title: Joomla 2.5 Component - Store date/time, display on different timezones
body: <p>Developing a component for Joomla v2.5, I'm using a table with a mysql timestamp column.</p>
  
  <p>One of the component's settings is the "Timezone". I don't want to use server timezone, as code will run on different servers/timezones and I want to be indepedent. So the idea is to store timestamps in mysql, and display the correct date/time according to the component's parameter. The main drawback is the timezone that mysql server uses, that make the whole situation complicated. So, is there a way to store current timestamp in an universal format in MySQL and display it in the correct way?</p>
  
  <p>The ultimate goal is for the component to be able to display the correct date/time based on the component's parameter, eg. user changes the parameter on the fly, no modification on the database take place, only on the "View"</p>
  
  <p>In order to display the date in the correct timezone I use this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>JHtml::date($date_from_mysql , 'd/m/Y H:i:s', $my_component_timezone_parameter)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Please share your thoughts.</p>