Disabling "enable names" makes admin act strange

Bug
1

Disabling enable_names setting removes the full name everywhere in the GUI.
Except from the administrator view - so far so good.
It seems to work, but it does not.

  • at first the name does not appear
  • you can edit it
  • it then appears but is never saved

See video

Version: tests-passed as of this morning.

5 Likes
2

When editing a user in the admin menu. Changing user Name saves but upon refresh nothing was saved.

Screenshot_20240421-175853
Screenshot_20240421-175853864×1146 82.5 KB

See no name in Name

Edit & save. Refresh page no name saved as per above pic.

Running Tests Passed up to date.

3 Likes
3

Is the enable names setting enabled?

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4

No not enabled. So recent bug. @JammyDodger can you merge this topic with Richards?

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5

I’m not sure it’s recent

1 Like
6

An admin should be able to see and update the name regardless of the enable_names setting. :thinking:

3 Likes
7

Well new enough as hadn’t noticed this change in behavior until t gently.(Even though it looks like issue was first maybe reported 4 years ago?)

Richard’s post from January.

Granted the 2 forums I have in use is 4 years & 7 years.

So likely why hasn’t noticed it when it did change as not often changing/fixing details for a user.

It seems like they maybe need to add a setting? So name is enable and the choice to display globally or not

As mentioned in the discussion you linked full name should be minimally displayed to user and admin.

2 Likes
8

Bump

Screenshot_20240711-204526
Screenshot_20240711-204526864×736 59.2 KB

Admin should be able view Name Feild content. The pic shows my account but even editing this Field and saving. It blanks on a refresh.

I was sure we discussed this earlier but had trouble finding via search terms.

Only site setting is to unhide and add to all site areas displayed.

Admin should always be able to view this user Field. And imho this detail should also show in user preferences menu “Account” as it is part of their account details.

2 Likes
9

Okay have found the setting @Moin mentioned doesn’t populate it for everyone. Just the current user on their card.

Enabled names works. But any info users enter prior in that field is blank ok some didn’t populate that field. Mystery solved.

Might need to clarify this setting better. Imho it should be on by default.

12

I found out the reason is

class BasicUserSerializer < ApplicationSerializer
  # ...
  def include_name?
    SiteSetting.enable_names?
  end

There is no special judgment on the admin.

But I am curious, what should it be changed to? Can the moderator change the user’s name? or just the admin? :thinking:

1 Like
13

I think so

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14

I’m just wondering if moderators should be affected by the “hide everywhere” of description… maybe they shouldn’t be able to see name, even in the admin panel?

image
image937×120 11 KB

upd: According to this description, the administrator should not be able to see it either

1 Like
15

I would suggest Making it a toggle for full moderators. Admin though as discussed should always be able to see this Feild.

After enabling names though it breaks privacy as it now includes real name in emails. Unless there is an additional setting? Couldn’t find one after a member reported real names are in the email notifications instead of just user handle.

Ie a email to user from a reply from me sent real name in email.

Then if this hides the Feild from all it should disable using that Feild as even the member cannot view that detail.

Stable branch forum I also look after is not affected by the change in behavior discussed here.

16

Where can I fix the email so it is not sending real names and use the user name instead?

And what CSS would I use to have it only show to the current user their own real name on the user card?

17

I think moderators can also see and edit custom user fields where ‘editable after signup’ and ‘show on public profile’ are disabled. In that case, the user cannot see their own field, but moderators can. Perhaps it would be consistent if the name field behaved in the same way.

Then the description could be changed. For example:

Show the user’s full name to everyone on their profile, user card, and emails. If disabled, the full name will be shown only to staff members on the user’s profile.

2 Likes
18

Thanks, Richard! I am able to repro the issue you are reporting, and we’ll get that fixed up. :+1: Admins should always be able to see and manage the name of users, even if it is not shown in various places in the forum.

As regards the rest of this conversation, I can see there is some more work to be done to bring together these settings and make it easier to understand. I’ll add that to our list to investigate further.

In the meantime, I made a small PR to remove that ambiguous language in the description of the enable names site setting.

2 Likes
21

I think it’s worth picking this apart and identifying the decisions we have to make and then create multiple todos. I will assign to myself to try to figure it out.

2 Likes
25

There appear to be three action items for this topic:

  1. always allow admins to see and edit the user’s full name, even when enable_names site setting is disabled
  2. do not include full name of user in emails when enable_names site setting is disabled
  3. change the enable_names site setting description to indicate it is not a security feature. Admins and moderators can see it, and those familiar with .json can also find it. If sites want to allow users to have anonymity, they should not be putting their real name in the name field.

We are going to look into (1) and (2).

As for (3) we need to find better language that is not ambiguous, and link to a documentation topic here on meta for fuller details. Something like this?

Show full name of members on profiles, user cards and in emails. Note this is not a security feature. Admins and mods can always still see names, and they also can be discovered via .json. Learn more

2 Likes