6 ms·

Any feedback would be really cool...

conroy 14y ago
You should add more services! I wrote http://handlehelp.com http://handlehelp.com which checks for username availability across multiple sites. It's open source[1], so you can use some of my checks if you'd like. [1]: https://github.com/kyleconroy/handlehelp https://github.com/kyleconroy/handlehelp
- trevorah 14y ago
  Good idea, thanks!
- citricsquid 14y ago
  Regarding the reddit check, a username can be unavailable for registration even if there is no profile, after an account is deleted the username is reserved forever. Not sure if there is any way to check if a username is actually available with out trying to register it. For example "citricsquid" is unavailable on reddit but your service reports it is available.
  - trevorah 14y ago
    Damn, I only just added the reddit check. Looks like I might have to revert that...
    - conroy 14y ago
      Just found the API that reddit uses to check for usernames[1]. I'll be adding it to handlehelp right now. [1]: http://www.reddit.com/api/username_available.json?user=foo http://www.reddit.com/api/username_available.json?user=foo
      - trevorah 14y ago
        awesome, good find!
jschuur 14y ago
Should look up the domain name too. And what's the point in showing the ones that are taken?
- jschuur 14y ago
  Wow, that was fast. I love that you're literally rolling out new features while I refresh this thread. Kudos!
  - trevorah 14y ago
    github+heroku baby!
nsp 14y ago
Could you include domain names (.com, maybe .io/.ly) and maybe Facebook url? If you had those this could be great for finding pronounceable names. It's be great if you could set it so that it would just keep trying until it found one that was available on all services, but I can see that adding a ton of overhead, so I can see why you haven't done that yet.
- trevorah 14y ago
  I've just added the .io and i'll add .com in a bit. Adding in the loop might be a bit much if you're not bothered about certain services - e.g constantly updating the page just because a twitter name cant be found.
  - nsp 14y ago
    Yeah, I agree. You could do a sortable list of services so the user could rank their importance and then pick the best result from the first X(10?) iterations given their preferences. Obviously, that adds a lot of complexity, you just got me excited.
    - trevorah 14y ago
      Fork it and try it out! https://github.com/trevorah/usernique https://github.com/trevorah/usernique
josephpmay 14y ago
You should include some form of timeouting. I purposely have Reddit blocked on my computer, and the page wouldn't finish loading because of that.
aoetr 14y ago
Well for starters it needs to support many more websites (Facebook, Google/Youtube, Reddit, etc.) and needs to actually do the check automatically. And it must be able to register the usernames in bulk, bypassing registration limits using multiple proxies and bypassing captchas using deathbycaptcha.com or similar. Finally, support for generating realistic-looking activity on the websites would also be really useful. Add an API and it would become a solid service.
MasterScrat 14y ago
Is there a way to have the checks performed for a given username? That would seem a lot more useful to me...
duvet 14y ago
you should be clearer about what the site does without ruining the simplicity. I was shown the site and didn't notice the title, so it caught me off guard. it appeared to be someone's about page rather than a generator.

You should add more services! I wrote http://handlehelp.com http://handlehelp.com which checks for username availability across multiple sites. It's open source[1], so you can use some of my checks if you'd like. [1]: https://github.com/kyleconroy/handlehelp https://github.com/kyleconroy/handlehelp

trevorah 14y ago
Good idea, thanks!
citricsquid 14y ago
Regarding the reddit check, a username can be unavailable for registration even if there is no profile, after an account is deleted the username is reserved forever. Not sure if there is any way to check if a username is actually available with out trying to register it. For example "citricsquid" is unavailable on reddit but your service reports it is available.
- trevorah 14y ago
  Damn, I only just added the reddit check. Looks like I might have to revert that...
  - conroy 14y ago
    Just found the API that reddit uses to check for usernames[1]. I'll be adding it to handlehelp right now. [1]: http://www.reddit.com/api/username_available.json?user=foo http://www.reddit.com/api/username_available.json?user=foo
    - trevorah 14y ago
      awesome, good find!

jschuur 14y ago

Should look up the domain name too. And what's the point in showing the ones that are taken?

jschuur 14y ago
Wow, that was fast. I love that you're literally rolling out new features while I refresh this thread. Kudos!
- trevorah 14y ago
  github+heroku baby!

nsp 14y ago

Could you include domain names (.com, maybe .io/.ly) and maybe Facebook url? If you had those this could be great for finding pronounceable names. It's be great if you could set it so that it would just keep trying until it found one that was available on all services, but I can see that adding a ton of overhead, so I can see why you haven't done that yet.

trevorah 14y ago
I've just added the .io and i'll add .com in a bit. Adding in the loop might be a bit much if you're not bothered about certain services - e.g constantly updating the page just because a twitter name cant be found.
- nsp 14y ago
  Yeah, I agree. You could do a sortable list of services so the user could rank their importance and then pick the best result from the first X(10?) iterations given their preferences. Obviously, that adds a lot of complexity, you just got me excited.
  - trevorah 14y ago
    Fork it and try it out! https://github.com/trevorah/usernique https://github.com/trevorah/usernique

josephpmay 14y ago

You should include some form of timeouting. I purposely have Reddit blocked on my computer, and the page wouldn't finish loading because of that.

aoetr 14y ago

Well for starters it needs to support many more websites (Facebook, Google/Youtube, Reddit, etc.) and needs to actually do the check automatically. And it must be able to register the usernames in bulk, bypassing registration limits using multiple proxies and bypassing captchas using deathbycaptcha.com or similar. Finally, support for generating realistic-looking activity on the websites would also be really useful. Add an API and it would become a solid service.

MasterScrat 14y ago

Is there a way to have the checks performed for a given username? That would seem a lot more useful to me...

duvet 14y ago

you should be clearer about what the site does without ruining the simplicity. I was shown the site and didn't notice the title, so it caught me off guard. it appeared to be someone's about page rather than a generator.