Support a configurable display timezone for comment timestamps

README.md

@@ -396,6 +396,26 @@ class User extends Authenticatable implements Commenter, HasName, HasAvatar
 }
 ```
 
+### Adjusting the display timezone
+
+Comment timestamps are stored in the app default timezone, but can be displayed in a different one. Set the `timezone` config key for a fixed override, or wire a closure for per-request resolution (e.g. the authenticated user's timezone):
+
+```php
+// config/commentions.php
+return [
+    // ...
+    'timezone' => 'America/Chicago',
+];
+```
+
+```php
+use Kirschbaum\Commentions\Config;
+
+Config::resolveTimezoneUsing(fn () => auth()->user()?->timezone);
+```
+
+The closure result takes precedence; when it returns `null`, the `timezone` config value is used as a fallback. When neither yields a value, dates render in the storage timezone.
+
 ### Customizing TipTap Editor Styles
 
 You can customize the TipTap editor CSS classes used using the `Config` class.

config/commentions.php

@@ -46,6 +46,19 @@
         'allowed' => ['👍', '❤️', '😂', '😮', '😢', '🤔'],
     ],
 
+    /*
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    | Display timezone
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    |
+    | Timezone applied when rendering comment created/updated timestamps.
+    | When null, dates are rendered in the storage timezone (typically the
+    | app default). Set to an IANA name like "America/Chicago", or wire a
+    | per-user value via Config::resolveTimezoneUsing(fn () => auth()->user()?->timezone).
+    |
+    */
+    'timezone' => null,
+
     /*
     |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
     | Subscriptions

src/Comment.php

@@ -152,12 +152,12 @@ public function getParsedBody(): string
 
     public function getCreatedAt(): DateTime|CarbonInterface
     {
-        return $this->created_at;
+        return Config::applyTimezone($this->created_at);
     }
 
     public function getUpdatedAt(): DateTime|CarbonInterface
     {
-        return $this->updated_at;
+        return Config::applyTimezone($this->updated_at);
     }
 
     public function reactions(): HasMany

src/Config.php

@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@
 
 namespace Kirschbaum\Commentions;
 
+use Carbon\CarbonInterface;
 use Closure;
 use Composer\InstalledVersions;
+use DateTime;
+use DateTimeZone;
 use InvalidArgumentException;
 use Kirschbaum\Commentions\Contracts\Commenter;
 
@@ -17,6 +20,8 @@ class Config
 
     protected static ?Closure $resolveTipTapCssClasses = null;
 
+    protected static ?Closure $resolveTimezone = null;
+
     public static function resolveAuthenticatedUserUsing(Closure $callback): void
     {
         static::$resolveAuthenticatedUser = $callback;
@@ -101,6 +106,38 @@ public static function getComponentPrefix(): string
         return static::isLivewireV4() ? 'commentions.' : 'commentions::';
     }
 
+    public static function resolveTimezoneUsing(?Closure $callback = null): void
+    {
+        static::$resolveTimezone = $callback;
+    }
+
+    public static function getTimezone(): ?string
+    {
+        if (static::$resolveTimezone instanceof Closure) {
+            return call_user_func(static::$resolveTimezone) ?? config('commentions.timezone');
+        }
+
+        return config('commentions.timezone');
+    }
+
+    public static function applyTimezone(DateTime|CarbonInterface $dt): DateTime|CarbonInterface
+    {
+        $tz = static::getTimezone();
+
+        if (blank($tz)) {
+            return $dt;
+        }
+
+        if ($dt instanceof CarbonInterface) {
+            return $dt->copy()->setTimezone($tz);
+        }
+
+        $cloned = clone $dt;
+        $cloned->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone($tz));
+
+        return $cloned;
+    }
+
     public static function isLivewireV4(): bool
     {
         return version_compare(

src/RenderableComment.php

@@ -82,12 +82,12 @@ public function getParsedBody(): string
 
     public function getCreatedAt(): DateTime|CarbonInterface
     {
-        return $this->createdAt;
+        return Config::applyTimezone($this->createdAt);
     }
 
     public function getUpdatedAt(): DateTime|CarbonInterface
