--- Filip de Waard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I posted the HTTP header that my own browser is using to identify > it's language as an example to prove that Accept-Language isn't the > right source to identify the visitors language or even his home > country.
It's definitely not the way to determine a user's country. It's not called Country, after all. It's simply a header that indeicates the user's language preferences (many preferences can be specified, each qith a different quality value). However, it is the best way to choose a default language, although giving the user the option to change language is always a good idea. Why? Because, I might be working in Germany for a few months, but my computer is set to English (because I don't speak German). I certainly don't want you giving me a page in German (which is also available in English) when I am telling you that I prefer English. This is what Accept-Language is for, so I hate to hear that people knowingly ignore it. The user knows best when it comes to what language he/she prefers. Trying to override this preference with something you determine by IP address is wildly inaccurate and certain to have a high failure rate. > I don't have any experience with GeoIP Country from Maxmind (I'm using > ip-to-country), but will try it out soon. Thank you for the tip! No problem. I've tried several, and that one is my favorite. I currently maintain some Web sites with a very broad audience in terms of countries around the world, and this is the database that produces the fewest dead spots for us. Plus, the PHP API was written by a guy from the PHP Group, so that made me feel even more confident. :-) Chris ===== Chris Shiflett - http://shiflett.org/ PHP Security - O'Reilly Coming mid-2004 HTTP Developer's Handbook - Sams http://httphandbook.org/ PHP Community Site http://phpcommunity.org/ -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
