converting usernames into actual names

[Roy Janik]

I have a rotten memory when it comes to remembering what username on the forums corresponds to which actual people.

So during a meeting today I did some uber-geeky coding and came up with a Firefox extension to automatically replace usernames with real names.

You need Firefox to use this.

Go here:
http://www.pgraph.com/look/forumscript/AICforum.xpi

you may need to associate the xpi extension with firefox.exe by clicking the browse button to find firefox.exe (probably under "c:\program files\Mozilla Firefox").

And for those who aren't about to jump through a bunch of hoops for something only marginally useful, here's the list I compiled. This mainly includes people who post a lot who aren't using either their full name or first name as their userid:

The Frightful Turpentine: Dave Oberman
deroosisonfire: Christina deRoos
HerrHerr: Chris Allen
shando: Shannon McCormick
York99: Justin York
kbadr: Kareem Badr
sara_anm8r: Sara Farr
erikamay: Erika May
starkserious: Terrill Fischer
acrouch: Andy Crouch
shksprtx: Sean Cooper
valetoile: Valerie Ward
craigy: Craig Kotfas
arthursimone: Arthur Simone
jorge1000xl: James Roberts
arclight: Bob Apthorpe
coelkers: Cynthia Oelkers
Jules: Julie Lucas
phlounderphil: Phil Aulie
macarthur31: Mac Antigua
kaci_beeler: Kaci Beeler
smerlin: Shana Merlin
beardedlamb: Jeremy Lamb
ChrisTrew.Com: Chris Trew
eplischke: Erin Plischke
the_orf: Orf
Evilpandabear: Jay Bernardo
LuBu McJonhson: Brian Roberts
mdalonzo: Mike Dalonzo
chicocarlucci: Eric Heiberg
taminelson: Tami Nelson
yodApollo: John Hunt
vine311: Jason Vines
fbillac: Dav Wallace
DollarBill: Bill Stern
the_reverend: Jordan Maxwell
kaceysamiee: Kacey Samiee
amy_mckenna: Amy McKenna
improvstitute: Ted Rutherford
TexasImprovMassacre: Cody Dearing
Miggy: Michael McGill
MontieSmith: Montie Smith
bradisntclever: Brad
exquisitezombie: Mike Ferstenfeld
Spaztique: David Zimmerman
rharrison: Ryan Harrison
ESeufert: Eric Seufert
hippodog: Sean Hill

[Roy Janik]

I figured out how to compile things into a downloadable extension to make it easier to install. I've changed the above directions.

[shksprtx]

the_orf: Orf

Nice...

[arclight]

OMGWTFBBQ!

That totally rocks!

So...

I really want to make a list of people's real names, their forum names, and their preferred single-word-lower-case-2-to-12-character login name so I can build a phone and address list plus super centralized logon thingy (those of you who know what I'm talking about, please don't utter its name for fear of scaring people.) Then we can have the One True Source of login goodness, people will only have to remember one stupid password, etc., etc., etc.

Anyway, the Firefox plugin is totally sweet.

[sara farr]

This is great! But now I can't see the original user names. Hm. Anyway you can write a plug-in that displays both? And will my secret identities be revealed now that I've got the plugin?

sara_anm8r (Sara Farr)

[nadine]

some of us want to keep our online identities saperate.

[arthurina]

you jerk!!!!!

[Harold]

Bite me, Janik. You're just Johnstone's minion.

[Roy Janik]

On my home system, I just got a blank page when I clicked the link to the extension. Not sure why. To get around this, just right-click on the link, and choose "save as", save the file, and then open it with firefox.

[sara farr]

November 21st, 2007...

Any chance we can get a 2.0 version of this software? There are a lot of new users with wacky user names.