     {
-        return $this->updatedAt;
+        return Config::applyTimezone($this->updatedAt);
     }
 
     public function getLabel(): ?string

tests/TimezoneTest.php

@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+<?php
+
+use Carbon\Carbon;
+use Kirschbaum\Commentions\Comment as CommentModel;
+use Kirschbaum\Commentions\Config;
+use Kirschbaum\Commentions\RenderableComment;
+use Tests\Models\Post;
+use Tests\Models\User;
+
+afterEach(function () {
+    config()->set('commentions.timezone', null);
+    Config::resolveTimezoneUsing(null);
+});
+
+test('comment dates are returned unmodified when no timezone is configured', function () {
+    config()->set('commentions.timezone', null);
+
+    $user = User::factory()->create();
+    $post = Post::factory()->create();
+    $comment = CommentModel::factory()->author($user)->commentable($post)->create([
+        'created_at' => Carbon::parse('2026-01-15 12:00:00', 'UTC'),
+        'updated_at' => Carbon::parse('2026-01-15 12:00:00', 'UTC'),
+    ]);
+
+    expect($comment->getCreatedAt()->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'))
+        ->toBe('2026-01-15 12:00:00');
+});
+
+test('comment dates are converted when a timezone is configured', function () {
+    config()->set('commentions.timezone', 'America/Chicago');
+
+    $user = User::factory()->create();
+    $post = Post::factory()->create();
+    $comment = CommentModel::factory()->author($user)->commentable($post)->create([
+        'created_at' => Carbon::parse('2026-01-15 12:00:00', 'UTC'),
+        'updated_at' => Carbon::parse('2026-01-15 12:00:00', 'UTC'),
+    ]);
+
+    expect($comment->getCreatedAt()->format('Y-m-d H:i'))
+        ->toBe('2026-01-15 06:00');
+});
+
+test('RenderableComment dates respect the timezone config', function () {
+    config()->set('commentions.timezone', 'Asia/Tokyo');
+
+    $renderable = new RenderableComment(
+        id: 1,
+        authorName: 'System',
+        body: 'Test',
+        createdAt: Carbon::parse('2026-01-15 12:00:00', 'UTC'),
+        updatedAt: Carbon::parse('2026-01-15 12:00:00', 'UTC'),
+    );
+
+    expect($renderable->getCreatedAt()->format('Y-m-d H:i'))
+        ->toBe('2026-01-15 21:00');
+});
+
+test('resolveTimezoneUsing closure takes precedence over config', function () {
+    config()->set('commentions.timezone', 'UTC');
+    Config::resolveTimezoneUsing(fn () => 'Europe/London');
+
+    $user = User::factory()->create();
+    $post = Post::factory()->create();
+    $comment = CommentModel::factory()->author($user)->commentable($post)->create([
+        'created_at' => Carbon::parse('2026-06-15 12:00:00', 'UTC'),
+        'updated_at' => Carbon::parse('2026-06-15 12:00:00', 'UTC'),
+    ]);
+
+    // London is BST (UTC+1) in June
+    expect($comment->getCreatedAt()->format('Y-m-d H:i'))
+        ->toBe('2026-06-15 13:00');
+});
+
+test('applyTimezone does not mutate the source instance', function () {
+    config()->set('commentions.timezone', 'America/New_York');
+
+    $source = Carbon::parse('2026-01-15 12:00:00', 'UTC');
+    $converted = Config::applyTimezone($source);
+
+    expect($source->format('Y-m-d H:i'))->toBe('2026-01-15 12:00')
+        ->and($converted->format('Y-m-d H:i'))->toBe('2026-01-15 07:00');
+});
+
+test('an empty-string timezone is treated as no timezone', function () {
+    Config::resolveTimezoneUsing(fn () => '');
+
+    $source = Carbon::parse('2026-01-15 12:00:00', 'UTC');
+
+    expect(Config::applyTimezone($source)->format('Y-m-d H:i'))
+        ->toBe('2026-01-15 12:00');
+});
+
+test('resolveTimezoneUsing falls back to the config value when the closure returns null', function () {
+    config()->set('commentions.timezone', 'America/Chicago');
+    Config::resolveTimezoneUsing(fn () => null);
+
+    $user = User::factory()->create();
+    $post = Post::factory()->create();
+    $comment = CommentModel::factory()->author($user)->commentable($post)->create([
+        'created_at' => Carbon::parse('2026-01-15 12:00:00', 'UTC'),
+        'updated_at' => Carbon::parse('2026-01-15 12:00:00', 'UTC'),
+    ]);
+
+    expect($comment->getCreatedAt()->format('Y-m-d H:i'))
+        ->toBe('2026-01-15 06:00');
+});