Support Fixed-Timezone Date Fields

[markosneiders]

Problem

In many scheduling-based applications — such as car rentals, appointment booking systems, or events — there are datetime fields where 09:00 should mean exactly 09:00, regardless of the viewer's timezone.

Currently, Payload automatically applies the user's system timezone when viewing datetime fields in the admin UI — both in field views and in list view columns. While this is helpful for metadata like createdAt, it's problematic for operational fields like pickupTime, startTime, etc., where the time must remain consistent across all users.

Why this is a problem

Example scenario:

• A customer in Los Angeles books a car rental in New York for 14:00.
• An admin in New York views the reservation in the Payload admin list view.
• Payload adjusts the displayed time to 17:00 (based on the LA timezone), even though the car should be prepared for 14:00 local NY time.
• The admin prepares the car for the wrong time. The result is a critical mismatch caused purely by timezone translation in the UI.

Even if we use timezone: true in the field config, it requires manual input from the admin on each item and doesn't force a consistent timezone across the system. There's also currently no way to hide the timezone selector or enforce a default timezone across all inputs and views.

Proposed Features

1. Fixed Timezone Mode for Date Fields

{
  name: 'pickupTime',
  type: 'date',
  fixedTimezone: 'UTC', // or a specific TZ like 'America/New_York'
  hideTimezoneSelector: true,
}

• Forces a consistent timezone across all views (input field, list view, etc.)
• Prevents automatic conversion to user's system timezone
• Optionally hides the timezone dropdown to reduce user error

2. Consistent Admin UI Rendering

• Admin list views and filters should respect the fixedTimezone setting and render raw or fixed values instead of localized ones.