Improve user search, DB nulls, and chat UI

Change username filter to use icontains for partial/case-insensitive matching. In CustomUser.save, introduce _NULLABLE_CHAR_FIELDS and convert empty string char fields to None to ensure nullable fields are stored consistently. Update CreateChatModal to always show a subtitle combining the user's full name and account creation date (joined with " · "), improving UI information.

backend/account/filters.py

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
 User = get_user_model()
 
 class UserFilter(django_filters.FilterSet):
-    username = django_filters.CharFilter(field_name="username", lookup_expr="exact")
+    username = django_filters.CharFilter(field_name="username", lookup_expr="icontains")
     role = django_filters.CharFilter(field_name="role", lookup_expr="exact")
     email = django_filters.CharFilter(field_name="email", lookup_expr="icontains")
     phone_number = django_filters.CharFilter(field_name="phone_number", lookup_expr="icontains")

backend/account/models.py

@@ -116,7 +116,13 @@ class CustomUser(SoftDeleteModel, AbstractUser):
 
         return super().delete(*args, **kwargs)
     
+    _NULLABLE_CHAR_FIELDS = ('phone_number', 'city', 'street', 'country', 'postal_code', 'email_verification_token')
+
     def save(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        for field in self._NULLABLE_CHAR_FIELDS:
+            if not getattr(self, field):
+                setattr(self, field, None)
+
         is_new = self._state.adding  # True if object hasn't been saved yet
 
         # Pre-save flags for new users

frontend/src/components/social/chat/CreateChatModal.tsx

@@ -292,13 +292,16 @@ export default function CreateChatModal({ open, onClose }: Props) {
                       <div className="text-sm font-medium text-brand-text">
                         {user.username}
                       </div>
-                      {(user.first_name || user.last_name) && (
                       <div className="truncate text-xs text-brand-text/50">
-                          {[user.first_name, user.last_name]
+                        {[
+                          [user.first_name, user.last_name].filter(Boolean).join(" "),
+                          user.create_time
+                            ? new Date(user.create_time).toLocaleDateString()
+                            : null,
+                        ]
                           .filter(Boolean)
-                            .join(" ")}
+                          .join(" · ")}
                       </div>
-                      )}
                     </div>
                     {selectedUsers.some((s) => s.id === user.id) && (
                       <FiCheck size={14} className="shrink-0 text-brand-accent" />