[OzzModz] Country Flags by IP Address 2.2.1 Patch Level 3

[Snog]

For me it shows this flag that says Reserved and nothing else. Doesn't show anything for other users.

What did I do wrong?

That usually happens when your server is returning it's reserved IP address (127.x.x.x) to PHP and not the user's IP address. And it is most common with nginx. You need to contact your host to correct the problem.

 

[kankan]

Hello Thanks for the addon.
Does the flag appears for Guests posting in some part of the forum ?
Looks like not workin here
Thanks

 

[Snog]

Hello Thanks for the addon.
Does the flag appears for Guests posting in some part of the forum ?
Looks like not workin here
Thanks

No it does not. Guests do not have a user account and that is where the flag information is stored.

 

[Mr Lucky]

I just received a post from a member saying that his flag stayed as UK, even though he was travelling round Europe and logging on via various different roaming 3G, hotel and restaurant wifi etc. Any idea what could cause this? Thanks

 

[Snog]

I just received a post from a member saying that his flag stayed as UK, even though he was travelling round Europe and logging on via various different roaming 3G, hotel and restaurant wifi etc. Any idea what could cause this? Thanks

There are a lot of things that affect the country flag.

But while the user may have been using roaming 3G connections, they still may have been routed through their actual service provider which if it's in the UK would still provide a UK ip address. Or at the very least possibly provided a proxy that connected to their provider's IP which the flag system would pick up. It depends on the roaming agreement the local providers have with their home wireless provider.

I would only fully expect their flag to change if they were using a WiFi connection in another country or not roaming and using a foreign provider's system.

EDIT: He could also already be using a proxy to browse the internet on his phone, which would also cause his flag to not change.

 

[Mr Lucky]

I would only fully expect their flag to change if they were using a WiFi connection in another country or not roaming and using a foreign provider's system.

Me too, and he did say he was using hotel etc. wifi

EDIT: He could also already be using a proxy to browse the internet on his phone, which would also cause his flag to not change.

I don't think this is the case, that was already suggested to him and he wasn't.

 

[Snog]

Me too, and he did say he was using hotel etc. wifi




I don't think this is the case, that was already suggested to him and he wasn't.

I couldn't say then. The only way to tell would be to turn on "Log IP addresses" in the add-on and send the log to me for analysis. Of course if he's back in the UK now, that would do no good because the flag attached to him would be correct.

And I hope he's not looking at his flag now thinking it should be different in posts he made then. The flag changes for the user, not the posts he makes.

 

[Mr Lucky]

I couldn't say then. The only way to tell would be to turn on "Log IP addresses" in the add-on and send the log to me for analysis.

OK I might trybnthyat if he travels frequently

And I hope he's not looking at his flag now thinking it should be different in posts he made then.

No, I think we covered that but will check.

Thanks for the help.

 

[kankan]

Hello
A suggestion for future updates : display City name next to country on mouse over (title) :
ex : France (Paris)

 

[Snog]

Hello
A suggestion for future updates : display City name next to country on mouse over (title) :
ex : France (Paris)

The MaxMind country database does not contain cities, so they can't be displayed.

 

[Mr Lucky]

The MaxMind country database does not contain cities, so they can't be displayed.

Even if it did, presumably it would show the location of your ISP or their server, not your own city.

 

[Snog]

Even if it did, presumably it would show the location of your ISP or their server, not your own city.

Correct. And you would most likely begin to run into privacy law concerns if you displayed the actual city a user was in. That would border on personally identifiable information.

 

[JackieChun]

This has been requested before, so I am checking if there are plans to implement showing the spammer's flags in the Spam Cleaner screen. That's where country flags come in very handy.

 

[Snog]

This has been requested before, so I am checking if there are plans to implement showing the spammer's flags in the Spam Cleaner screen. That's where country flags come in very handy.

There are no plans to add the flag to that screen.

 

[JackieChun]

There are no plans to add the flag to that screen.

Hi Snog. Is there a reason?

 

[Snog]

Hi Snog. Is there a reason?

Quite simply, the add-on is functioning as intended.

 

[JackieChun]

@Snog I understand that the add-on is doing what that you intended it to do when you designed it. That still doesn't prevent adding a useful feature and displaying a flag over an avatar on the spam cleaner screen. It's such an obvious place for it and would be helpful for admins and mods who have to clean out massive amounts of spam regularly and frequently see spammers from the same IP blocks.

 

[Snog]

While I understand what you're saying, you need to understand that this is a free add-on. And it is my prerogative whether or not something is added or not. And at this point I have chosen not to add it. That is subject to change, but at this point I have no plans to add it. The add-on is working as intended and there are no immediate plans to change anything.

 

[JackieChun]

@Snog And I'm not demanding an update. Your work is appreciated. This is simply a request from someone who has been using your add-on for many years, and it has saved us lots of headaches. So it comes from personal experience when I say that for years, many many times I've clicked on a user, then clicked spam, then realized there is no flag on the spam cleaner screen, so clicked again to go back, remembered the flag, then clicked to spam cleaner again. This has happened countless times and happens to this day.

So the next time you have a few extra hours to spend on this add-on, please consider this use case.

 

[Snog]

Snog updated Country Flags by IP Address with a new update entry:

Country Flags by IP Address Update 2.0.11

• Add - Display country flag in spam cleaner
• Update - MaxMind database reader
• Remove - BCMath requirement

NOTE: While the requirement for BCMath has been removed, if your MaxMind database hasn't been updated in quite some time(as the cron task should be doing) you should keep BCMath or GMP installed so errors won't happen. MaxMind changed their database to eliminate using BCMath (or GMP) quite some time ago. But if you still have an old database file, it's still required.

Read the rest of this update entry...