CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ruby-on-railsruby-on-rails-3ruby-on-rails-3.1
Joe Saunders
Joe Saunders

Reputation: 798

How would I go about routing visitors based on location in rails?

I'm working on a rails app that needs to route users to a specific URL based on their location. Preferably something that will present them the appropriate content based on location with the ability for them to be able to view content for other locations.

Specifically, think of the location interface for Craigslist... Users are presented content from the city they are in and still allowed to select and view another city.

I've seen a few posts that answer parts of this question, but I'm trying to plan out the best solution.

It looks like there is going to need to be something, probably cookie based, that sets a 'default' location for a given user and still allows them to select other locations.

Again, just looking for concept/planning assistance and any direction on any gems that might be applicable.

Thanks in advance!

Upvotes: 1

Views: 81

Answers (1)

Philip Hallstrom
Philip Hallstrom

Reputation: 19899

http://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geolite is a free geo-ip database that works pretty well. It makes some mistakes (it put a client's office of mine in Kirkland, WA when they are in fact in downtown Seattle, WA). Certainly is good enough for Craigslist level specificity since you'd be re-routing both those people to "seattle" anyway. There's a ruby gem for it as well - "geoip-c". It's very easy to use.

The other option would be to use HTML5's "gimme your location" functionality. More intrusive for the user, but might be more specific.

Upvotes: 1

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