Currently, the plugin says 'No Data' until it is manually or auto configured for the first time, but the properties dialog needs to be opened at least once. Would it be possible to query the geoip database when plugin is first initialized (e.g. attached to panel) instead of when the Properties dialog is opened? If this is not rather easily achievable, then you are welcome to mark this as WontFix, but I think it would make it slightly more convenient by default. Thanks for such a lovely plugin, part of the best desktop suite!
Unfortunately, GeoIP auto-detection does not work very reliable for many people (including me when I travel), so they are forced to configure the plugin anyway. Personally, I regard it more as a remnant of earlier versions than something useful. That aside, I'm not going to spend any more time on 0.8.x except for bug fixes and API changes. After a quick look it's also more than a simple code change (location detection is done automatically but in a few steps). I'll note this as an improvement for future versions (>=0.9), though, but it will certainly need to be a better solution than simple GeoIP detection.