Date & Time Zone issue with php.ini file

Zencart Version: 1.50
PHP Version: 5.3.4
Operating System: Mac Snow Leopard Server

I am having the following error on Zencart Install (first page of the install):
"ERROR: date.timezone not set in php.ini. Please contact your hosting company to set the timezone in the server PHP configuration before continuing."

I currently use and host Joomla products/sites on my server with no MYSQL & PHP issues. My Snow Leopard Server php.ini file located in the /etc directory has the following (originally commented out) under the date.timestamp area:

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; Module Settings ;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

[Date]
; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions
; http://php.net/date.timezone
date.timezone =

http://php.net/date.default-latitude
date.default_latitude = 31.7667

http://php.net/date.default-longitude
date.default_longitude = 35.2333

http://php.net/date.sunrise-zenith
date.sunrise_zenith = 90.583333

http://php.net/date.sunset-zenith
date.sunset_zenith = 90.583333

Does anyone know how to remedy this situation. I do not know the proper settings for this issue within the php.ini file. Does anything need to be changed in the configure.php file within the Zencart directory? Please note I have permissions set to 777 for all pertinent files shown in the book "e-Start Your Web Store with Zen Cart". Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.

No, you don't need to alter the configure.php file for this.

You need to set your time zone in your php.ini file, just as the error message is telling you.

You can refer to:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/datetime.configuration.php#ini.date.timezone
http://www.php.net/manual/en/timezones.php

DrByte,

Thank you for your reply. I fixed this issue with the following in my php.ini file:

[Date]
; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions
; http://php.net/date.timezone
date.timezone = ('America/Phoenix')

;http://php.net/date.default-latitude
date.default_latitude = 31.7667

;http://php.net/date.default-longitude
date.default_longitude = 35.2333

;http://php.net/date.sunrise-zenith
date.sunrise_zenith = 90.583333

;http://php.net/date.sunset-zenith
date.sunset_zenith = 90.583333

After changing the php.ini file, I restarted the apache server and restarted the web browser. It works great. Thanks again!