FM Design - 

This is a silly little plugin that will allow your members to personalize their mention @handle with the nickname that they prefer, without having to change their username on the forum.

Click to view demo

Notes :
- Mentioning @CoffeeFiend will not tag @'Ange Tuteur'. You must use the member's default @handle to tag them.
- This will not work in the chatbox

1. Creating the profile field

Before we install this plugin we first need to create a new profile field for our members. Go to Admin Panel > Users & Groups > Profiles and create a new profile field with the following settings.

Type : Text zone ( DO NOT PICK text field )
Name : Nickname
Description : Personalize your @handle with a unique nickname
URL icon : None
Necessarily filled ? : You choose
Display : Profile, and messages if you want nicknames shown in the post profile
Display type : Text
Who can modify the profile field value ? : Members, Moderators ( in case of questionable nicknames )
Display this field for users that are at least : You choose
Separator : Back to the line

Down below there should be additional information under text zone.

Default content :
Paste the following content as the default value for the field.

Code:

[table class="fa_nickname"][tr][td][/td][/tr][/table]

You can set the max length as you like.

When you're finished, your field should look similar to this :


If everything looks okay to you click the save button. Then edit the newly created field and click the "Replace the content" button at the very bottom to force the default value. Once you've done this you're ready to move onto the installation of the script.

2. Installing the JavaScript

So that the new profile field functions properly and our members @handles are personalized, we need to install a script. Go to Admin Panel > Modules > JavaScript codes management and create a new script with the following settings.

Title : @Handle Nicknames
Placement : In all the pages

Code:

$(function() {
  if (!window.localStorage || !window.JSON) {
    if (window.console && console.error) {
      console.error('Your browser does not support the Storage API or JSON.');
    }
    return;
  }

  // parsing tags with nicknames
  window.faMentionNickname = {
    cache_time : 1*60*60*1000, // hh*mm*ss*ms
    show_original : true, // shows the default @handle if set to true
    original_tooltip : "{USERNAME}'s original @handle",

    tag : $('.mentiontag'),
    index : -1,
    data : localStorage.fa_mention_nicks ? JSON.parse(localStorage.fa_mention_nicks) : {},

    next : function() {
      var tag = faMentionNickname.tag[++faMentionNickname.index],
          id;

      if (tag) {
        id = tag.href.replace(/.*?\/u(\d+).*/, '$1');

        if (faMentionNickname.data[id] && faMentionNickname.data[id].expires > +new Date - faMentionNickname.cache_time) {

          if (faMentionNickname.data[id].nickname) {
            tag.innerHTML = tag.innerHTML.replace(/@.*?$/, '@' + faMentionNickname.data[id].nickname);

            if (faMentionNickname.show_original) {
              tag.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', '<span class="mentiontag-original" title="' + faMentionNickname.original_tooltip.replace('{USERNAME}', faMentionNickname.data[id].original) + '">(@' + faMentionNickname.data[id].original + ')</span>');
            }

          }

          faMentionNickname.next();

        } else {
          $.get(tag.href, function(d) {
            var nickname = $('.fa_nickname', d).text(),
                original = tag.innerHTML.replace(/.*?@(.*)/, '$1').toLowerCase();

            if (nickname) {
              tag.innerHTML = tag.innerHTML.replace(/@.*?$/, '@' + nickname);

              if (faMentionNickname.show_original) {
                tag.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', '<span class="mentiontag-original" title="' + faMentionNickname.original_tooltip.replace('{USERNAME}', original) + '">(@' + original + ')</span>');
              }

            } else {
              nickname = null;
            }

            faMentionNickname.data[id] = {
              nickname : nickname,
              original : original,
              expires : +new Date
            };

            localStorage.fa_mention_nicks = JSON.stringify(faMentionNickname.data);
            faMentionNickname.next();
          });
        }

      }

    }
  };

  faMentionNickname.next();

  // editing of profile field
  if (/\/profile|\/u\d+/.test(window.location.href)) {
    for (var a = document.getElementsByTagName('TEXTAREA'), i = 0, j = a.length; i < j; i++) {
      if (/class="fa_nickname"/.test(a[i].value) && /profile_field/.test(a[i].id)) {
        a[i].onfocus = function() {
          this.value = this.value.replace(/\n|\r/g, '').replace(/\[table class="fa_nickname"\]\[tr\]\[td\](.*?)\[\/td\]\[\/tr\]\[\/table\]/, '$1');
        };

        a[i].onblur = function() {
          this.value = '[table class="fa_nickname"][tr][td]' + this.value + '[/td][/tr][/table]';
        };
      }
    }
  }
});

document.write('<style type="text/css">.mentiontag-original { color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); font-size:9px; font-style:italic; font-family:Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align:super; margin-left:3px; cursor:help; }.mentiontag-original:hover { color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); }</style>');


Modifications
Before you save the script, here are some modifications that you may make :

1. cache_time
By default, nicknames are stored for 1 hour to speed up the script and prevent multiple requests to the server. This time can be changed by modifying this line :

Code:

cache_time : 1*60*60*1000, // hh*mm*ss*ms

Each set of digits represents an hour, minute, second, etc.. Use the comment as a guide, and modify the caching time as you like.


2. show_original
By default, the original @handle is shown after mentions that are disguised with a nickname. This is to help prevent confusion and show who's who. However, if you don't like this feature, you can disable it by finding this line of code :

Code:

show_original : true, // shows the default @handle if set to true

and changing "true" to "false".


3. original_tooltip
This variable determines the texts shown when you hover over a member's original @handle. If you want to translate or change these texts, find this line of code :

Code:

original_tooltip : "{USERNAME}'s original @handle",

Once you're finished making modifications, save the script and the plugin will be installed !

See the final section for information on how it works !

3. Notes

Inputting your nickname
To input your own nickname for your @handles go to the edit profile page which should be accessible from the navbar. Find the field and insert your nickname.

If JavaScript is enabled, your nickname will automatically be wrapped with the necessary tags. Otherwise, you should type your nickname between the table tags manually.


Why should my nickname be between table tags ?
It's necessary for your nickname to be between table tags so that the script can quickly identify your nickname and place it in your @handle. Removing the table tags will prevent your nickname from being displayed in your @handle.


I changed my nickname, but it's still the same !!
Don't worry, nicknames are cached for *1 hour to prevent repeated requests to the server. You can force your new nickname on your end by clearing your cache.
*This time can be changed by an administrator.


If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave a reply below. Go make some silly @handles !

Notice

Tutorial written by Ange Tuteur. Special thanks to @Samantha for the idea and to the Beta Testers for testing this plugin. Reproduction not permitted without consent from the author.