I have chosen to have the administrator (that's me for now!) create new accounts. Is there a commonly accepted best practice when it comes to assigning user names? Email names (for example, "jsmith" or "mildred107")? Email addresses (for example "jsmith@whatever.com" or "mildred107@megacorp.com"? Firstname.lastname (for example, "john.smith" or "mildred.jones")? Any clues greatly appreciated.
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Hey Bond - I find that first initial-last name works great in 99% of cases.
Cheers,
Tom
I made the mistake of letting the guys use whatever name they wanted for username. The problem is when the system sends automated emails or when they make forum posts it uses their username and if they don't manually sign their name they don't always know who posted the message since some usernames are cryptic.
John Cosgrove
VP Youth in Harmony
Keystone Capital Chorus
Harrisburg PA Chapter
http://www.keystonecapitalchorus.org
We had the same problem with Yahoo Groups. You couldn't tell who anyone was by their username. For Groupanizer we are using first initial and last name and it works really well. We imported the initial set of users in and the admin creates new users as they join the chorus.
Tom Nisbet
Webmaster - Heart of Maryland Chorus
www.HeartOfMaryland.org
tom27@HeartOfMaryland.org
I agree with first initial plus last name. In case you have doubles, we use I or II or III etc after the last name:
jsmithI and jsmithII If its father son, you'll know who is who
Do not use anything that the user will forget, like anything other than their own name. Think also of the poor admin person who would also have to remember, the person'a name, their user name, and relate both to an email address for when the user forgets their own user name.
Keep life simple, use their 1st and last name.
John Breckenridge, Bass First Capital Chorus, Soundscape,
It's also worth remembering that the user can get their username and password back by using the "request new password" feature if they know their email address. Works like a charm.
For this reason and the reason that the username is displayed when the user logs in, we opted to go with FirstName LastName as the username. That way we know exactly who it is without having to guess.
Cheers
Carole
Carole Bergerson
Groupanizer Mistress
Alaska Sound Celebration
cbergerson@gmail.com
I set up my users using their full email address as their username. Makes it easy because both fields are together when setting up users.
They won't forget their email address and for the few times that a user changes email address you'll spend a lot less time reminding people what their username is
Ian Harrop
Western Hospitality Singers www.sing4fun.ca
Alberta Sport Parachuting Association www.aspa.ca
ian.harrop@live.com
Funny, I posted this initial inquiry in April of last year! Never knew that anyone replied, until now. So whatever is happening to the forums recently, I wholeheartedly endorse it!
As for user names, initially I went with Firstname Lastname (with a space! Doh!) Now I'm slowly changing them over to firstinitial+lastname. So nice to know that people are actually using the forums.
We use First Name, Last inital.
as in... Sally S
Philippa Gelinas
Philippa Gelinas
webmaster - Rhythm of the Rockies
www.rhythmoftherockies.org
We started out using first inital last name but have since migrated to using whole name. Mkes it easier to identify. Jdoe isnt quite the same as Joe Doe.
Ed White
Mount Baker Toppers
We used to use first initial+last name on our other members only site, but we have some duplicates. I elected to go with first name + first 3 letters of last name (susansod). Thought about the full email thing, but that can change, and can be cumbersome for less tech-y users.
Beth Smith
Pacific Sound Chorus SAI