Why do the AIM ID, YAHOO ID and MSN ID fields still exist in user profile?

Why do the AIM ID, YAHOO ID and MSN ID fields still exist in user profile?

by Patrick Viney -
Number of replies: 6

Hi,

I don't like useless things, so I wonder why the "AIM ID" field is still there in user profile, despite the fact that the service was closed on December 15, 2017 (see: https://aimemories.tumblr.com/)

Same thing for Yahoo messenger, closed since July 17, 2018  (see: https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN28776.html)

Same fate it seems for MSN (Windows Live Messenger), since octobre 2014 (see: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28987797)

How can I delete these fields?

Average of ratings: Useful (4)
In reply to Patrick Viney

Re: Why do the AIM ID, YAHOO ID and MSN ID fields still exist in user profile?

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers
It's a good question. I would raise a ticket at tracker.moodle.org to have them deprecated.

In fact, https://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-65932

However, I know what the objection is going to be. What if someone is using those fields for some other purpose. We delete them and some vital data they use for something-or-other is gone. 
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In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Why do the AIM ID, YAHOO ID and MSN ID fields still exist in user profile?

by James Steerpike -
I do use the AIM ID.  Through the Language pack I change this field to "WeChat ID" - a messaging service every one of my students uses.
Having a field like this which takes only a string and is not used elsewhere is useful but perhaps could be renamed. That may be even more confusing though.
I would suspect out of the Western world there are several local message services like this and it also allows rapid customization if a new service arises.
An interesting point though - I would love to give my renamed "AIM ID" more prominence and suppress some fields I don't like.
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In reply to James Steerpike

Re: Why do the AIM ID, YAHOO ID and MSN ID fields still exist in user profile?

by Rick Jerz -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers
I think that you are making a very good point, James, along with Howard, that these user fields are used by people for a variety of purposes, and should not be simply removed.
In my own case, for example, I do not have student "ID Numbers." However, I use this field for my own purposes, to filter special "administrative guests" via SQL, by entering a special number. I could have easily used one of the other user fields, like AIM ID.
So if the developers were ever to consider changes, I would recommend renaming any of these fields instead of removing them. The Language Pack seems to be the best solution, as you have done.
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In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Why do the AIM ID, YAHOO ID and MSN ID fields still exist in user profile?

by Luis de Vasconcelos -
I once tried using one of those fields for a different purpose, but I found that once I capture value in one of those fields Moodle adds an icon next to the field that links to the respective ICQ, Skype, Yahoo or AIM websites or apps. So you can't really use the fields for other data, unless those ICQ, Skype, Yahoo or AIM app links and icons that appear when those fields contain data don't bother you.
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In reply to Patrick Viney

Re: Why do the AIM ID, YAHOO ID and MSN ID fields still exist in user profile?

by Dan Marsden -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Plugins guardians Picture of Testers Picture of Translators
Unfortunately it's not just as simple as removing the fields... and requires quite a few different things.
see MDL-28452 (and the linked issues) for some of the challenges involved.

Another slightly related tracker issue is MDL-10504 (ability to re-order fields)
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In reply to Patrick Viney

Re: Why do the AIM ID, YAHOO ID and MSN ID fields still exist in user profile?

by Mark Sharp -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

As others have said, you can't delete the fields, but you can hide them from students under Administration -> Users -> Permissions -> User policies.

Hide profile fields

If you wanted to stop students entering values in their profiles, you could do a bit of CSS hiding on the profile edit page:

Hide fields in css


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