Core Ideas
NUU Profiles has a small set of nouns. If you know these nouns, the rest of the product is easy to follow. This page defines each noun. It then shows how the nouns relate.
The nouns
Public profile. The public record for one person. It has a permanent identity. It can show a display name, a handle, a tagline, a bio, an avatar, pronouns, a location, a website, links, life dates, affiliations, and publications. Other NUU products read this record for attribution. Visitors can open it as a public page.
Handle. The short public name, shown with an at sign. It is the username from your NUU account. NUU Profiles mirrors it. You do not set it here. A ghost usually has no handle.
Ghost. A public profile with no account behind it yet. Another NUU product, or a manager, creates a ghost so people can still name that person. Until someone claims it, managers can keep it up to date.
Claim. The process where you say a ghost is you. You send a claim. An admin reviews it. If the admin approves it, your account points at that public profile. The two identities merge.
Group. A personal list of public profiles that you own. You name the group. You add and remove members. Other NUU products can use a group when you share with several people at once.
Attribution. The act of naming a person on a record in another NUU product. Attribution uses the public profile. It shows the current display name, handle, and avatar. It stores the permanent identity, not the handle.
How the nouns relate
Your NUU account is private to you. Your public profile is what other people see. One account can own one public profile.
The permanent identity is the stable pointer. The handle is a convenience name. Other products should store the permanent identity. If your handle changes, attribution still works. See About Identity and Handles.
A ghost is still a public profile. It is missing an owner. A claim attaches your account to that public profile. After a claim, it is an ordinary public profile. See About Ghosts and Claims.
A group does not replace a public profile. It only lists public profiles. You need a public profile before you can own a group. See About Groups.
Attribution is why the public profile exists. Other products do not keep a second copy of you. They read NUU Profiles. See About Attribution.
What you see on a public profile
The public page shows the display name first. If you set a disambiguator, it shows in parentheses after the name. The handle shows when the profile has an account and a username. A live ghost shows a ghost mark instead of a handle.
The rest of the page shows the tagline, bio, contact fields, links, affiliations, and publications. Life dates show as years of activity when they are public. Fields that you mark private do not show to visitors.
To create your own public profile, follow Set Up Your Profile.