Is it possible to allow for / in usernames?

I recently converted my phpbb board to bbPress, but one of my members had a username that looked like ///Abcd.

So as opposed to forcing him to change his username, is it possible to dig into the code and allow /’s for usernames?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: Sorry if this thread is in the wrong forum!

[@johnhiler Member 15 years, 4 months ago]

You might be able to pull this off with Display Names?

https://bbpress.org/plugins/topic/display-name/

It’s built into the 1.0 core, if you’re on bbPress 1.0+.

[@jeffhiggins Member 15 years, 4 months ago]

Another twist. Since the name was imported from the previous phpBB db using a plugin, the username actually imported as ///Abcd, but now I am unable to change it to anything else… is there a way to change usernames (not just displayed [first and last] names) from the Admin CP?

[@johnhiler Member 15 years, 4 months ago]

Do you have access to phpMyAdmin?

[@jeffhiggins Member 15 years, 4 months ago]

Sure do!

[@johnhiler Member 15 years, 4 months ago]

Browse over to your users table, and find the user you want to change… then click edit to change the username in the record directly.

Make sure to backup your data first, just in case!

[@jeffhiggins Member 15 years, 4 months ago]

Ok thanks. I will do that. I assume that there is no way to actually allow usernames with /’s though? I’m somewhat experienced with WordPress, but I’m definitely new to bbPress.

On that note, it is very disappointing to see that so many plugins don’t work with 1.0 release. Had I known that I probably would have started with .9 release, and it seems that since you can’t downgrade, I’m pretty much stuck. On the other hand, having migrated from phpBB3, bbPress is just so much better to work with (even with its obvious shortcomings – like no automatic database backups/restore capabilities – which I think is a MUCH NEEDED feature).

[@johnhiler Member 15 years, 4 months ago]

The only way I know of to allow unusual characters in usernames is to use display names… but that wouldn’t change the URL of user’s profile.

Yah I definitely recommend using the 0.9.x branch. If you’re using a lot of plugins, it’s going to be really frustrating to be on 1.0.

Glad you’re liking bbPress better than phpBB3!

[@jeffhiggins Member 15 years, 4 months ago]

Suppose I was to use .9, is there any way to actually get my 1.0 database over to a .9 install?

See, this is the major problem that has been plaguing me all this time. To begin with, I only switched to bbPress because my phpBB3 (modded) broke and the database was partially messed up (no matter what I tried, I could not get that database onto a clean install).

Luckily I was able to get that db over to bbPress, but now that I am here I feel like A) I’m stuck (no backup/restore feature scares me half to death, and that I might have made a mistake. To hear that I should be downgrading to an older version is pretty frightening too, because this is for a client, and I wasn’t planning on sticking around for years to fix all the potential things that might happen from using a year old version of something (especially when support for the .9 version gets dropped altogether.

I really don’t like phpBB3. It does not offer me to the modification/ease of use that I need as a dev. On the other hand, it seems like the more I try to do with bbPress, the less it delivers. Almost none of the useful plugins work with 1.0.2, so I’m stuck deciding whether I should spend the time creating my own theme (based off of the WP theme for the client), or whether I should be trying to figure out how to get this db (which has changed since I left phpBB3) and move it to a platform that is more mature.

This is all very frustrating – and basically illustrates why I hate forum software in general. Any suggestions? I’m desperate/almost at my wits end…

All I really want is:

1. avatars (not just gravatars) [that users can upload for themselves]
2. private messages
3. attachments
4. smilies

And yet, it seems like even these things cannot be had with 1.0 – at least not from what I can find by searching this site (which by the way really needs to organize plugins based on bbPress version compatibility). So in a round about way, I guess I’m stuck with bbPress (and hopefully things will improve – don’t get me wrong it’s great software, but it’s just too simple [without plugins] for what I need). That being said, if the only way for me to enjoy those features lised above is via plugins, then how do I downgrade my install to .9? Alternatively, can I [and if so how do I] install .9 and then point it to my pre-existing 1.0 database (so that all the users, posts, etc, are not lost, and so they resolve in the new .9 install)?

Thanks in advance for any help that you – or anyone else – can give me…

[@johnhiler Member 15 years, 4 months ago]

You can easily do all the features you asked for in 0.9! It’s going to be a long while before 1.0 has the plugin support that 0.9 does.

I don’t know how to downgrade from 1.0 to 0.9… I can ask around. I am not technical enough to do this stuff, and I never charge for anything… but do you have any budget for a developer? That might help you in case you need some custom help from someone who really knows what they are doing!