If you have a members only website where users can register a unique username and become members, one common inconvenience for your users is that they will try to register a username that has already been registered by someone else.
Rather than just displaying a message like “That username is already taken, please try again.” and having them guess at other usernames, it would be nice to suggest a similar username to them that is definitely available. Here is how we do it.
To do this, create a database called MyData and a table called tblUsers with these fields:
ID – autonumber
fUsername – text field
fPassword – text field
fEmail – text field
fDateEntered – date/time field
Now, enter these Usernames into your database: bob, bob1, & bob2.
Next, create a page called /Register.asp page with the code below:
<form name="Register" method="post" action="confirm.asp">
Username: <input type="text" name="Username" size="50"><br>
Password: <input type="text" name="Password" size="50"><br>
Email: <input type="text" name="Email" size="50"><br>
<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit">
</form>
Next, create a page called /Confirm.asp with the code below:
<%
DIM strUsername, strPassword, strEmail
strUsername = Request.Form("Username")
strPassword = Request.Form("Password")
strEmail = Request.Form("Email")
IF strUsername <> "" AND strPassword <> "" AND strEmail <> "" THEN
DIM mySQL, objRS
mySQL = "SELECT * FROM tblMembers WHERE fUsername = ' " & strUsername & " ' "
Set objRS = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
objRS.Open mySQL, objConn, adOpenKeyset, adLockPessimistic, adCmdText
IF objRS.EOF THEN
objRS.AddNew
objRS("fUsername")
objRS("fPassword")
objRS("fEmail")
objRS.Update
objRS.Close
Set objRS = Nothing
Response.Write "You have been successfully registered as: " & strUsername
ELSE
DIM X, strTempUsername, intCount, mySQL2, objRS2
DO UNTIL X=True
intCount = intCount + 1
strTempUsername = strUsername & intCount
strUsername = strTempUsername
mySQL2 = "SELECT * FROM tblMembers WHERE fUsername = ' " & strUsername & " ' "
Set objRS2 = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
objRS2.Open mySQL2, objConn, adOpenKeyset, adLockPessimistic, adCmdText
IF objRS2.EOF THEN
X=True
ELSE
intCount = intCount
END IF
LOOP
objRSa2.Close
Set objRSa2 = Nothing
Response.Write "That username has already been registered. Please click Back "
Response.Write "on your browser and try a different username. We suggest "
Response.Write "you try the below available username:</p>"
Response.Write "<b>• " & strUsername2 & "</b>"
END IF
ELSE
Response.Write "Please click Back on your browser and complete all three fields."
END IF
%>
There you have it, a simple username suggestion tool. Try testing it. If a user tries to enter “bob”, the script will suggest “bob12”. If a user tries to enter “bob1”, the script will suggest “bob11”.