Account creation: name and user name meaning + what's public and what's private

[CharlesNepote]

Some people are asking us to change their username because it's public. Eg.

• 2021-04: a user asked to delete his account: "i Don't want to be shown on search engines ( my nickname XXXXXX is visible on a product i reviewed). [...] Please delete my account AND my reviews ( 1 product)"
• 2021-06: a user asked to change his nickname: "I would like to change my nickname but I didn't find this possibility in the parameters. If it's not possible I would like to delete my account and recreate one"
• 2021-11: "Can I change my username to "##########" (it's currently "##############"")? I just signed up now and didn't pay too much attention to it when I signed up".
• 2022-08: a user asked us to delete his account: "I had a good experience with Open Food Facts. The only reason I'm deleting my account is because I want to limit my online exposure. I might register again later (using a different username)."
• 2022-12: a user reported by email: "Is it possible to remove the foods searching by my username? I made the mistake of putting my real name in my username and I'd like to remove it so it doesn't appear in google searches."
• 2023-01: by email: "I can't change m'y username"
• 2023-03: a user reported by email: "I would like to request change of my OpenFoodFacts username from "###########" to "##############"", since I don't like too much that when my commonly-used nickname is searched on Google images, random photos of the food I edit & contribute in OpenFoodFacts appear".
• 2023-05: a user also reported by email: "I wanted to edit my username but apparently I can't, so I'm deleting this account to recreate another with a more privacy-friendly username"
• 2023-12: a user reported the issue on our forum: "Change username. [...] I edited some products some time ago and when I search for my initial + last name on Google, this page appears (which I definitely don’t want to)."
• 2024-07: a user reported by email: "I'd like to change my username, but I can't see a way to do this."

During account creation, we should tell people that user name will be public.

Generally, it's difficult to understand the meaning of Name vs "user name" and what is public and private.

If I don't enter a "Name", the following error occurs: "You need to enter a name or nickname." If it can be a nickname, what's the difference with the "user name" ??

If I don't enter a "User name", the following error occurs: "You need to enter a user name."

Suggestions

• explain why do we need a Name and if it's public or private; display "Name or nickname"
• explain why do we need a user name and if it's public or private
  • as a first step we could just replace "User name (.......)" by "Public user name"

See also

• Rename "username" and "user name" to "public user id" #9942
• 👥 User management (tracker) #5809
• 👤 Open Food Facts account (tracker) #6436
• Onboarding

[github-actions]

This issue is stale because it has been open 90 days with no activity.

[akash5100]

@CharlesNepote Can I work On this?
tell me where to start!

[alexgarel]

@akash5100 it might be in user.pl (and maybe User.pm)