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Selecting a user by login, not just by name

    • Closed Issue created by François-René Rideau @fahree

    Problem to solve

    When selecting a user to add to a project, you can type his registered name and the login with appear; but you can't directly type the login name that you know how to spell, though you might not know how to spell their full name.

    Recently, I wanted to add @Akaa, so I typed @Akaa <ENTER> but instead @Akaak was added. The choice for @Akaa wasn't even displayed. I had to go on his page to see that his name was listed as ijanus, which I typed, and then indeed the choice @Akaa appeared and could be selected. This is bad design.

    Some time ago, I had a similar issue when trying to assign a bug to a user: I knew their handle, but instead had to identify and type their full name so the option to assign to them would appear.

    Intended users

    All users who maintain or administer a repository or project will face this issue. Any user who tries to assign a bug to another user, too. Basically, all active users of the system, especially if they have to deal with people they know by handle but not by "real" name (NB: in my example above, ijanus was NOT a real name, just the one registered on GitLab).

    User experience goal

    This feature will avoid users have to scramble with a bad interface until they realize they have to go to another user's webpage on GitLab to identify their "full name" as far as GitLab is concerned.

    Proposal

    The user selector engine should support BOTH "real name" AND "handles" (logins, whatever you call them), and allow search through a merge of both lists, not just the "real name".

    Further details

    Permissions and Security

    Fixing this bug can avoid security issues whereby the wrong person is added to a private repository, or given access rights they shouldn't. IT IS A SERIOUS SECURITY ISSUE.

    Documentation

    Yes, the behavior needs to be documented.

    Availability & Testing

    What does success look like, and how can we measure that?

    Success is when users stop adding other users then removing them when they realized they added the wrong one (which can takes hours or days).

    What is the type of buyer?

    Any buyer who cares about security.

    Is this a cross-stage feature?

    N/A

    Links / references

    Designs

      Child items ...

      2. Activity

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