# When using the Wix Members Area app, prevent duplicate member Display Names (nicknames) from being created by members

**URL:** <https://forum.wixstudio.com/t/when-using-the-wix-members-area-app-prevent-duplicate-member-display-names-nicknames-from-being-created-by-members/69200>\
**Category:** Ask the community\
**Tags:** wix-members-area, question, wix-studio\
**Created:** [February 27, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.wixstudio.com/t/when-using-the-wix-members-area-app-prevent-duplicate-member-display-names-nicknames-from-being-created-by-members/69200 "2025-02-27T16:01:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![user5283](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/838e76/32.png) [@user5283](https://forum.wixstudio.com/u/user5283)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.wixstudio.com/t/when-using-the-wix-members-area-app-prevent-duplicate-member-display-names-nicknames-from-being-created-by-members/69200/1 "2025-02-27T16:01:32Z")

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**Question:**  
When using the Wix Members Area app, prevent a duplicate member Display Name (nickname) from being created by a member.

**Product:**  
Wix Studio

**What are you trying to achieve:**  
I want the member Display name to be the unique identifier of the member so when a member enters data into forums and groups, they are uniquely identified. I need a way to validate the member display name when a member updates their profile. I’d like to prevent them from using a name that is currently being used by another member. It appears that the out-of-the-box functionality will allow multiple users to have the same Display Name and therefore appear like the same member in Forums and Groups.

**What have you already tried:**  
Data Hook validation

**Additional information:**

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pratham](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wix/user_avatar/forum.wixstudio.com/pratham/32/119586_2.png) [@Pratham](https://forum.wixstudio.com/u/Pratham)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://forum.wixstudio.com/t/when-using-the-wix-members-area-app-prevent-duplicate-member-display-names-nicknames-from-being-created-by-members/69200/2 "2025-02-28T12:02:37Z")

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> [@user5283](#):
>
> Data Hook validation

That didn’t work? Show your code?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![user5283](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/838e76/32.png) [@user5283](https://forum.wixstudio.com/u/user5283)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2025, 2:02pm UTC](https://forum.wixstudio.com/t/when-using-the-wix-members-area-app-prevent-duplicate-member-display-names-nicknames-from-being-created-by-members/69200/3 "2025-03-02T14:02:09Z")

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This is my code in data.js.

export function MemberLocationStats\_beforeUpdate(item, context) {  
console.log(“Before MemberLocationStats update”)  
}

export function Members$FullData\_beforeUpdate(item, context) {  
console.log(“Before Members$FullData update”)  
}

Before I update the MemberLocationStats table, “Before MemberLocationStats update” prints to console.

Before I update the Members$FullData table, nothing prints to console.

At this point, I’m just trying to capture the update action of the member data.