| Request for Feature Enhancement (RFE) Summary: | Standardize the time zone display for workflow-related “Start Time / Start Date” across all AEM as a Cloud Service authoring UIs (Workflow console and Inbox) so that they are consistent and user-friendly for business users. |
| Use-case: | Business users frequently monitor and operate workflow instances (e.g., publication approval flows) from the AEM author UI.
Currently, the “Start Time / Start Date” of the same workflow event is displayed in different time zones depending on the screen:
• Workflow instance list vs. workflow instance history
• Inbox list vs. Inbox item detail
This inconsistency causes confusion for operators, makes it difficult to correlate events between screens, and increases the risk of miscommunication when discussing schedules (e.g., “when was this request actually started?”) with non-technical users.
This affects daily operational work for multiple business users who coordinate publication schedules, and the confusion around timestamps has already led to repeated internal inquiries and additional verification steps. |
| Current/Experienced Behavior: | For the same workflow instance / work item, the time zone of “Start Time / Start Date” is not unified across screens:
1. Workflow instance Start Time
• Tools > Workflow > Instances > [List]
◦ Start Date is shown in UTC (e.g., 4/2/26, 3:06 AM)
• Tools > Workflow > Instances > [Individual Item] > Open History
◦ Start Date is effectively shown as JST / user’s local time in the tooltip
‣ e.g., title="Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 12:06:18 PM Japan Standard Time"
2. Work Item Start Time / Start Date
• Inbox > [List]
◦ Relative time and tooltip are shown in JST / user’s local time
‣ e.g., title="Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 12:06:18 PM Japan Standard Time"
• Inbox > [Open individual item]
◦ Start Date is shown in UTC in ISO-8601 format
‣ e.g., Start Date: 2026-04-02T03:06:18.238Z
From a user’s perspective, even though all of these timestamps refer to the same workflow event, some screens show UTC while others show local time (JST), without a clear indication or consistent labeling. This is perceived as inconsistent and confusing behavior rather than an intentional design. |
| Improved/Expected Behavior: | The “Start Time / Start Date” for workflow instances and work items should be consistent across all AEM authoring UIs, including:
• Tools > Workflow > Instances (list and detail/history views)
• Inbox (list and individual item views)
The core expectation is that the same workflow event should not appear with different-looking timestamps across screens without clear indication, and that operators can reliably interpret times without needing to mentally convert or guess the time zone.
Ideally, all workflow-related timestamps in the authoring UI should be shown in the user's local time zone (based on profile or browser locale), with a clear time zone indication in the tooltip or label. At minimum, the same workflow event should use the same time zone and a consistent format across all related screens, so that operators do not need to mentally convert or guess the time zone. |
| Environment Details (AEM version/service pack, any other specifics if applicable): | Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service |
| Customer-name/Organization name: | ASAHI KASEI CORPORATION |
| Screenshot (if applicable): | |
| Code package (if applicable): | |