Let us choose author attribution for posts on member delete

[TSP]

(Since the support for this seems quite substantial, with 28 likes, one "Thank you" and four supporting comments I thought I would also suggest it in a feedback topic for further discussion.) 

Currently on deletion of member you can choose

• Keep attribution as is (member name)
• Set it to blank (Only shows as "Guest"

Suggestion: Give us an option to freely choose author attribution by giving us a text input

[Adriano Faria]

Wouldn’t it be a way to identify that the content belonged to a specific user? Anyone can be aware of the ID via profile link.

Maybe use a random value and a new area on ACP so Admin can search and see that the random ID (letters and numbers, for example) belonged to member ID XXXX.

[TSP]

If you read my original comment on the blog post, you'll see that I've already suggested using a random value, which I think would be the best approach. I also replied to someone addressing concerns regarding data mining and pattern matching. My suggestion is not to remove the current nuclear approach of no attribution for those wishing to play it supersafe.

IPS could even give a cute little button next to the text input that could generate a random alphanumeric value for it!

I removed my member ID sentence from the post now, to avoid any more confusion and focus on it (since it was a weak suggestion on my part)

[Joel R]

Nice suggestion

Basically, offer another option for guest attribution so the reading flow makes sense from distinct users.  

[Lindy]

This is logged for internal consideration and I'm not saying we won't do this, but keep in mind, at least in the interim, you can change the display name to that of your choosing before you delete it to accomplish your goal.