In the following scenarios, the user gets an error:
“Email can’t be blank
Password can’t be blank
Handle must have only letters, numbers, or hyphens.”
In this error, what Handle is? it is not a field on the signup form!
Steps to reproduce:
1- Go to Signup page
2- Do not fill in the fields
3- Resolve captcha
4- Click on the “Sign Up”
handle = username
It is a bit confusing, isn’t it?
Is there any reason that handle has been used instead of username?
Probably for historical reasons than anything else. Handle used as an alias was popularized by the emergence of citizens band radio. That association entered the American counterculture and then was embedded in the early tech scene. It may or may not be that common nowadays, but it was still fairly understood around a decade ago.