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User profiles in oForum showcase your contributions, reputation, and personal information. Each profile is a hub for your forum identity.

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Viewing User Profiles

Every user has a public profile accessible by clicking their username anywhere on the forum. Profile pages display:
  • Username and display name
  • Bio and about sections
  • Reputation score (karma)
  • Roles and badges
  • Post history
  • Comment history
  • Join date
Profiles use the format /user/username in the URL. They’re public and can be shared with anyone.

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Reputation and Karma

Reputation (also called karma) is a measure of community recognition:

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How It’s Calculated

Your reputation score is the total number of upvotes you’ve received on:
  • Your posts
  • Your comments
The formula is simple: 
Reputation = (Upvotes on all your posts) + (Upvotes on all your comments)
If you have:
  • 5 posts with 3, 7, 2, 10, and 5 upvotes (27 total)
  • 20 comments with various upvotes totaling 45
Your reputation = 27 + 45 = 72 points

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What Reputation Represents

  • Community value: Higher reputation indicates consistent, valuable contributions
  • Trust indicator: More experienced users naturally accumulate higher scores
  • Engagement metric: Active participation leads to higher reputation
  • Quality signal: Posts and comments that resonate get upvoted more
Focus on quality contributions rather than chasing reputation. Thoughtful posts and helpful comments naturally earn upvotes over time.

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Profile Customization

You can customize several aspects of your profile:

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Editable Profile Fields

1

Visit Your Profile

Click your username to go to your profile page.
2

Access Edit Form

Look for the profile edit form (visible only on your own profile).
3

Update Fields

Modify any of these fields:
  • Display Name (max 128 characters): A friendly name shown alongside your username
  • Bio (max 256 characters): A brief one-liner about yourself
  • About (max 2000 characters): A longer description or introduction
  • Email (max 256 characters): Your email address (not publicly visible by default)
4

Save Changes

Submit the form to update your profile.
Your username cannot be changed after account creation. All other fields are editable at any time.

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Character Limits

Profile fields have enforced character limits to maintain site performance:
FieldMaximum Length
Display Name128 characters
Bio256 characters
About2000 characters
Email256 characters
Excess characters are automatically truncated to these limits.

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Password Changes

You can update your password at any time:
1

Navigate to Password Change

Access the password change page from your profile or account settings.
2

Enter Current Password

Verify your identity by entering your current password.
3

Set New Password

Enter your new password (minimum 6 characters) and confirm it.
4

Submit

Your password will be updated immediately upon successful submission.
Password requirements:
  • Minimum 6 characters
  • New password and confirmation must match
  • Current password must be correct
Use a strong, unique password for your forum account. Consider a password manager to generate and store complex passwords.

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Activity History

Your profile displays your complete forum activity:

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Posts Section

All posts you’ve created, showing:
  • Post titles (clickable)
  • Points received
  • Comment count
  • Creation date
  • Tags
  • Associated URL (if any)
Posts are sorted by creation date, newest first.

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Comments Section

All comments you’ve written, displaying:
  • Comment text
  • Points received
  • Parent post title (clickable)
  • Creation date
Comments are also sorted by creation date, newest first.
Your activity history helps you track your contributions and revisit discussions you’ve participated in.

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Roles and Badges

oForum supports a role system for community organization:

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What Roles Are

Roles are colored badges that appear next to usernames:
  • Assigned by forum administrators
  • Can represent status, expertise, or community position
  • Examples: Moderator, Admin, Contributor, Expert, etc.

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Role Display

Roles appear:
  • Next to your username on posts
  • Next to your username on comments
  • On your profile page
  • On the leaderboard

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Role Properties

Each role has:
  • Name: The role title
  • Color: Custom color for the badge
  • Sort Order: Determines which role shows first if you have multiple
  • Admin Rank: Special flag for administrative roles
Roles are visible but don’t grant any special permissions (except admin roles). They’re primarily for community recognition and organization.

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Multiple Roles

Users can have multiple roles:
  • Only one role badge displays at a time
  • The role with the highest sort order (lowest number) takes precedence
  • All your roles are listed on your profile page
If you have roles:
  • “Moderator” (sort order: 1, color: blue)
  • “Contributor” (sort order: 2, color: green)
The “Moderator” badge will display next to your name since it has the higher priority (lower sort order number).

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Account Age

Your join date appears on your profile and in some places next to your username:
  • Shown as “Joined [date]”
  • Helps establish community seniority
  • Visible to all users
Account age has no direct impact on permissions or features—it’s informational only.

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Privacy Considerations

Profile information visibility:
  • Public: Username, display name, bio, about, reputation, posts, comments, roles
  • Private: Email (stored but not displayed publicly by default)
  • Hidden: Password hash (never visible)
Your post and comment history is always public as part of the forum’s open discussion model.

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