Geolocation on user login via Smartphone GPS or IP in IPS 4.0

[sobrenome]

IPS 4.0 will have responsive layout and will be smartphone friendly.

I think that a built in geolocation feature (GPS and IP) would be awesome as a search filter to find nearby community members (with other same interests filter on) or to find nearby products and services offered by the community.

I run a fitness website and would be amazing to provide to the community member, for example, a list of nutritionists that are nearby or a list of members nearby that are looking for a training partner.

Imagine the possibilities to the community exploring GPS geolocation on smartphones. Many cool things can be made with IP.Content, IP.Board, IP.Calendar and IP.Nexus using geolocation.

I suggest that in the user table a field related to geolocation should be created and updated on every login with the member coordinates, and obvious, respecting the member's privacy choice.

[sobrenome]

No one is interested in geolocation for more precise content delivery?

:cry:

[bfarber]

We have some basic ideas about geolocation support in 4.0, however I doubt they will be implemented to the degree you are requesting above. That would likely require a custom plugin to accomplish - but if the infrastructure to perform geolocation lookups is already in place, it should make such an addon much easier.

[sobrenome]

I was thinking in an app for my website specially designed to use GPS functionality to explore the community data.

But as long as the new IPS 4.0 is going to have a responsive layout, the geolocation services can be offered without an app and with much more options.

I guess the most important thing in the new IPS 4.0 is to let users provide their GPS geolocation on each log in and make the geolocation data available in the system for the developers to explore this data the best way that can be imagined for each community.

Thanks!!! It will be an awesome feature that will put IPS ahead the competition!

[Greenman]

We are also after geolocation features to trigger advertising related to a forum users location.

Is there any update as to whether geolocation is part of the development roadmap for 4.0?

Many thanks, Si

[bfarber]

There is a Geolocation class available in 4.0 out of the box. It is based on IP address and/or physical address input.

[sobrenome]

It would be even better if the class could access the GPS of mobile devices!

[Mark]

If you're a developer, you can also use the GPS of mobile devices quite easily (we actually use this in IP.Nexus to make the address input field autocomplete, you usually only need to enter your house number and it knows the rest), though I wouldn't recommend it for things like location-based advertising.

With GPS location, it requires both the user to have GPS-compatible hardware, and them to specifically allow access. While that's fine for specific cases, most users aren't going to allow access to their precise location unless they know what you want it for. And for things like location-based advertising, getting it based on their IP is specific enough (I assume you're going to do ads based on their country, or maybe state, but you're not going to show different ads to different streets, presumably ).

The methods available are:

/* IP address */
IPSGeoLocation::getByIp( $ipAddress );

/* Latitude and longitude (such as returned by the GPS) */
IPSGeoLocation::getByLatLong( $latitude, $longitude );

/* Manually */
$geolocation = new IPSGeoLocation;
$geolocation->addressLines = array( '123 Fake St.' );
$geolocation->city = 'City';
$geolocation->country = 'US';

So, if you wanted it, it's there. You'd just need to write the JS to ask the user for permission and post the values (which is just a couple lines of JS).

[sobrenome]

Perfect!!!

[bloom691]

I need to get a country code from my members through IP-Address on IPS 3.4.xx. When they are online, and visit a certain page, I need it to react differently if the are in the USA or Canada as opposed to anywhere else.

 

Any way I can do this easily?

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

[sobrenome]

On 8/19/2014 at 6:23 AM, Mark said:

The methods available are:

/* IP address */
IPSGeoLocation::getByIp( $ipAddress );

/* Latitude and longitude (such as returned by the GPS) */
IPSGeoLocation::getByLatLong( $latitude, $longitude );

/* Manually */
$geolocation = new IPSGeoLocation;
$geolocation->addressLines = array( '123 Fake St.' );
$geolocation->city = 'City';
$geolocation->country = 'US';

Are these methods available on 4.5? Any DEV docs about them?

[bfarber]

The methods are still available in 4.5 yes.

[sobrenome]

1 hour ago, bfarber said:

The methods are still available in 4.5 yes.

Awesome! How can I retrieve latitude and longitude?

{{$geoData = \IPS\GeoLocation::getByIp( 'my IP' );}}
{$geoData['lat']}
{$geoData['long']}

Tried $geoData['lat'] and $geoData['long'] but there was no data.

[bfarber]

\IPS\GeoLocation::getByIp() returns an instance of \IPS\GeoLocation (so it's an object, not an array).

{{$geoData = \IPS\GeoLocation::getByIp( 'my IP' );}}
{$geoData->lat}
{$geoData->long}

 

[sobrenome]

10 hours ago, bfarber said:

\IPS\GeoLocation::getByIp() returns an instance of \IPS\GeoLocation (so it's an object, not an array).

{{$geoData = \IPS\GeoLocation::getByIp( 'my IP' );}}
{$geoData->lat}
{$geoData->long}

 

It works! Thanks!