Mastering Dates & Times in Make.com 🗓️⏰

Ever felt like dates and times in Make.com were a cryptic puzzle? 🧩 You’re not alone! This guide demystifies Make.com’s datetime system, empowering you to build powerful automations that work like clockwork. ⚙️

1. Unix Time: The Foundation 🏗️

Let’s rewind to the 1970s! 🕰️ Back then, computers struggled to communicate dates and times effectively. Unix time solved this by establishing a universal standard: the number of seconds that have passed since January 1st, 1970. 🤯

Think of it like a giant stopwatch that’s been running since that day. ⏱️ Every date and time can be represented by a unique number of seconds on this stopwatch. Make.com uses this system behind the scenes.

💡 Practical Tip: While you don’t need to be a Unix time expert, grasping this concept helps you understand how Make.com handles dates and times internally.

2. Make.com’s Datetime Formats: Unmasking the Mystery 🎭

Make.com juggles a few datetime formats, which can be confusing. Here’s a breakdown:

• Unix Timestamp: The raw number of seconds since January 1st, 1970 (e.g., 1729531221).
• Human-Readable String: A user-friendly format like “2024-10-21 10:46 AM”.
• Make.com’s Internal Format: A slightly different format used for calculations (e.g., “2024-10-21T17:44:06.195Z”).

🤯 Surprising Fact: When you perform date calculations, Make.com returns the result in milliseconds, not seconds!

💡 Practical Tip: Stick to using the “Parse Date” and “Format Date” functions to convert between strings and Make.com’s internal format. This ensures consistent and accurate calculations.

3. Parse Date & Format Date: Your Datetime Power Tools 🧰

These two functions are your secret weapons for mastering dates in Make.com:

• Parse Date: Converts a human-readable date string into Make.com’s internal format, enabling calculations.
• Format Date: Transforms Make.com’s internal date format into a customizable string for display or other purposes.

Example: Let’s say you want to calculate the number of days between today and a date stored in a CRM field:

1. Parse the CRM date string using “Parse Date”.
2. Subtract the parsed date from the current date (using “Now”).
3. Format the result using “Format Date” to display it as “X days”.

💡 Practical Tip: Master the various formatting tokens available in “Format Date” to customize how dates are displayed.

4. Building a Follow-Up System: A Practical Example 📧

Let’s build a scenario that automatically sends a follow-up email 7 days after a lead is added to a CRM:

1. Trigger: Use a daily trigger scheduled for your desired time.
2. Get CRM Entries: Retrieve all new leads added to your CRM.
3. Calculate Date Difference:
   • Use “Parse Date” to convert the “Date Added” field into Make.com’s format.
   • Subtract the parsed date from the current date (“Now”).
   • Divide the result to get the difference in days.
4. Filter: Only proceed if the date difference is equal to 7.
5. Send Email: Send your follow-up email to the leads that meet the criteria.

🤯 Surprising Fact: You can easily extend this system to send multiple follow-ups at different intervals (e.g., 14 days, 21 days) by adding more routers and filters.

💡 Practical Tip: Test your datetime calculations thoroughly to avoid unexpected results.

5. Resources: Your Datetime Toolkit 🧰

Here are some handy resources to deepen your understanding:

• Make.com Date & Time Functions: Official documentation on Make.com’s datetime functions.
• Unix Timestamp Converter: A website to convert between Unix timestamps and human-readable dates.
• Integromat Datetime Tokens: A comprehensive list of formatting tokens for “Format Date”.

By mastering dates and times in Make.com, you unlock a world of automation possibilities. From simple reminders to complex workflows, the power to control time is in your hands.