Firebase auth + nickname!

[alfopietro]

Hi guys, I successfully followed all tutorials on how to implement a Firebase login/sign-in functionality in my app.

What I can’t find so far is how to identify users by a nickname instead of email.

I mean, during the registration process (also in a second step if not possible during the registration) I want let users choosing a unique nickname too (check if already taken) associated to their email.

Once logged in, users will insert a set of data (like preferred books in a AirTable db) and the tricky part is that I need to query all rows… displaying their public nickname instead of email!

If you need clarification please feel free to contact me! I really need help to go ahead with a project.

[jared]

Follow! I would love to know how to have user specific names in addition to the use of emails. Using emails may discourage users from publicly posting data in my app. I want to create a study app for students who may not want other students to know their scores. Using usernames allows for anonymity while allowing for public competition and goal setting.

[domhnallohanlon]

Could you just have 2 columns for this? Use the email for the look-ups and just display the nickname to the end user?

Thanks.

[jared]

What if two users have the same username. On a leaderboard this wouldn’t work so well. I want to have anonymous but public leader boards.

ie using a pseudonym or unique username vs their personal email to compete against everybody without knowing who anybody is.

[Daniel_Coglitore]

is simple! every time a user choose his nickname you save it on a list and later when other user is choosing his nickname you check If the nickname is already taken by other user , you’ll have to get all the nicknames and then check with the block "does list contain “users nickname” ? if not then save it

[alfopietro]

Is it possible in Firebase or where ?
I can’t understand how to register a new user with 2 fields: email and nickname.
Do you mean a solution like this or some other way ?

[alfopietro]

It isn’t just a matter of store a list of nickname and check if already exist one.
The problem is to match email-nickname during the registration process.
Or maybe I didn’t understand your answer? if could in case explain it better.

[jane]

Hi @alfopietro,

There would be 2 aspects involved in adding a username to a user’s account: handling sign-ups and handling sign-ins.

Let’s assume that you are storing your users’ emails and usernames in a spreadsheet.

When a new user signs up:
As @Daniel_Coglitore said, you first need to check if their username is taken.
If it is, ask them to enter a different username.
If it is not, sign the user up and add the user’s email and username to your spreadsheet.

When a returning user signs in:
Get the index of the first instance of their email address in your spreadsheet.
Get the value from the ‘username’ column of this spreadsheet.
Display this value in your app.