Postcode of visitor location PHP - php

Question

On my page I have a number of registered users, each user has a postcode stored in their row in my table.
I'm wondering if its possible and if so how to get the postcode of my website visitors and then show them the nearest users going of the data in my table?

Answer 1

You can use HTML 5 Geolocation to ask them to provide their location to you. Then you could lookup what the nearest postal code is based on their longitude/latitude.
You can get free postal/zip data with long/lat for North America here:
http://geocoder.ca/?freedata=1

Answer 2

If you can determine the coordinates of the visiting user in an accurate way you could use the google reverse geocoding API to translate the coordinates to an address and use the zipcode from that address.
Determining accurate coordinates of a visitor could prove difficult though. You'll have to rely on a GeoLocation api like http://www.maxmind.com/app/php or do an implementation of the HTML5 GeoLocation API.

Answer 3

You need to populate latitude/longitude for each record, then use Google Maps to find out nearest users, I believe following links will help you out.
Get latitude and longitude based on location name with Google Autocomplete API
Google Maps Api v3 - find nearest markers

Answer 4

Interesting, building on what others have said, perhaps this example will help ;)
<?php
//example a google IP
$user_info = get_ip_info('74.125.224.72');
$google_info = get_google_data($user_info['latitude'],$user_info['longitude']);
$user = array_merge($user_info,$google_info);
//See below for result
print_r($user);
function get_google_data($long,$lat){
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL,'http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?latlng='.$long.','.$lat.'&sensor=true');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false);
$data = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
return json_decode($data,true);
}
function get_ip_info($ip = NULL){
if(empty($ip)) $ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL,'http://www.ipaddresslocation.org/ip-address-locator.php');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST,true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS,array('ip'=>$ip));
$data = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
preg_match_all('/<i>([a-z\s]+)\:<\/i>\s+<b>(.*)<\/b>/im',$data,$matches,PREG_SET_ORDER);
if(count($matches)==0)return false;
$return = array();
$labels = array(
'Hostname' => 'host',
'IP Country' => 'country',
'IP Country Code' => 'country_code',
'IP Continent' => 'continent',
'IP Region' => 'region',
'IP Latitude' => 'latitude',
'IP Longitude' => 'longitude',
'Organization' => 'organization',
'ISP Provider' => 'isp');
foreach($matches as $info){
if(isset($info[2]) && !is_null($labels[$info[1]])){
$return[$labels[$info[1]]]=$info[2];
}
}
return (count($return))?$return:false;
}
/**
* Result:
*
*
* Array
(
[host] => nuq04s07-in-f8.1e100.net
[country] => United States
[country_code] => USA
[continent] => North America
[region] => California
[latitude] => 37.4192
[longitude] => -122.0574
[organization] => Google
[isp] => Google
[results] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[address_components] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[long_name] => Sevryns Rd
[short_name] => Sevryns Rd
[types] => Array
(
[0] => route
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[long_name] => Mountain View
[short_name] => Mountain View
[types] => Array
(
[0] => locality
[1] => political
)
)
[2] => Array
(
[long_name] => Santa Clara
[short_name] => Santa Clara
[types] => Array
(
[0] => administrative_area_level_2
[1] => political
)
)
[3] => Array
(
[long_name] => California
[short_name] => CA
[types] => Array
(
[0] => administrative_area_level_1
[1] => political
)
)
[4] => Array
(
[long_name] => United States
[short_name] => US
[types] => Array
(
[0] => country
[1] => political
)
)
[5] => Array
(
[long_name] => 94043
[short_name] => 94043
[types] => Array
(
[0] => postal_code
)
)
)
[formatted_address] => Sevryns Rd, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
[geometry] => Array
(
[bounds] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.4197948
[lng] => -122.0577433
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.4175854
[lng] => -122.0590077
)
)
[location] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.4187254
[lng] => -122.0583059
)
[location_type] => APPROXIMATE
[viewport] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.420039080292
[lng] => -122.05702651971
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.417341119709
[lng] => -122.05972448029
)
)
)
[types] => Array
(
[0] => route
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[address_components] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[long_name] => Moffett Federal Airfield
[short_name] => Moffett Federal Airfield
[types] => Array
(
[0] => establishment
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[long_name] => Cummins Ave
[short_name] => Cummins Ave
[types] => Array
(
[0] => route
)
)
[2] => Array
(
[long_name] => Mountain View
[short_name] => Mountain View
[types] => Array
(
[0] => locality
[1] => political
)
)
[3] => Array
(
