Non-ascii unicode characters considered invalid in username

[akhayyat@…]

In the admin's user change form, entering a new username with non-ascii unicode characters, e.g. é or ع, and saving the form results in an "Enter a valid username" error message.

The model field accepts such usernames programmatically, but editing a form with such a username prevents saving it unless the username is changed to remove all non-ascii characters.

This pull request fixes the problem, and allows saving the form with non-ascii unicode characters in the username field:

​https://github.com/django/django/pull/1322

[Hiroki Kiyohara]

I sometime use the username as some slugs on URL, like:

http://myservice.co.jp/username/

If the username allow to use Unicode, we will have to use Unicode in the URL.
Non-ASCII url is not allowed on Django, I remember so.

Either allowed or not, this patch should contain some tests and docs.

[akhayyat@…]

I am unaware of any Django policies, but the non-ASCII username works fine as a slug in a URL for me even without this patch.

The user change form is the only piece I have encountered so far that does not work well with non-ASCII characters.

[Aymeric Augustin]

This would be considered a regression for anyone who relies on Django to validate that usernames are ASCII-only.

If "the model field accepts such usernames programmatically", that's just because validation is done in the form layer and not in the model layer.

A custom user model (introduced in 1.5) is the way to go.