[Suggestion] Username request

Stuart Wright

Well-known member
I want to propose that xenForo includes the functionality for members to request a user name change.
We get a few of these every day. Without this facility we have to organise for members to contact a member of staff or post a message in the forum. An admin then has to edit the user to change their name. Sometimes they request a name which is already taken or not suitable. We then have to bounce messages back and forth until they pick an available/appropriate name.
Finally we change the name.

Alternatively a facility to request a new login name in a member's control panel makes the process much easier. Only valid login names are accepted.
The name change is put into a moderation queue and super moderators can approve or deny the name change.

This is available in vBulletin via a plugin:
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=149377

It many not be something which is used much in other forums, but this functionality saves time and saving your time and that of your moderators is something we should always strive to achieve.
 
Upvote 12
In IPB, it's controllable in the ACP to only allow particular usergroups to change their username, you can also set how often they can do so.
 
In IPB, it's controllable in the ACP to only allow particular usergroups to change their username, you can also set how often they can do so.
This is needed, also how much time between changes would be good to add. Otherwise they start changing it every day.
 
In the settings, it says to contact the admin if you need your birthday changed so i think a request system is in order. Or one could just use the contact form.
 
It's a fact of life that people occasionally want to change their login names. We can either make it hard for them and ourselves by manually doing it, or we can have some kind of system which makes it easier for everyone.
I agree we shouldn't let people change their login name more than, say, once a month.
There are legitimate reasons why people request a login name change.
Sometimes net noobies might enter their real name or email address without appreciating the ramifications of doing that. It's only natural that they will want this changing.

In a moment of madness, I registered with the login name of Serial Sex Offender. Now people are not being very friendly in the forum. Can i change my name to John, please?
No, that's taken.
John Smith?
No, that's taken.
John S?
No, that's taken.
John Smith 1?
No, that's taken.
John Smith 12?
No, that's taken.
John Smith 123?
Done.
 
Personally I don't think changing a username should be made easy and certainly not automated. When a username is changed it would be nice to have old posts have some reference to the old username. I presume a table could be added to keep a history of usernames including date/time any changes are made, then the postbit could be dependent upon the date/time stamp of the post.
 
Personally I don't think changing a username should be made easy and certainly not automated. When a username is changed it would be nice to have old posts have some reference to the old username. I presume a table could be added to keep a history of usernames including date/time any changes are made, then the postbit could be dependent upon the date/time stamp of the post.
Some people want to change their user name for security reasons. Perhaps they naively registered with their real name and realised that asking about their hugely expensive car parked in their drive might not be particularly wise.
If people want to inform others that they are 'formerly someone else' then they can put that in their signature.

We had someone register with a name something like 'over 60s club' and found people treated him in a particular way (old) which he didn't like. He wanted to change his name and completely lose any reference to the old one.
 
This system is something I have wanted for a long time. It should be something like an user request an username change and includes an reason in a form then admins can see and accept or deny, not much different then sending a PC but still better.
 
Some people want to change their user name for security reasons. Perhaps they naively registered with their real name and realised that asking about their hugely expensive car parked in their drive might not be particularly wise.
If people want to inform others that they are 'formerly someone else' then they can put that in their signature.

We had someone register with a name something like 'over 60s club' and found people treated him in a particular way (old) which he didn't like. He wanted to change his name and completely lose any reference to the old one.

If people don't want to be accountable for what they post on t'internet they shouldn't post it in the first place, old content needs to be kept in context, changing usernames often means it no longer makes any sense, hence why I think keeping reference to old usernames in old posts would be a good feature. I can see why somebody might want to change a username and people can always start a new account if they want to hide their past.
 
I'd consider putting in a feature like this, but I don't think I would link to it, because I know from experience that it would be abused by users who just fancy a change.

What I would probably do is wait for a user to decide they need/want a name change, then PM the admin who can return with a yes/no and a link to the change request form, which would do checks to allow the user to pick a username that is valid, not banned and not in use. They could then reply to the admin with their desired name.
 
i assume since the user's activity is link to his user id which is a static non changing number, the process of changing the name itself should not be a complicated one. of course, it would break links with the user name itself in the URI like this one: http://xenforo.com/community/members/sushubh-mittal.1705/

In the end, the user name is just a user name and members should be free to pick them up. that is my belief.
Well with XenForo it doesn't matter what the username in the url is as long as the id is correct it will auto redirect you to the right user.
 
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