations, APIs, or webhooks operate in their own timezone context. The workflow timezone setting does not automatically reformat inbound data. Verify how date values are normalized at any integration boundary when connecting external date sources.

Historical date data may display differently after enabling new settings. Records created before this feature was available display dates according to the current settings, which may produce visual differences from values entered under the previous behavior.

Adopt user's browser time requires the viewer's timezone to be known. If the system cannot determine a participant's local timezone (for example, in certain embedded or API-driven session contexts), display falls back to the workflow default timezone.

Troubleshooting

Dates display differently than what was entered

Check the field's Time Zone Display setting. If it is set to Adopt user's browser time, the displayed value is intentionally adjusted to the viewer's local timezone. To show the entered value unchanged for all participants, switch the field to Fixed time.

A datetime field is shifting by one day

This typically occurs when a datetime field is set to Adopt user's browser time and a participant views the record from a timezone where the UTC offset crosses a date boundary. Switch the Time Zone Display to Fixed time to display the entered value as-is for all participants. Note: date-only fields are not timezone aware and should not shift.

Timezone label is not showing for a datetime field

Timezone label display is controlled by the Time Format selection. Select a Time Format that includes the z token - for example, hh:mm a z (renders as "11:59 PM EST") or HH:mm z (renders as "23:59 EST"). Formats without z never show a timezone abbreviation.