Scheduling Not Working
If your scheduled announcements are not going live at the expected time, or if they expire earlier or later than planned, the issue is almost always related to timezones or date settings. This guide covers the most common causes and fixes.
Check Your Account Timezone
Announcer uses your account timezone for all scheduling. If the timezone is wrong, bars will activate and expire at unexpected times.
Open the Announcer app.
Go to Settings.
Check the Timezone field.
Make sure it matches your local timezone (or the timezone you intend to schedule in).
If you change the timezone, existing scheduled dates remain as they were entered. Only new dates you set going forward will use the updated timezone.
Verify the Announcement Status
Open the announcement and check its status:
Status | Meaning |
Live | Currently visible on your store |
Scheduled | Has a future Published at date – will go live automatically |
Expired | The Expires at date has passed – no longer visible |
Draft | Not published – will not go live until activated |
If the status is Draft, the bar will never go live on its own regardless of the Published at date. You need to activate it first.
Common Issues
Bar Did Not Go Live on Time
Cause: The Published at date may be set in a different timezone than you expected.
Fix:
Open the announcement.
Check the Published at date and the timezone shown below the date field.
Make sure the date and time are correct for that timezone.
If the time has already passed, click Activate Now to publish immediately.
Bar Expired Too Early or Too Late
Cause: The Expires at time is interpreted in your account timezone. If your account timezone differs from your local time, the expiry will appear off.
Fix:
Open the announcement.
Check the Expires at date and the timezone shown below the field.
Adjust the time if needed, accounting for the displayed timezone.
Countdown Timer Shows Wrong Time
The countdown timer counts down to the Expires at date. If the countdown looks wrong:
Verify the Expires at date is set correctly.
Check that the account timezone matches your intent.
The countdown is calculated client-side in the visitor’s browser, so it always shows the correct remaining time regardless of timezone – but if the target date itself is wrong, the countdown will be wrong too.
Scheduling Works But Bar Does Not Show
If the status says Live but the bar is not visible:
The issue is not with scheduling. See Announcements Not Showing for display troubleshooting.
Tips
Always double-check the timezone displayed below the date field before saving.
Use Activate Now if you need a bar live immediately rather than relying on a scheduled time.
For time-sensitive promotions, set the Published at date a few minutes early to ensure the bar is live when the promotion starts.
Test scheduling with a short window (e.g., 5 minutes from now) to confirm it works before setting up important campaigns.