vb.org Archive - http://www.myforum.com/username -> Profiles (working but needs improvement)

Ok so I've got a way to make http://www.myforum.com/username go directly to a member's vBulletin profile, but I am looking for some help to make it better.

I'm using apache and .htaccess to make the myforum.com/username ReWrite to a custom php script /private_url.php?u=Username which then reverse fetches the userID from the username and uses Header redirection to take them to the profile page.

.htaccess

Code:

RewriteEngine on

Options +FollowSymlinks

RewriteBase /

RewriteRule ^$ index.php

RewriteRule (^[-_A-Za-z0-9\ ]*$) /private_url.php?&u=$1

It works great, but the problem is with users who have Spaces in their name... ie http://www.myforum.com/User Name --- it's not practical for people making links to their profile.

What I want to do is convert Periods to Spaces... ie: http://www.myforum.com/User.Name goes to the user "User Name"

I'm just not sure how/if this is do-able, I believe I need a better RewriteRule. If someone could help me do this, I will release the scripts as a vBulletin mod.

X vBulletin 3.8.12 by vBS Debug Information
Template Usage: (1)ad_footer_end (1)ad_footer_start (1)ad_header_end (1)ad_header_logo (1)ad_navbar_below (1)bbcode_code_printable (1)footer (1)gobutton (1)header (1)headinclude (6)option (1)post_thanks_navbar_search (1)printthread (3)printthreadbit (1)spacer_close (1)spacer_open Phrase Groups Available: global postbit showthread	Included Files: ./printthread.php ./global.php ./includes/init.php ./includes/class_core.php ./includes/config.php ./includes/functions.php ./includes/class_hook.php ./includes/modsystem_functions.php ./includes/class_bbcode_alt.php ./includes/class_bbcode.php ./includes/functions_bigthree.php Hooks Called: init_startup init_startup_session_setup_start init_startup_session_setup_complete cache_permissions fetch_threadinfo_query fetch_threadinfo fetch_foruminfo style_fetch cache_templates global_start parse_templates global_setup_complete printthread_start bbcode_fetch_tags bbcode_create bbcode_parse_start bbcode_parse_complete_precache bbcode_parse_complete printthread_post printthread_complete
Messages:

X vBulletin 3.8.12 by vBS Debug Information

Page Generation 0.01438 seconds
Memory Usage 1,709KB
Queries Executed 10 (?)

More Information

Template Usage:

(1)ad_footer_end
(1)ad_footer_start
(1)ad_header_end
(1)ad_header_logo
(1)ad_navbar_below
(1)bbcode_code_printable
(1)footer
(1)gobutton
(1)header
(1)headinclude
(6)option
(1)post_thanks_navbar_search
(1)printthread
(3)printthreadbit
(1)spacer_close
(1)spacer_open

Phrase Groups Available:

global
postbit
showthread

Included Files:

./printthread.php
./global.php
./includes/init.php
./includes/class_core.php
./includes/config.php
./includes/functions.php
./includes/class_hook.php
./includes/modsystem_functions.php
./includes/class_bbcode_alt.php
./includes/class_bbcode.php
./includes/functions_bigthree.php

Hooks Called:

init_startup
init_startup_session_setup_start
init_startup_session_setup_complete
cache_permissions
fetch_threadinfo_query
fetch_threadinfo
fetch_foruminfo
style_fetch
cache_templates
global_start
parse_templates
global_setup_complete
printthread_start
bbcode_fetch_tags
bbcode_create
bbcode_parse_start
bbcode_parse_complete_precache
bbcode_parse_complete
printthread_post
printthread_complete

Messages:

X vBulletin 3.8.12 by vBS Debug Information
Page Generation 0.01438 seconds Memory Usage 1,709KB Queries Executed 10 (?)
More Information
Template Usage: (1)ad_footer_end (1)ad_footer_start (1)ad_header_end (1)ad_header_logo (1)ad_navbar_below (1)bbcode_code_printable (1)footer (1)gobutton (1)header (1)headinclude (6)option (1)post_thanks_navbar_search (1)printthread (3)printthreadbit (1)spacer_close (1)spacer_open Phrase Groups Available: global postbit showthread	Included Files: ./printthread.php ./global.php ./includes/init.php ./includes/class_core.php ./includes/config.php ./includes/functions.php ./includes/class_hook.php ./includes/modsystem_functions.php ./includes/class_bbcode_alt.php ./includes/class_bbcode.php ./includes/functions_bigthree.php Hooks Called: init_startup init_startup_session_setup_start init_startup_session_setup_complete cache_permissions fetch_threadinfo_query fetch_threadinfo fetch_foruminfo style_fetch cache_templates global_start parse_templates global_setup_complete printthread_start bbcode_fetch_tags bbcode_create bbcode_parse_start bbcode_parse_complete_precache bbcode_parse_complete printthread_post printthread_complete
Messages: