--- title: Dates and times look wrong description: Order dates, start and expiry times or email dates are a few hours off in Ultimate Membership Pro. They follow the WordPress time zone; here is how to set it and what else can shift them. url: "https://ultimatemembershippro.com/docs/different-time-shows-orders-levels/" updated: "2026-10-18" category: Troubleshooting --- # Dates and times look wrong 5 minBeginnerUltimate Membership Pro 14.2+ In Ultimate Membership Pro, order dates and the [start and expiry times of Memberships](https://ultimatemembershippro.com/features/subscriptions/) follow the Timezone set in the [WordPress General Settings](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/settings-general-screen/). When those times are a few hours off, the time zone is almost always the reason. This guide sets the time zone correctly and explains the other things that can make a date look wrong. Before you start - Know the time zone you run your business in, for example London or New York. ## Set the WordPress time zone to your city Go to Settings*›*General in WordPress. Under **Timezone**, choose the city in your time zone and click Save Changes. [![WordPress General Settings, Timezone drop-down set to London, with the hint to choose a city in the same timezone or a UTC time offset](https://ultimatemembershippro.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/ump-dates-times-05-timezone.png)](https://ultimatemembershippro.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/ump-dates-times-05-timezone.png) Choose a city rather than a UTC offset. Timezone A city follows daylight saving time; a fixed offset such as UTC+1 doesn't, so an offset is an hour off for half of the year. Default: **UTC+0 on a new WordPress site** Compare the clocks Tools*›*Site Health › Info › Server shows **Current time**, **Current UTC time** and **Current Server time** side by side. ## Times are a few hours off Cause WordPress still uses UTC, or an offset that doesn't match where you are. Fix Set the Timezone to your city as in the step above. New orders and Memberships use it right away. ## Expiry times moved after I changed the time zone Cause Start and expiry times are saved as the clock time of your site at that moment. They aren't converted when you change the Timezone, so each saved time now means a moment a few hours earlier or later. Fix Set the Timezone once, before you take members. If you changed it on a live site, check the expiry times of recent Memberships in Members and edit the ones that matter. See [Manage your members](https://ultimatemembershippro.com/docs/how-to-change-member-status/). ## Order dates and Membership dates don't match Cause Orders from very old versions of the plugin were dated by the database server's clock; newer orders use the WordPress time zone. Some member lists and filters also compare dates on the database server. If the database server runs in another time zone, a member can appear as active or expired in those lists a few hours before or after the expiry time. Fix Ask your host which time zone the database (MySQL or MariaDB) server uses and whether it can match your WordPress time zone. Whether a member can open content is checked with the WordPress time zone, so access itself is right. ## Expiry emails and status changes arrive late Cause The checks for [expired subscriptions](https://ultimatemembershippro.com/docs/how-renewals-cancellations-and-expiry-work/), payment due dates and trial ends, and the daily notifications, run as [WordPress cron events](https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/cron/) once or twice a day. WordPress cron runs when someone visits the site, so on a quiet site it can run hours later. Fix Make sure WP-Cron isn't turned off, or let your host run it from a server cron job. See [Requirements](https://ultimatemembershippro.com/docs/minimum-requirements/). ## Dates in emails use the wrong format Cause Dates that email notifications insert use the **Date Format** of WordPress. Fix Pick the format you want in Settings*›*General › Date Format and save. ## Example: a site in London **Coaching Club**A 30-day Pro Monthly membership bought at 9:30 pm on 10 October. **Timezone** : London **Start time** : October 10, 2026, 21:30 **Expiry time** : November 9, 2026, 21:30, London time, also after the clocks change **With the offset UTC+1 instead** : Every time is an hour off from late October to March ## Troubleshooting Which time zone does Ultimate Membership Pro use? Ultimate Membership Pro uses the Timezone from Settings › General in WordPress for orders and for the start and expiry times of Memberships. Should I change the time zone of my server instead? No. Set the WordPress Timezone; that's what the plugin reads. Matching the database server's time zone only helps the lists that compare dates there. I changed the Timezone. Do I need to update existing orders? Order dates aren't converted, so older orders keep the time they were saved with. Only Membership expiry times affect access; check those in Members. ## What's next [**Membership statuses explained**Active, expired, on hold and more.](https://ultimatemembershippro.com/docs/levels-colors-explanation/)[**Manage your members**Check and edit expiry times.](https://ultimatemembershippro.com/docs/how-to-change-member-status/)[**Requirements**WP-Cron and the rest of the server checks.](https://ultimatemembershippro.com/docs/minimum-requirements/)[**Emails are not sent**When notifications don't arrive.](https://ultimatemembershippro.com/docs/notifications-do-not-work/)