I’m having a problem with Openfire. I’m using 3.7.0 version and also using Spark as the IM client.
It seems whatever i do it wont change my display name under profile. Others see my display name the same way as it was when i first registered to the server. This is really annoying, other users are having the same problem, it seems display name cannot be changed at all. I have tried manually modifying the information in MySQL database, i have cleared openfire cache, Spark cache, restarted server etc. Is it a bug or what is going on? I ran out of options where to look for the display name change. Haven’t found a solution in here as well by searching.
EDIT: It seems that Openfire refuses to accept name changes to “rosters” database table. Why is that and how can it be fixed?
But i’m not using web browser to log in or out, i’m using Spark and the problem is still there. I even tried to use other XMPP clients, they ALL have the old usernames problem.
I could change the usernames and how they are displayed in peoples contact lists by editing a database, but that is stupid, Openfire should do that itself.
Another weird thing is that in Spark popup you get when user logs in, it displays the correct name, but not in the contact list. So basically Openfire can’t modify the contact list database table for some weird reason.
It is not that Openfire can’t do it, but it is not supposed. Users control their rosters and how they contact should be displayed. That’s how it works in xmpp and i think in some other proprietary networks (MSN, ICQ). If someone adds you to his roster he can choose how your name should be displayed. Usually they just press ok and agree that you will be shown with the name that you had at that point. After this you can’t change how you will be displayed for them. If you want display name changes to be reflected on other users rosters, then you can use shared groups in Openfire, so rosters will be pulled automatically.
I made a little research and yes, it sems this is how XMPP works, BUT…
In MSN, you can do it as well, but by default, it is disabled and you will see how the contact likes to show himself/herself to you. I prefer that priority personally, so i would like to see such an option in Openfire as well. in Openfire currenty the only way to update contacts display name like it should be seen to you is to refresh the user profile, but to do it with every contact is annoying.
So my question is, could there be such an implementation or is there any way to do it right now? To change the order to have the contacts first name to be the first priority and your chosen name the second, if you don’t pick a name for the contact, it will show his/her name what he/she chose.
Also kind of offtopic, but couldn’t find an answer in the forum. How do you make Openfire to choose display names to be “Nickname” instead of “First name”? Currently Openfire pulls the roster names from “First Name” but i would like to change it so it would pull it from “Nickname”. For example my friend is using Pidgin and he does not have “First name” option in there, so he actually can’t change his display name for others.
So my question is, could there be such an implementation or is there any way to do it right now? To change the order to have the contacts first name to be the first priority and your chosen name the second, if you don’t pick a name for the contact, it will show his/her name what he/she chose.
Everything is possible, with a right investment (of time or money). I think it is possible to modify Spark or any other client to pull the updates of names for every contact (just like MSN does). Or maybe it is better to create a plugin for Spark which will do this, so you won’t have to customize Spark for every new version. As i said you will have to code this or find a coder for you. I think this is a client side feature and nothing should be done on the Openfire side.
Also kind of offtopic, but couldn’t find an answer in the forum. How do you make Openfire to choose display names to be “Nickname” instead of “First name”? Currently Openfire pulls the roster names from “First Name” but i would like to change it so it would pull it from “Nickname”. For example my friend is using Pidgin and he does not have “First name” option in there, so he actually can’t change his display name for others.
Again. I think this is a client side request. Openfire is pulling everything and it is up to a client what to use for contact displaying. So, you need a client, which will pull Nickname instead of Name when you add a contact. You can modify Spark or any other client or maybe find one which is already doing this. Well, you can also modify Openfire to substitute value of the field Name with the value of the field Nickname when someone is sending a request to add a contact. Dirty hack, but you are free to create your modified build of Openfire.
Can’t advice about the code, not a coder myself. Just a theory.
“As i said you will have to code this or find a coder for you.” I’m sorry, where did you say that before? And yes, it is obvious that a change in code can fix it. It is also obvious that i wouldn’t use Openfire if i would have programming knowledge, i would just change the code, unfortunently i don’t possess such knowledge. I am in this forum and i have clearly and carefully crafted my sentences and asked for solutions, not Captain Obvious responses like “Find a coder”, “get a plugin from somewhere”, “google it” or other unhelpful and indirect answers.
I believe neither one of these are client side bugs or features, call them how you like. I haven’t found an option to modify or change such thing from Openfire nor Spark.
But thank you for your time and answers, as i read out of these, you have no solution to this problem. Let’s keep it open, perhaps someone else knows a way to help.