Feature request: Invitation link for potential user who has not been registered yet

[miurahr]

When manager want to invite potential users who has already registered OSM user but not STM, the manager need to instruct them

1. he/she register on STM
2. he/she tell the manager his/her account name
3. the manager invite the registered user

It is better to provide an 'project invitation link' to potential STM users, to instruct registration of STM then automatically join to the project. Current STM just show an user-not-found error when specify users who has not been registered to STM yet.

Generally speaking, many web services accept a mail address of non-users as pending invitation. We can accept mail address or OSM user name who is not registered yet, and keep it in invitation list.

[hauke96]

I think there's a misunderstanding here: STM doesn't store users/accounts and therefore there's no registration on STM at all. Looking at the user-not-found error, the problem here is probably the following:

When a OSM user doesn't has at least one changeset or at least one note on osm.org, then there's no way to request the users ID from the OSM-API. This has a reason: The OSM-API only offers a mapping from ID to name but not from name to ID (which is what we need during invitation of a user). The only way is to use the changeset- or note-API to find out the users ID (a bit hacky but there's no other way I know right now). STM needs the user-ID to store it in the project-table when the user has been invited (this is the only user information we store, which is just a simple number).

Right now, I can only think of one solution for this problem: Storing "pending" user names and the projects they should be in. As soon as a user logs in, we have the user ID and can turn the pending user name into the real user ID. This is possible but maybe there's a simpler solution?

[miurahr]

Oh, exactly it is my misunderstanding. I think it is not an issue that STM can not find a user who don't has any edit, because manager may need to help them not only for STM and also OSM edits itself.

Right now, I can only think of one solution for this problem: Storing "pending" user names and the projects they should be in. As soon as a user logs in, we have the user ID and can turn the pending user name into the real user ID. This is possible but maybe there's a simpler solution?

I imagine a use case of online mapping event. An organizer is a STM manager. A manager communicate attendee with online chat and ask thier OSM account, then register them into STM. If some attendee are new user and they don't have edits, manager see a error message.

A solution you suggest will help this scenario. It may also confuse manager. If attendee tell wrong OSM username, i.e. typo, then manager cannot understand it is a typo or new registered account.

It would be better to show "warning" that tell account is new one without edits or typo in username, and then keep it as pending. Manager may check it again or contact user.

For example, when I tried to add user "K_Sakanoshita", but spelled as "k_sakanoshita" which is not capitalize, then become not found. In such case, it would be better that STM warns manager to check a case, not make it as a pending account.

[hauke96]

Case sensitivity of user names also already confused me but that's nothing we have a control over.

A better notification is a first and simple step and I'll create a separate issue for that. The feature of pending users is of course more complex but will definitely part of a future release.

[ignaciolep]

Leaving the user-not-found error aside for a moment.

I would like to highlight the need of an invitation link or at least to have the option to set the project as open for everyone, so the project creator doesn't have to add the mapper's username one by one to allow them participate in the mapping project.

[hauke96]

...have the option to set the project as open for everyone...

I also would like such feature so I already created issue #49 for this :wink: