Question

what is the best way to do something , like inserting an element at a certain time of the day ? should I use setTimeout() os is there a better way to do it ?

Answer 1

setTimeout() and setInterval() both execute timed js statements in relation to when they were loaded, not at a specific time each day, so they don’t seem like a clean solution. You could throw a bit of server-side scripting in there. Some random solutions plucked from my tired brain:

• Simply wrap the html element in a conditional statement (php, python, etc) that only executes at a given time
• Have the element on the page but set it to display:none. Use php to add a class / style at a certain time that overrides the display attribute.
• Again, use php to add a class, but this time add the element into the DOM with js, using the new class as the identifier for the new element’s location.

Obviously not great if you want to keep everything client-side… 🙂

EDIT
To execute a statement in php between 1pm and 2pm every day (untested):

$now = date('G',time());
$start = 13;
$end = 14;
if($now >= $start && $now <= $end){ 
    //do something
}