How to Personalize User Experience by Accessing Geolocation

If a user's browser has access to the W3C Geoloction API, you can learn the latitude and longitude of a user through a couple simple Javascript function. This article gives you the example functions,

Browser Compatibility

The Geolocation API works on the following browser versions and all of their successor editions: Firefox 3.5, Google Chrome, Opera 10.6, Internet Explorer 9.0, and Safari 5.

Setting up the Javascript

Put this javascript into your main.js or inline on page in <script> tags, save, and open your site preview.

function geoFindMe() {
    if(navigator.geolocation) {
        navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(success, error, geoOptions);
    } else {
        alert("Geolocation services are not supported by your web browser.");
    }
}

function success(position) {
    var latitude = position.coords.latitude;
    var longitude = position.coords.longitude;
    var altitude = position.coords.altitude;
    var accuracy = position.coords.accuracy;
    alert("lat: " + latitude + " long: " + longitude); // for testing purposes, delete this line before sending to production
    // write in your logic here
}

function error(error) {
    alert("Unable to retrieve your location due to " + error.code + ": " + error.message);
}

var geoOptions = {
    enableHighAccuracy: true,
    maximumAge: 30000,
    timeout: 27000
};

Accessing Latitude and Longitude

To test the script above is working, open your browser developer console and type geoFindMe(); and hit return. If the above script was installed correctly, your browser should prompt you for permission to access your location. Allow permission. After allowing permission you should see a popup dialog box with your latitude and longitude.

The success() function shows you how to access the latitude and longitude values from the position object. Write your custom scripts in there and have fun!