Miscellaneous Hacks - Digital Point Better Facebook Registration

About
I was getting terribly annoyed with the number of users registering with Facebook Connect, only to say they accidentally registered with their real name and wanted to change it.

So with this, the default username will be their Facebook username, NOT their real name.

This will work with 4.0.3 or higher (4.0.3 was the first version with Facebook Connect).

Installation

• Install the product-dp_better_facebook_reg.xml product under AdminCP -> Plugins & Products -> Manage Products -> Add/Import Product

You can see a live version in action here (assuming you are logged into Facebook of course):
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/register.php


Details
Let's say my name is "Shawn Hogan" and my Facebook username is "dpoint" (which it is) and I sign up for a forum that utilizes the Facebook Connect integration that came with vBulletin 4.0.3 or higher...

By default, vBulletin will make my username "Shawn Hogan".

With this addon, my default username will be "dpoint"... if "dpoint" is taken, it will default to "dpoint75" (1975 is the year I was born)... if "dpoint75" is taken, it will default to "dpointXX" (XX being a random number).

By default vBulletin also resets the username back to "Shawn Hogan" if I overrode it, but there was an error with my registration. So as an added bonus, the system will always remember the username if it was set by the user registering.

[rob01]

but, if they don't have a username?

[BigDog007]

Thanks Shawn nice mod.. Like your Forum too have learned alot.. Visit daily

[digitalpoint]

Originally Posted by rob01

but, if they don't have a username?

Then it will simply let them pick one. Although, doesn't everyone have to have a Facebook username these days?

[BigDog007]

Everyone has a Facebook Username.. Your right shawn 100%

[venom2124]

Nice thanks.

[Brandon Sheley]

Nice mod

/me tags

[Boofo]

Originally Posted by digitalpoint

Then it will simply let them pick one. Although, doesn't everyone have to have a Facebook username these days?

Originally Posted by BigDog007

Everyone has a Facebook Username.. Your right shawn 100%

Nope, not everyone. I don't have a facebook account and no desire to. Would this mod not work for my site then for the users?

[0verl0rd]

downloaded and installed thanks a lot!

Would you happen to share the twitter updates below the menu of your forum? I love the shadow effect and animation between replying to threads..

if not.. that's fine too.. I truly understand the feeling of being copied and it is very annoying.. :P

[digitalpoint]

Originally Posted by Boofo

Nope, not everyone. I don't have a facebook account and no desire to. Would this mod not work for my site then for the users?

It will work fine... but it's only useful if you use Facebook Connect so users can register with their Facebook account. But since you would need a Facebook App ID in order to offer Facebook Connect, I assume you don't have one since it requires a Facebook account (which you don't have).

Originally Posted by 0verl0rd

Would you happen to share the twitter updates below the menu of your forum? I love the shadow effect and animation between replying to threads..

if not.. that's fine too.. I truly understand the feeling of being copied and it is very annoying.. :P

Maybe someday... it's not really a standalone system currently. It's pretty tightly wound into our other systems (for example when someone adds/removed premium membership, it has to trigger related actions for adding/deleting those people's Twitter accounts and so forth)... Not a big priority to spend a ton of time so others can have it for free to be honest when all the extra work isn't something I would be using myself.