Hello, is there a possibility to rename how users are shown on screen?
Since there are many people not adhering to conventions, and you can not change the people, one ends up with random nicknames. But since I know who this is I’d like to rename him to a name I recognize instantly.
This is basic contact management in any communication system, how can I achieve this here?
Hi @scitor! Thank you for reaching out.
One way to do this is through the API - here is a link to a doc that should help: https://api.mattermost.com/#tag/users%2Fpaths%2F~1users~1{user_id}%2Fput.
Let me know if this doesn’t help or if you have any questions!
Being able to do this through the web interface would be nice. Actually, having access to all the settings of a user would be very convenient in some cases.
Hey @amy.blais, thanks for the quick answer 
The thing is (the title is misleading probably), I can’t rename the users on the server, since I am not the admin.
The question was more about how I could change the name displayed for me. I didn’t find any contact management whatsoever, there is only one global user list.
The functionality I’m talking about would require to save a list of contacts for every user, with settings you can change for each contact. (basically the roster one has on xmpp servers).
I’m assuming this is doable with a custom client, but then I’d have to change the names on all clients, or implement client sync.
Example:
Other user has the name I-have-a-nickname-with-text-you-dont-want-to-have-20-times-on-your-screen-while-chatting-to-me which I would like to change to Tom, and talk to him like this, no matter how he sets his name.
Hi @scitor!
Hate to bring bad news, but unfortunately I’m not aware of a way to currently do this from the client side / User Interface.
One option is that you can go to Account Settings > Display > Teammate name display > and choose either Username / Nickname / or First and Last name depending on which makes the user’s display name more appropriate. (Not sure if this will solve the problem)
Other than that, this would be a great feature request, which you can contribute in the feature idea forum. If you open a feature request, please include a link back to this forum issue. If you’re interested in implementing, please say so and we’ll prioritize the review.
Let me know any other questions!