codepvg · Yashaswini-K-P · Aug 15, 2026 · Aug 22, 2026
diff --git a/frontend/js/leaderboard/render.js b/frontend/js/leaderboard/render.js
@@ -155,16 +155,17 @@ function renderLeaderboardRow(user, rank) {
   if (rankTagEl) {
     nameDiv.appendChild(rankTagEl);
   }
-  const nameTextWrapper = document.createElement("span");
-  nameTextWrapper.className = "name-text";
-  nameTextWrapper.appendChild(document.createTextNode(user.name));
+  const nameLink = document.createElement("a");
+  nameLink.href = `/user/${encodeURIComponent(user.id)}`;
+  nameLink.className = "name-text leaderboard-user-link";
+  nameLink.textContent = user.name;
 
   if (rankChangeEl) {
-    nameTextWrapper.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" "));
-    nameTextWrapper.appendChild(rankChangeEl);
+    nameLink.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" "));
+    nameLink.appendChild(rankChangeEl);
   }
 
-  nameDiv.appendChild(nameTextWrapper);
+  nameDiv.appendChild(nameLink);
   row.appendChild(nameDiv);
 
   // Username with link and external icon — id is user-controlled (textContent)
@@ -314,13 +315,22 @@ function renderMobileCard(user, rank) {
   const mobileRankTagEl = createRankTagElement(rank);
   const mobileRankChangeEl =
     user.score > 0 ? createRankChangeElement(user.rankChange) : null;
+
   if (mobileRankTagEl) {
     mobileName.appendChild(mobileRankTagEl);
   }
-  mobileName.appendChild(document.createTextNode(user.name));
+
+  const mobileNameLink = document.createElement("a");
+  mobileNameLink.href = `/user/${encodeURIComponent(user.id)}`;
+  mobileNameLink.className = "leaderboard-user-link";
+  mobileNameLink.textContent = user.name;
+
   if (mobileRankChangeEl) {
-    mobileName.appendChild(mobileRankChangeEl);
+    mobileNameLink.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" "));
+    mobileNameLink.appendChild(mobileRankChangeEl);
   }
+
+  mobileName.appendChild(mobileNameLink);
   card.appendChild(mobileName);
 
   // Username — id is user-controlled (textContent)

diff --git a/frontend/js/user/profile-controller.js b/frontend/js/user/profile-controller.js
@@ -4,19 +4,14 @@ import { loadGoalSetter } from "./goal-setter.js";
 import { fetchUserData } from "./historical-graphs.js";
 import { loadLeaderboardRanks } from "./ranks.js";
 import { loadStreakData } from "./streak.js";
-
-function getUsername() {
-  const pathSegments = window.location.pathname.split("/");
-  return (
-    pathSegments[pathSegments.length - 1] ||
-    pathSegments[pathSegments.length - 2] ||
-    ""
-  );
-}
+import { getCurrentUsername } from "./utils.js";
 
 async function initProfile() {
-  const username = getUsername();
-  if (!username) return;
+  const username = getCurrentUsername();
+  if (!username) {
+    console.error("Critical error: Username meta tag is missing.");
+    return;
+  }
 
   // Set header display variables prior to fetch if elements exist
   const usernameHeading = document.getElementById("username-display");

diff --git a/frontend/js/user/utils.js b/frontend/js/user/utils.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+export function getCurrentUsername() {
+  const metaTag = document.querySelector('meta[name="current-user"]');
+
+  if (!metaTag || !metaTag.content) {
+    console.warn("Current user meta tag is missing or empty.");
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  return metaTag.content.trim();
+}
diff --git a/frontend/styles/main.css b/frontend/styles/main.css
@@ -3226,6 +3226,18 @@ input[type="checkbox"].compare-checkbox:checked::after {
   pointer-events: auto;
 }
 
+.leaderboard-user-link {
+  color: inherit;
+  text-decoration: none;
+}
+
+.leaderboard-user-link:hover,
+.leaderboard-user-link:visited,
+.leaderboard-user-link:active {
+  color: inherit;
+  text-decoration: none;
+}
+
 @keyframes compareSlideInRight {
   from {
     transform: translateX(120%);

diff --git a/frontend/user.html b/frontend/user.html
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 <html lang="en">
   <head>
     <meta charset="UTF-8" />
+    <meta name="current-user" content="__USERNAME__" />
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
     <title id="page-title">CodePVG</title>
     <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com" />

diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
@@ -80,20 +80,26 @@ app.use((req, res, next) => {
 
 // 4. HTML page routes — inject per-request nonce into __NONCE__ placeholders
 const htmlCache = {};
-function serveHtml(res, filePath) {
-  if (htmlCache[filePath]) {
-    const html = htmlCache[filePath].replace(/__NONCE__/g, res.locals.nonce);
-    return res.type("html").send(html);
-  }
-
-  fs.readFile(filePath, "utf8", (err, data) => {
-    if (err) {
+function serveHtml(res, filePath, replacements = {}) {
+  let template = htmlCache[filePath];
+
+  if (!template) {
+    try {
+      template = fs.readFileSync(filePath, "utf8");
+      htmlCache[filePath] = template;
+    } catch (err) {
       return res.status(500).send("Error loading page");
     }
-    htmlCache[filePath] = data;
-    const html = data.replace(/__NONCE__/g, res.locals.nonce);
-    res.type("html").send(html);
-  });
+  }
+
+  let html = template.replace(/__NONCE__/g, res.locals.nonce);
+
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(replacements)) {
+    const regex = new RegExp(key, "g");
+    html = html.replace(regex, value);
+  }
+
+  res.type("html").send(html);
 }
 
 /* HOME ROUTES */
@@ -133,7 +139,10 @@ app.get("/uptime", (req, res) => {
 });
 
 app.get("/user/:username", (req, res) => {
-  serveHtml(res, path.join(__dirname, "frontend", "user.html"));
+  const username = req.params.username;
+  serveHtml(res, path.join(__dirname, "frontend", "user.html"), {
+    __USERNAME__: username,
+  });
 });
 
 // ---- Rate limiter for API endpoint ----
@@ -242,6 +251,13 @@ app.get("/api/user/:username", async (req, res) => {
   }
 });
 
+app.get("/user/:username", (req, res) => {
+  const username = req.params.username;
+  serveHtml(res, path.join(__dirname, "frontend", "user.html"), {
+    __USERNAME__: username,
+  });
+});
+
 // 404 handler
 app.use((req, res) => {
   res.status(404);