GeoIP Browser Language Redirect for WPML

I needed to send users reliably to the correct WPML translation depending on the country they came from. The “Browser language redirect” option that WPML provides is a very simple method using the HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE header. It doesn’t work reliably, and assumes you have named your languages after proper locale names.

GeoIP Redirector for WPML to the rescue!

It uses a GeoIP database (MaxMind) to pinpoint user location more exactly. It also lets you specify your own mappings (user country to language) easily.

Feel free to fork the plugin on GitHub, or download it directly. (Please read README.md for instructions on setting the plugin up.)

WPML

Permalink: https://snippets.khromov.se/geoip-redirector-for-wpml/

Comments 36

Posted on 05/01/2014

Ana

Reply Author

Does this still work. I installed in on my website but still redirection does not work. Can you help me?
Posted on 05/01/2014

Ana

Reply Author

I have tried to debug it and I found out that the code execution does not reach inside the if if(intval(get_query_var(‘wpml_geoip’)) == 1)
{

I don’t know why, can you help me please?
- Posted on 05/01/2014
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  Hi Ana,
  
  It should still work, but there are a few edge cases where you might have issues.
  
  A few questions:
  
  What version of WPML are you using?
  
  Can you check if you have any JavaScript errors? (F12 for debug console in Chrome/Firefox)
  
  If you enter jQuery.cookie in the JS Console, what does it return? It should look like in this screenshot
  
  The way it works is by checking for a cookie via a JavaScript. If the cookie does not exist, an AJAX call is made which leads to the line in your comment being triggered. If the JavaScript does not work, no redirect can be made.
  
  Let me know if that helps.
- Posted on 05/01/2014
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Also, don’t forget to configure your language mappings, as is specified in the README
  
  https://github.com/khromov/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect/blob/master/WPML_GeoIP_IPResolver.class.php#L34
  
  The array is structured as:
  MaxMind Country Code => WPML Country Code
Posted on 21/02/2014

Stavros Kefaleas

Reply Author

I believe that your plugin has stopped working.
Any ideas?
- Posted on 21/02/2014
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  HI Stavros,
  
  Did you configure the plugin properly?
  You have to go into the PHP file “WPML_GeoIP_IPResolver.class.php” and configure your language mappings. (Row 35 in the code.)
  
  If you have configured the mapping, could you check the javascript error log in your browser, as something might be wrong with the javascript. (WPML changes it around quite often.)
  
  You can send me the error log and more info by creating an issue on Github.
  
  Hope that helps.
Posted on 21/02/2014

Stavros Kefaleas

Reply Author

I am gonna look right now for errors.
What is strange is that the plug-in worked fine for me for at least a month, but suddenly it stopped working.
Here is my file : http://pastebin.com/fuvyuNvj

PS : Thank you very much for your fast answer! :)
Posted on 21/02/2014

Stavros Kefaleas

Reply Author

Here I paste the javascript errors I am getting :

12:55:19.335 Use of getUserData() or setUserData() is deprecated. Use WeakMap or element.dataset instead. requestNotifier.js:64
12:55:22.538 Use of Mutation Events is deprecated. Use MutationObserver instead. script-compiler.js:617
12:55:24.819 Use of getPreventDefault() is deprecated. Use defaultPrevented instead. jquery.js:4
12:56:25.463 The Web Console logging API (console.log, console.info, console.warn, console.error) has been disabled by a script on this page.
- Posted on 21/02/2014
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Thanks for the info.
  
  What version of WPML are you using?
Posted on 21/02/2014

Stavros Kefaleas

Reply Author

I am using WPML Multilingual CMS Version 3.0.2-a
Posted on 21/02/2014

Stavros Kefaleas

Reply Author

Do these javascript errors have to do with your plugin or they are irrelevant?
- Posted on 21/02/2014
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Stavros,
  
  They are not errors, just deprecation notices. They are not related to this plugin.
Posted on 21/02/2014

Stavros Kefaleas

Reply Author

Can I give you any more information so that I can help you find what is wrong?
Posted on 27/03/2014

Juanma

Reply Author

Hi Stanislav,

Your plugin works perfectly, thanks so much. I just have one problem: it’s impossible to navigate through the site in another language different to your country. My site is in Spanish and I can’t navigate in English for example, automatically it’s redirected to the Spanish version.

Am I doing anything wrong?

Thanks so much in advance,
Juanma
Posted on 27/03/2014

Juanma

Reply Author

I mean: I’d like to enter in the site redirected automatically to my language but after that I’d like to have the possibility of changing it (as the WPML works without this plugin )
- Posted on 28/10/2014
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Hey Juanma,
  
  Sounds like a bug. Please create an issue on GitHub and describe your problem:
  https://github.com/redelivre/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect
Posted on 24/04/2014

Duncan

Reply Author

Hi there

Does your plugin work with custom WPML langauges?

Also, does it work when on localhost?

Thanks in advance
- Posted on 25/04/2014
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Hey Duncan,
  
  It does work with any WPML language, but you need to configure the plugin for your needs by modifying the language mappings inside the PHP file, so there is some programming required.
  
