Thanks for the response. I appreciate some feedback.
Ill likely go with the extra users table (is this an OK thing in mediawiki extensions)? Do you know of any docs or an extension that adds a table - how does it know to update the SQL schema just once (or is that a part of the install instructions)? I would like to make it automatic so the extension checks for the table and installs if its not there (but running that on every (login) request sounds very inefficient).
Im directly altering the DB on my local dev server - so its OK.
I think what happens is that the edit history is maintained using the username at the time of the edit - so changing the username wont make a difference until I edit something as that user - OR I need to update the rev_user_text in the revision table (which is something I know nothing about so far).
Mike
On Jan 29, 2013, at 7:22 PM, Chris Grant wrote:
I don't think that is the best way to go about what you're trying to do.
Not sure what your exact requirements are, but i'd suggest adding a new table (or an extra row to the user table -- not sure how safe that is, I'll let someone else comment on that).
Something like: TABLE user_sso user_id INT - the user id from the user table user_sso INT - your sso ID
Anyone know how using a numeric ID will affect the display of the user's
name on MediaWiki and if it will have any other ramifications? The user_name field store's the accounts username. Changing that to a numeric ID will give all your accounts numbers for usernames.
Can I make sure hte NAME displayed uses user's user_real_name instead if
user_name ?? I doubt it. Even if you can, its probably not a good idea.
The reason I cannot test this is because I write directly to the DB and
refresh the history page but it shows the original username (before I edited the DB table).
[...] Im not sure why my direct DB edits dont chnage the displkay of the
history page.
This is because the revision table has an extra rev_user_text field that you need to change as well.
Directly editing the database should be avoided unless you know what you're doing.
I'm not quite sure what you're asking with your last question, however MediaWiki should not be altering the user_name field.
Hope some of this helps.
-- Chris _______________________________________________ MediaWiki-l mailing list MediaWiki-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l