Geolocation Lookup by IPPRO

The WS Form Geolocation by IP Lookup setting in Form Settings can be used to populate form fields with approximate geographical information.

WS Form makes geolocation requests to third party IP lookup services client-side so that the users IP address does not pass through your web server.

If you opt to use this feature we would recommend updating your privacy policy accordingly.

Demo

Enabling Geolocation Lookup by IP

To enable lookups:

1. Click on the Form Settings icon at the top of the layout editor.
2. Click on the Geo tab.
3. Check the Enable Geolocation Lookup by IP setting.

Configuring Geolocation Lookup by IP

Configuring lookups involves adding mappings from the geographic elements returned to the fields on your form.

To add a mapping:

1. Click the Add  icon at the bottom right of the Geolocation Mapping setting.
2. In the left-hand column, select the geographical element, e.g. City.
3. In the right-hand column, select the form field you would like the geographical element value to be added to.
4. Repeat this process for each geographical element.
5. Click the Save button at the bottom of the sidebar to save your changes.

Choosing Which Geolocation Service to Use

The Geolocation Lookup by IP feature can fetch data from one of two different services:

• ipapi.co (Recommended)
• ipinfo.io

You choose which service to use in the Advanced tab of the Global Settings admin page. This same service is also used for the Tracking features in WS Form.

We recommend using ipapi.co because:

• It provides the most geographical data (Other services may result in elements returning blank values).
• It supports HTTPS requests for non-commercial applications.

If you choose a different service from those above, WS Form will default to ipapi.co. The reason for this is because other services do not support making HTTPS requests without a commercial key or token.

Accuracy

Geolocation lookups based on IP addresses provide approximate location information, but their accuracy varies. Factors like dynamic IP assignments, VPN usage, and data availability can impact precision. While useful for certain purposes, relying solely on IP geolocation for critical decisions or precise location determination is not recommended.

Users accessing your website via a cellular signal are more likely to return inaccurate results whereas land based users will return more accurate results.

The quality of the data returned will also depend on the Geolocation Lookup by IP service you have chosen in Global Settings (Advanced tab).