Can we make pennames unique?

[Guest FFlove190]

This is semi-techical speak so I apologize in advance.

I want to talk about the recommended reading page. When you want to add something to recommended reading, you need to go into the story, take the unique story ID from the url; then you need to go into the author's profile and take the unique member Id from the URL. Then you can proceed to name the story and author however you like.

I don't understand what's so hard about making a 1-1 relationship between an author name and a story title. Since we're only searching on stories, the penname is only used to confirm that this is the story that the user wants added to their list. The search domain is severely limited by the selected category; but still quite large. But with a decent enough database and search algorithm, it should be doable.

But then I remember that pennames aren't unique. Because these aren't unique, but tend to be unchanging, I don't understand why they can't be treated more like usernames instead. Unique usernames act the same as unique member IDs for the user while the server can simply maintain a user-to-ID table (in the less likely event that users should change their name). This way the user doesn't have to deal with all the numbers. It's a little more server heavy, but makes for a much nicer user experience.

I know this is a major site overhaul. And, when I think about it, the whole problem is very miniscule. But, in the modern age of easy-to-use websites, a bunch of little things start to pile up very quickly to make for unhappy users.

I'll totally let it go if it's just a server-load issue or a an issue between legacy code and people power.

[DemonGoddess]

It's definitely a legacy code issue, as the intention is for rec reading, authors, current reading and the like to be added with a click once everything is finished