Username | Unable to Change

    • 201 posts
    January 3, 2019 3:55 PM EST

    On first creation of my SE site I deleted First Name & Last Name profile fields and relied solely on usernames. It was never an issue. Yesterday I (admin) changed a username and the display name won't change as it previously has. I have cleared cache and ran task scheduler. No change. No changes have occurred since my last successful username change except the last p4 patch that I can't imagine could be related in any way. So I am stuck. I thought about adding First Name & last Name back as a profile field just to trial if that changes it but I shouldn't have to do that and I am hesitant as it won't find the issue. In the absence of those profile fields should it not default to username. The profile URL did change but not username. The member level was changed to a higher level that allows username changes still no change although an admin should be able to change it regardless. Any suggestions on where to look would be appreciated. 

     


    This post was edited by Miami Shade at January 3, 2019 4:14 PM EST
    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    January 3, 2019 4:27 PM EST

    The display name is taken from the First Name/ Last Name fields. If those aren't there, I don't see how they can have a display name. Here, I changed First Name to Display Name and removed the Last Name field. It works fine here. Perhaps this will work for you too.

    • 201 posts
    January 3, 2019 4:44 PM EST

    I originally followed this SE tutorial post:

    "The "Profile Address" field is required by SocialEngine. This field represents not only the member's URL but the member's username, which provides a fall back display name if the "First Name" and "Last Name" fields are removed".

    I have changed the display name many many times by using this method and have never used the First Name or Last Name field however it is no longer working.

    I have 3 tiers of paid membership that 2 include username changes 


    This post was edited by Miami Shade at January 3, 2019 4:54 PM EST
    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    January 3, 2019 6:22 PM EST

    The username is the fallback displayed name if the first name / last name are removed. Correct. It is not a separate displayed name though. If you want a separate one, you would use the Firstname field like we use here. We changed the name of it here to Display Name in the settings. So it depends on what you want. One single username which is also the displayed name (note the "ed" on the end of that) or a username with a separate display name (no "ed" on the end there). I'm using "displayed" here to show the difference between the two. 

    I can test something tomorrow if this was not what you meant. I would need more info though I guess as perhaps I'm not following what you are doing. 

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    January 3, 2019 6:33 PM EST

    I think I figured out what you are doing. You are changing the username in admin for a member and the displayed name is not changing. I tested this on my test site. If you log in as the member and go to their settings and change the username there or at least save the changes there, it works. So this requires a log in as the member to change the displayed name. It doesn't work in admin. This is with the default member stuff and not a third party plugin. Not sure if you have one. Anyway, please try logging in as the member and saving the username in their settings and see if it works.

     

    • 201 posts
    January 3, 2019 9:02 PM EST

    I Love @Donna....that worked kiss

    It's so odd though because I have changed usernames before as an admin.

    Thank you!!!

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    January 4, 2019 5:05 AM EST

    You're welcome! Glad this worked. Not sure why it worked before. The only fix in this patch is for security. I can test on a site that's not been upgraded to see if it worked before upgrade. 

    • Moderator
    • 6923 posts
    January 4, 2019 5:10 AM EST

    It's the same on a site that's not upgraded yet so I'm not sure how it worked before. 

    • 201 posts
    January 4, 2019 9:37 AM EST

    I have no idea how it worked before either? but as long as a paid member can change their name its great.