Midnight deadline

A midnight deadline is problematic when it is specified for applications, submissions, or contests in the Wikimedia community. This leads to numerous problems: What time zone is that for? Is it the beginning of the day or the end of a day? Is Daylight Saving Time a factor?

Solution

To avoid the ambiguity of such a deadline, it is considered best practice to make the deadline of 23:59 Anywhere on Earth (AoE) as the last time to file something. This means anyone who submits locally on the last day in their geography is accepted. This leads to much less confusion and accommodating as many people as possible, leading to fewer misunderstandings.

Anywhere on Earth (AoE) is an international standard that is equivalent to UTC−12:00 hour, and has been used by a number of international standards bodies, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. By using AoE, any confusion regarding Daylight Saving Time (DST) is removed.

Projects and events are encouraged to use this as a best practice.