[long_name] => Santa Clara
[short_name] => Santa Clara
[types] => Array
(
[0] => administrative_area_level_2
[1] => political
)
)
[4] => Array
(
[long_name] => California
[short_name] => CA
[types] => Array
(
[0] => administrative_area_level_1
[1] => political
)
)
[5] => Array
(
[long_name] => United States
[short_name] => US
[types] => Array
(
[0] => country
[1] => political
)
)
[6] => Array
(
[long_name] => 94043
[short_name] => 94043
[types] => Array
(
[0] => postal_code
)
)
)
[formatted_address] => Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Cummins Ave, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
[geometry] => Array
(
[bounds] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.4298225
[lng] => -122.0375869
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.4019577
[lng] => -122.0589996
)
)
[location] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.4199527
[lng] => -122.0584702
)
[location_type] => APPROXIMATE
[viewport] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.4298225
[lng] => -122.0375869
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.4019577
[lng] => -122.0589996
)
)
)
[types] => Array
(
[0] => airport
[1] => transit_station
[2] => establishment
)
)
[2] => Array
(
[address_components] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[long_name] => 94043
[short_name] => 94043
[types] => Array
(
[0] => postal_code
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[long_name] => Mountain View
[short_name] => Mountain View
[types] => Array
(
[0] => locality
[1] => political
)
)
[2] => Array
(
[long_name] => California
[short_name] => CA
[types] => Array
(
[0] => administrative_area_level_1
[1] => political
)
)
[3] => Array
(
[long_name] => United States
[short_name] => US
[types] => Array
(
[0] => country
[1] => political
)
)
)
[formatted_address] => Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
[geometry] => Array
(
[bounds] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.464087
[lng] => -122.03599
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.3857439
[lng] => -122.10842
)
)
[location] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.428434
[lng] => -122.0723816
)
[location_type] => APPROXIMATE
[viewport] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.464087
[lng] => -122.03599
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.3857439
[lng] => -122.10842
)
)
)
[types] => Array
(
[0] => postal_code
)
)
[3] => Array
(
[address_components] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[long_name] => Santa Clara
[short_name] => Santa Clara
[types] => Array
(
[0] => administrative_area_level_2
[1] => political
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[long_name] => California
[short_name] => CA
[types] => Array
(
[0] => administrative_area_level_1
[1] => political
)
)
[2] => Array
(
[long_name] => United States
[short_name] => US
[types] => Array
(
[0] => country
[1] => political
)
)
)
[formatted_address] => Santa Clara, CA, USA
[geometry] => Array
(
[bounds] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.484637
[lng] => -121.208178
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 36.894155
[lng] => -122.202476
)
)
[location] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.2938907
[lng] => -121.7195459
)
[location_type] => APPROXIMATE
[viewport] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.484637
[lng] => -121.208178
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 36.894155
[lng] => -122.202476
)
)
)
[types] => Array
(
[0] => administrative_area_level_2
[1] => political
)
)
[4] => Array
(
[address_components] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[long_name] => California
[short_name] => CA
[types] => Array
(
[0] => administrative_area_level_1
[1] => political
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[long_name] => United States
[short_name] => US
[types] => Array
(
[0] => country
[1] => political
)
)
)
[formatted_address] => California, USA
[geometry] => Array
(
[bounds] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 42.0095169
[lng] => -114.131211
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 32.5342071
[lng] => -124.4096195
)
)
[location] => Array
(
[lat] => 36.778261
[lng] => -119.4179324
)
[location_type] => APPROXIMATE
[viewport] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 42.0095169
[lng] => -114.131211
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 32.5342071
[lng] => -124.4096195
)
)
)
[types] => Array
(
[0] => administrative_area_level_1
[1] => political
)
)
[5] => Array
(
[address_components] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[long_name] => United States
[short_name] => US
[types] => Array
(
[0] => country
[1] => political
)
)
)
[formatted_address] => United States
[geometry] => Array
(
[bounds] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 90
[lng] => 180
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => -90
[lng] => -180
)
)
[location] => Array
(
[lat] => 37.09024
[lng] => -95.712891
)
[location_type] => APPROXIMATE
[viewport] => Array
(
[northeast] => Array
(
[lat] => 49.38
[lng] => -66.94
)
[southwest] => Array
(
[lat] => 25.82
[lng] => -124.39
)
)
)
[types] => Array
(
[0] => country
[1] => political
)
)
)
[status] => OK
)
*/
?>