[Pidgin] #6824: "Local alias" is confusing

[Pidgin]

#6824: "Local alias" is confusing
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------
 Reporter:  mpt     |        Owner:              
     Type:  defect  |       Status:  new         
Milestone:          |    Component:  pidgin (gtk)
  Version:  2.4.3   |   Resolution:              
 Keywords:          |  
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------

Old description:

> Pidgin 2.4.3, Ubuntu Intrepid alpha 3
>
> When setting up an account, I was invited to enter a "local alias". I had
> no idea what this meant, and a quick Google search for {pidgin "local
> alias"} revealed I was in good company.
>  * [http://mentoliptus.blogspot.com/2007/12/irc-local-alias-vs-screen-
> name.html Azulmarino Salto]: "Seting up an IRC account in Pidgin I came
> accross input fields for 'screen name' and 'local alias' and got confused
> about the purpose of the latter, so I set different names for each one
> and proceeded to chat away hoping to stumble with some clue."
>  * [https://answers.launchpad.net/pidgin/+question/22253 David Ridley]:
> "But Local Alias? What's this?"
>  * [http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=290552
> jb4]: "WTF is a 'Local Alias'?"
>  *
> [http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Uk/uk.rec.motorcycles/2008-06/msg10168.html
> Whinging Courier]: "I thought screen name, local alias might be a poncy
> way of saying user and pass but it doesn't work and won't log me in."
>  * [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=668121 locky28]: "However
> when in pidgin, even though [my girlfriend] has changed her alias in the
> accounts menu, the people she chats to still see the christmas greeting
> popping up."
>  * [http://sernaonubuntu.wikidot.com/pidgin David Hunter]: "In this case,
> the the Screen name will be your user ID (normally your email address),
> while the Local alias is what I call your 'display name,' that will show
> up when others have you on their contact list." (Oops.)
>  * [https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pidgin/+question/25045
> Bhavani Shankar]: "You have to enter your name in the local alias field
> in pidgin settings." (Oops again.)
>  * [http://www.google.com/support/talk/bin/answer.py?hl=en-
> ch&answer=24073 Google]: "leave this field blank"
>
> This confusion also seems to have prompted tickets #4107 and #5918.
>
> I'm not confident in suggesting a fix for this problem, because I'm not
> sure exactly why the field exists. From ticket #4724, I understand that
> one use case would be to distinguish multiple ICQ accounts, which would
> otherwise be difficult to tell apart. Is there any other reason for it to
> exist, rather than relying on an auto-generated display name for each
> account?
>
> Possible partial solutions:
>  * Show the field in the "Add Account" window only if you already have at
> least one account.
>  * Show the field only for ICQ accounts.

New description:

 Pidgin 2.4.3, Ubuntu Intrepid alpha 3

 When setting up an account, I was invited to enter a "local alias". I had
 no idea what this meant, and a quick Google search for {pidgin "local
 alias"} revealed I was in good company.
  * [http://mentoliptus.blogspot.com/2007/12/irc-local-alias-vs-screen-
 name.html Azulmarino Salto]: "Seting up an IRC account in Pidgin I came
 accross input fields for 'screen name' and 'local alias' and got confused
 about the purpose of the latter, so I set different names for each one and
 proceeded to chat away hoping to stumble with some clue."
  * [https://answers.launchpad.net/pidgin/+question/22253 David Ridley]:
 "But Local Alias? What's this?"
  * [http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=290552 jb4]:
 "WTF is a 'Local Alias'?"
  *
 [http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Uk/uk.rec.motorcycles/2008-06/msg10168.html
 Whinging Courier]: "I thought screen name, local alias might be a poncy
 way of saying user and pass but it doesn't work and won't log me in."
  * [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=668121 locky28]: "However
 when in pidgin, even though [my girlfriend] has changed her alias in the
 accounts menu, the people she chats to still see the christmas greeting
 popping up."
  * [http://sernaonubuntu.wikidot.com/pidgin David Hunter]: "In this case,
 the the Screen name will be your user ID (normally your email address),
 while the Local alias is what I call your 'display name,' that will show
 up when others have you on their contact list." (Oops.)
  * [https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pidgin/+question/25045
 Bhavani Shankar]: "You have to enter your name in the local alias field in
 pidgin settings." (Oops again.)
  * [http://www.google.com/support/talk/bin/answer.py?hl=en-ch&answer=24073
 Google]: "leave this field blank"

 This confusion also seems to have prompted tickets #4107 and #5918.

 I'm not confident in suggesting a fix for this problem, because I'm not
 sure exactly why the field exists. From ticket #4724, I understand that
 one use case would be to distinguish multiple ICQ accounts, which would
 otherwise be difficult to tell apart. Is there any other reason for it to
 exist, rather than relying on an auto-generated display name for each
 account?

 Possible partial solutions (not mutually exclusive):
  * Show the field in the "Add Account" window only if you already have at
 least one account.
  * Move the field to the Advanced tab.
  * Show the field only for ICQ accounts.
  * Relabel the field and add a hint underneath:

  ||Display in Pidgin as:||[`________________`]||
  || ||^People you chat with won't see this name.^||

--

Comment(by mpt):

 Could you elide long account names automatically (e.g.
 "funky_wizard_in_th... (MSN)"), instead of requiring people to enter a
 short name themselves?

 Even if most people using Pidgin have more than one account, that doesn't
 mean most people using Pidgin will ever need to set a local alias. So
 perhaps another partial solution is to put it in the Advanced tab.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/6824#comment:2>
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