Name-only URLs in IPS when Integrating Member Accounts?

[PinPics]

So excited here, because we are working to replace a very basic forum and profile system on our current website with our new IPS community. The server guy already has the oAuth set up, and we're working now to configure things before integrating accounts, because we're going to keep our current registration set-up. But we want to use the IPS profiles rather than the current ones. Right now, we have a button in part of the site that takes users to a member's current "profile". This is the button:

 

We want to change the link in that button to point to the IPS profile that will belong to each member. Currently, the IPS URL for a member's profile looks like this:
https://mysitenamehere.com/index.php?/profile/2-bo-katan-kryze/

The number before the name appears to be a number assigned to each member upon account creation. Is it possible to have a URL for members with only their username? If that were possible, the server tech could update those buttons en masse. 

Thanks in advance for advice.

[Matt]

We use the member ID in the URLs to ensure that the link goes to the correct place. There are some occasions where the 'friendly' part of the URL may not be unique. UTF8 allows for a wide range of characters, some not visible so it would be possible to use specific UTF8 sequences which would be stripped during the FURL process, which could mean that without the URL there is the possibility of it pointing to the wrong person.

It also means that permalinks stored externally still work even when the user has changed their name.

[Marc Stridgen]

3 minutes ago, Matt said:

 

This is the way

 

(if you know, you know)

[PinPics]

Thanks, Guys!

That makes sense. We think we've got an idea to handle it, so I appreciate the explanation here.

P.S.

Love the GIF!! "This is the way . . ."