[Feature Request] Functionality to remove leading AT characters from handles when connecting
Hubzilla users, especially new users with no experience, sometimes stumble over the fact that channel handles (even those from accounts on other services) do not have a leading ‘@’ character in Hubzilla. In my experience, this leads to frustration, especially when establishing new connections by entering the handle, because the channel cannot be found if the AT character is entered at the beginning.
Handles from Fediverse accounts are often copied directly from the browser and pasted into the form for establishing a contact. For example, if a user copies the handle of a Mastodon channel directly from the profile page of the desired contact, the handle is copied to the clipboard with the leading AT. If the user forgets to delete this after pasting it into the input field in Hubzilla (or does not know that it must be removed), the connection attempt will fail. New users could quickly come to the conclusion that Hubzilla cannot interact with Mastodon, for example. All because of one character.
I have been trying for a while now to understand the structure and layout of Hubzilla's code... but I am already failing at such simple things. It should not be a problem to check the string that is passed from the form to the corresponding function for a possible leading ‘@’ at the beginning of this function and remove it if necessary... something like this:
if (substr($handle, 0, 1) === '@') {
$handle = substr($handle, 1);
}
Unfortunately, I don't know where the place is or what the variable is called. But a developer who knows their way around the code could surely add something like that in a minute, right?
It's really just a small thing. But it's a point that would make Hubzilla a little more user-friendly. Beginners would be less confused, especially since they can't understand why the leading ‘@’ is not allowed in that place, when they have to write it before mentions in comments or posts, for example. ;-)
While we're at it, we should also consider displaying the widget for establishing a connection as such as a default in the ‘Connections’ and “HQ” apps in the sidebar. Inexperienced newbies tend to overlook the small widget above the existing connections... and in my opinion, the HQ is also a good place to establish new connections without having to go through the ‘Connections’ app.
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