How to center map based on visitor’s location

This tutorial demonstrates the utilization of the geolocate: maptilersdk.GeolocationType.POINT option to automatically center the map according to the user’s location, making use of the MapTiler Geolocation API.

By employing this feature, it becomes effortless to determine What is your location? (based on the IP address).

NPM module setup

Install the npm package.
```
 npm install --save @maptiler/sdk
```

Include the CSS file.

If you have a bundler that can handle CSS, you can import the CSS


 import "@maptiler/sdk/dist/maptiler-sdk.css";

or include it with a <link /> in the head of the document via the CDN


 <link href='https://cdn.maptiler.com/maptiler-sdk-js/v4.1.0/maptiler-sdk.css' rel='stylesheet' />

Include the following code in your JavaScript file (Example: app.js).


 import * as maptilersdk from '@maptiler/sdk';

 maptilersdk.config.apiKey = 'YOUR_MAPTILER_API_KEY_HERE';
 const map = new maptilersdk.Map({
   container: 'map', // container's id or the HTML element to render the map
   style: maptilersdk.MapStyle.STREETS,
      
   center: [16.62662018, 49.2125578], // starting position [lng, lat]
   zoom: 10, // starting zoom
      
 });

Replace YOUR_MAPTILER_API_KEY_HERE with your own API key. Make sure to secure the key before you publish it.
The next is up to you. You can center your map wherever you desire (modifying the starting position) and set an appropriate zoom level (modifying the starting zoom) to match your users’ needs. Additionally, you can change the map’s look (by updating the source URL); choose from a range of visually appealing map styles from our extensive MapTiler standard maps, or create your own to truly differentiate your application.

Modify the map options. Remove the center and zoom options and add the geolocate option.


 const map = new maptilersdk.Map({
   container: 'map', // container's id or the HTML element in which SDK will render the map
   style: maptilersdk.MapStyle.STREETS,
 - center: [16.62662018, 49.2125578], // starting position [lng, lat]
 - zoom: 10, // starting zoom
 + geolocate: maptilersdk.GeolocationType.POINT
 });

Now the map options should look like this.


 const map = new maptilersdk.Map({
   container: 'map', // container's id or the HTML element in which SDK will render the map
   style: maptilersdk.MapStyle.STREETS,
   geolocate: maptilersdk.GeolocationType.POINT
 });

Basic JavaScript setup

Copy the following code, paste it into your favorite text editor, and save it as a .html file.


 <!DOCTYPE html>
 <html lang="en">
 <head>
   <meta charset="UTF-8">
   <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
   <title>Center map based on visitor's location</title>
   <script src="https://cdn.maptiler.com/maptiler-sdk-js/v4.1.0/maptiler-sdk.umd.min.js"></script>
   <link href="https://cdn.maptiler.com/maptiler-sdk-js/v4.1.0/maptiler-sdk.css" rel="stylesheet" />
   <style>
     body { margin: 0; padding: 0; }
     #map { position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; width: 100%; }
   </style>
 </head>
 <body>
   <div id="map"></div>
   <script>
       maptilersdk.config.apiKey = 'YOUR_MAPTILER_API_KEY_HERE';      
       const map = new maptilersdk.Map({
         container: 'map', // container's id or the HTML element to render the map
         style: maptilersdk.MapStyle.STREETS,
            
         center: [16.62662018, 49.2125578], // starting position [lng, lat]
         zoom: 10, // starting zoom
            
       });
   </script>
 </body>
 </html>

Replace YOUR_MAPTILER_API_KEY_HERE with your own API key. Make sure to secure the key before you publish it.
The next is up to you. You can center your map wherever you desire (modifying the starting position) and set an appropriate zoom level (modifying the starting zoom) to match your users’ needs. Additionally, you can change the map’s look (by updating the source URL); choose from a range of visually appealing map styles from our extensive MapTiler standard maps, or create your own to truly differentiate your application.

Modify the map options. Remove the center and zoom options and add the geolocate option.


 const map = new maptilersdk.Map({
   container: 'map', // container's id or the HTML element in which SDK will render the map
   style: maptilersdk.MapStyle.STREETS,
 - center: [16.62662018, 49.2125578], // starting position [lng, lat]
 - zoom: 10, // starting zoom
 + geolocate: maptilersdk.GeolocationType.POINT
 });

Now the map options should look like this.


 const map = new maptilersdk.Map({
   container: 'map', // container's id or the HTML element in which SDK will render the map
   style: maptilersdk.MapStyle.STREETS,
   geolocate: maptilersdk.GeolocationType.POINT
 });

Complete source code

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8" />
  <title>Center map based on visitor's location</title>
  <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no" />
  <script src="https://cdn.maptiler.com/maptiler-sdk-js/v4.1.0/maptiler-sdk.umd.min.js"></script>
  <link href="https://cdn.maptiler.com/maptiler-sdk-js/v4.1.0/maptiler-sdk.css" rel="stylesheet" />
  <style>
    body { 
      margin: 0;
      padding: 0;
    }

    #map {
      position: absolute;
      top: 0;
      bottom: 0;
      width: 100%;
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <div id="map"></div>
  <script>
    maptilersdk.config.apiKey = 'YOUR_MAPTILER_API_KEY_HERE';
    const map = new maptilersdk.Map({
      container: 'map', // container's id or the HTML element to render the map
      style: maptilersdk.MapStyle.STREETS,
      geolocate: maptilersdk.GeolocationType.POINT
    });
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Learn more

The map view can also be adjusted to the visitor’s country bounds. To do this, follow the How to center map based on visitor’s country bounds tutorial.

Check out the tutorials How to display disputed borders based on visitor’s location, How to change the map labels language based on visitor’s location and How to display the cookies consent bar according to the visitor’s location.

Visit the MapTiler Geolocation API reference for Geolocation response object properties. Like for example, the name of the country, the city, etc.