Add previous forum names as custom profile field

[Purno]

I just had this brilliant idea popping up in my mind:

ATM users which had their usernames changed are asked to add a line "Formely known as ..." in their signature. Now, phpbb3 got the possibility of adding a custom profile field. Wouldn't it be an idea to use such a profile field for this purpose?

[orudge]

That's a possibility, what do other people think?

[Purno]

It's technically possible that only administrators can fill in the field (to prevent abuse perhaps), but I don't think it'll be publically displayed then.

[Ameecher]

So what does this custom profile field actually look like?

[Purno]

<--- Similar to "Location:" over there

EDIT: Owen can also set it'll only display in your actual profile page, IIRC.

[orudge]

Hmm, having thought about it a bit, I'm not entirely sure it's completely needed, considering it affects a relatively minor number of users, and most other users will get used to people's new nicknames (with the signature message) for a while. Handy to know, perhaps, but it does have the potential for abuse (people filling in false details, etc).

[Hyronymus]

If you want to know what someone used to be called you can look it up here in the various Username request topics. I don't see a need for this additional line.

[athanasios]

Can it be automated, so it is displayed for a period of a month or two after the name change?

[orudge]

Not very easily, no.

[Dave]

Hmm, having thought about it a bit, I'm not entirely sure it's completely needed, considering it affects a relatively minor number of users, and most other users will get used to people's new nicknames (with the signature message) for a while. Handy to know, perhaps, but it does have the potential for abuse (people filling in false details, etc).

Pfft... You're a cynical one - who on earth would possibly want to abuse the system!?

[Chrill]

What could be an easier way would be to simply gather it up in one topic. People's current name and their past names. Some guy administrates that one topic by posting it and editing his post. If people wanted to know who X used to be, they can go there and see his previous name was V

[orudge]

Well, there is such a topic, but you lot can't see it.

[Purno]

Which means it got no use for us.

[Ameecher]

Wouldn't such a topic be pointless though because you wouldn't know what they had changed their username unless they had a bit in their profile saying "I changed my username" in which case they may as well just put down that they were "previously known as X"

[orudge]

Indeed - apart for informative purposes, I don't see that such a thing needs to be public. Even when reading through archived posts with somebody who's changed their name (eg, some old posts where "Tombe" became "Paranoid Android"), it's still fairly obvious who was saying things, even if the names in [quote] sections are wrong.