Although it may be possible to modify a component to do almost anything that you could want it to do (and, with a few days of work it might be possible to do this kind of thing in
Kunena) there are a few reasons why I would recommend strongly against something like this being done with
Kunena (or any web-based discussion forum product for that matter).
Theoretical discussion about the coding changes aside, there are ethical hurdles—some might even question the legalility of the proposal—that you would need to consider if this were possible.
When I join a website I do so in the knowledge that my personal particulars will be protected and my privacy maintained. If I feel that my privacy may, in any way, be compromised then I will not register at a website. These privacy concerns and the way that a website may use (or misuse) my personal information should be clearly outlined in a site's
terms of use
and
privacy policy
.
I accept that there may be reasons to change a user's registration on a website. Joomla allows the site administrator to change a user's username, password and a couple of other things.
As far as the forum is concerned, a user should be allowed to amend their user profile in ways that are consistent with the site's terms of use. For example, a user should be able to set their forum preferences, their "status", their gender, avatar image and signature as long as they do not use words or images that are inconsistent with the site's terms of use or that may offend other members of the community.
In the event that a user's forum profile may be inconsistent with a site's terms of use or forum code of conduct, then an administrator or forum moderator can remove some things (e.g. their signature, avatar or, indeed, all of their profile information) as part of the banning procedure. The backend allows the site administrator to do similar things, too and also allows the administrator to change the user's forum signature.
This has been accepted practice in all web-based discussion forums that I have used over the past 20 years. This has been the way things have operated in
Kunena for the last 7 years.
Yes, there have been other discussions on this forum about this idea and, on each occasion, I have written similarly.
Yes, it's theoretically possible to make changes like this (if you have the enthusiasm, the energy and the skill to undertake the programming) but one should always be extremely careful what one wishes for. There are good reasons why the methodology has been implemented in the way you see it operate today. Although, I agree, it may be a little frustrating for site administrators who are tempted to amend the details of a user's forum profile that they may disagree with, I believe that it should be the user's responsibility to amend those details and no-one else's.
We can disagree but that's my opinion and I see no reason for me to change my opinion.
I hope this helps you understand the situation with a little more clarity and gives you the opportunity to think carefully about the implications of having this feature implemented on your site.