  Here is the exact position you need to edit:
  https://github.com/khromov/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect/blob/master/WPML_GeoIP_IPResolver.class.php#L34
  
  As for using it on localhost, the plugin will simply be unable to tell your location, so it will default to the default language. (Which you also configure in the plugin.)
  - Posted on 25/04/2014
    
    Duncan
    
    Reply Author
    
    Thanks for the update, and the plugin too!
Posted on 21/01/2015

Niels

Reply Author

Hi There,

just installed the plugin on our website. Simple redirect: all visitors should go to the /nl website except US visitors: they should go to the /en website.
Configured it as follows (activated and also the correct WPML Language setting is on: always translate)
//Array with structure MaxMind Code => WPML Code
$this->language_mappings = array(
‘US’ => ‘en’, //USA

);

//Set the default WPML language which is used if no matching language is found
$this->default_language = ‘nl’;

Any ideas on why it’s not working? Using WPM: 3.1.8.4.
Thanks
- Posted on 21/01/2015
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Hey Niels,
  
  Can you kindly submit an issue on GitHub for this?
  
  https://github.com/khromov/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect
  
  Also, please set GEOIP_DEBUG = true; (see link below) and include the console log from the browser in the issue you submit.
  
  https://github.com/khromov/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect/blob/master/js/browser-redirect-geoip.js#L3
Posted on 03/02/2015

ahmed

Reply Author

Im using your plugin and it works great, but is there anyway to configure it so that it remembers the user’s language preference and give that priority over the country based redirect?
- Posted on 03/02/2015
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Hey ahmed,
  
  Right now, the plugin will redirect the user to his language based on GeoIP on the first pageload. (Using a cookie to keep track if user has already been redirected or not.)
  
  After that, the user is free to change his language to anything he wants, but there is no way to force the user to another language after that. This is by design to avoid potential redirect loops.
  - Posted on 03/02/2015
    
    ahmed
    
    Reply Author
    
    i was able to store the user’s preferred language in a cookie but i still cant figure out how to redirect the user to that language. Is it possible to add an extra piece of code to the plugin in the part that redirects the user so that it first checks if the preferred language cookie exists or not and if it does, redirects to the preferred language instead of the geoIP redirect?
    
    if so could you please point me to the part in the plugin that i need to configure?
    - Posted on 03/02/2015
      
      Stanislav Khromov
      
      Reply Author
      
      ahmed,
      
      I’m not sure that would work…
      
      If the “preferred language” cookie is set after the user has visited the site once, (Maybe by clicking on a language switcher.), then it wont work because GeoIP Redirector only redirects fresh visitors on their very first pageload. So after the first page load, this plugin does nothing.
      
      It may work if you set the cookie in the PHP response from WordPress, but I don’t think that is what you had in mind?
      
      Here is where we check for the cookie that shows if the user was already redirected:
      https://github.com/khromov/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect/blob/master/js/browser-redirect-geoip.js#L41
      
      Here is where the redirect takes place:
      https://github.com/khromov/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect/blob/master/js/browser-redirect-geoip.js#L103
      
      But remember, the code runs only on the first pageload.
      - Posted on 03/02/2015
        
        ahmed
        
        Reply Author
        
        Ok il see if i can figure something out. Thanks for the quick reply.
Posted on 13/02/2015

Marco

Reply Author

Hi Stanislav,

the ip redirect is not working. Debug:

browser-redirect-geoip.js:23 Uncaught
Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property ‘log’ of undefined

Thanks
Marco
- Posted on 11/05/2015
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Hey Marco,
  
  Feel free to open an issue on GitHub:
  https://github.com/khromov/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect/issues
Posted on 17/02/2015

Vincent

Reply Author

Hi Stanislav,

Does your plugin work on a WPMU site?
We’ve installed it and it works on the main domain but doesn’t seem to work on the subdomains.

Any clues?

Vincent
- Posted on 11/05/2015
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Hey Vincent,
  
  I don’t see why it wouldn’t work on subdomains.
  
  There’s a flag called GEOIP_DEBUG in the main javascript file that you can enable to print out useful info to console:
  https://github.com/khromov/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect/blob/master/js/browser-redirect-geoip.js#L3
  
  The, check the issue list on GitHub and open your own if you can’t find anything related to your problem:
  https://github.com/khromov/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect/issues
  
  Hope that helps.
Posted on 02/03/2015

ashish

Reply Author

hi guys, finally after a long struggle on this , I have found the solution, that will run wpml with geoip webservices, the language will change according to user ip location. :) if you want the know how to configure it using custom code. just mail me at [snipped]
- Posted on 11/05/2015
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Hey ashish,
  
  Sorry, no advertising via email in the comment section. Feel free to link to your website though.
Posted on 25/09/2015

Darjan

Reply Author

We are currently testing your plugin a bit, but we have some problems with exceptions. We have a ecommerce site which redirects paypal/zapier calls.

Is it possible to have an exception added? Something like:

public function checkIfRedirectNeeded()
{
// CANCEL redirect for requests containing following in URL:
if (strpos($this->request_uri, “paypal”) > 0) { return; }
if (strpos($this->request_uri, “zapier”) > 0) { return; }

if (!is_array($this->geo_redirect_data))
return;

But how/where would we connect that?
- Posted on 25/09/2015
  
  Stanislav Khromov
  
  Reply Author
  
  Hey Darjan,
  
  All the redirect logic takes place in JavaScript, in order to be compatible with page caching.
  
  You can change the redirect logic in the main javascript file:
  https://github.com/khromov/wp-wpml-geoip-browser-language-redirect/blob/master/js/browser-redirect-geoip.js#L44
  
  You should be able to use window.location.href to get the current URL and then redirect based on that.
  
  If you set the GEOIP_DEBUG variable to true at the top of the file you will also get all kinds of info regarding the redirect logic in the javascript console.
  
  Hope that helps.
Posted on 30/08/2019

Saish

Reply Author

Hi,

I am using WPML version 4.1.3 on my website. I have installed the wonderful plugin you developed on my website. However, it doesn’t seem to work for me. Is it still compatible? Below attached is my setting for the plugin

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