diff --git a/public/language/en-GB/global.json b/public/language/en-GB/global.json
index 0fdc21b84b..b5b9600449 100644
--- a/public/language/en-GB/global.json
+++ b/public/language/en-GB/global.json
@@ -115,6 +115,8 @@
 	"guest": "Guest",
 	"guests": "Guests",
 	"former_user": "A Former User",
+	"system-user": "System",
+	"unknown-user": "Unknown user",
 
 	"updated.title": "Forum Updated",
 	"updated.message": "This forum has just been updated to the latest version. Click here to refresh the page.",
diff --git a/public/language/en-GB/topic.json b/public/language/en-GB/topic.json
index 759ca53e51..ac92291087 100644
--- a/public/language/en-GB/topic.json
+++ b/public/language/en-GB/topic.json
@@ -22,10 +22,8 @@
 	"login-to-view": "🔒 Log in to view",
 	"edit": "Edit",
 	"delete": "Delete",
-	"deleted": "Deleted",
 	"purge": "Purge",
 	"restore": "Restore",
-	"restored": "Restored",
 	"move": "Move",
 	"change-owner": "Change Owner",
 	"fork": "Fork",
@@ -33,16 +31,21 @@
 	"share": "Share",
 	"tools": "Tools",
 	"locked": "Locked",
-	"unlocked": "Unlocked",
 	"pinned": "Pinned",
 	"pinned-with-expiry": "Pinned until %1",
-	"unpinned": "Unpinned",
 	"moved": "Moved",
 	"moved-from": "Moved from %1",
 	"copy-ip": "Copy IP",
 	"ban-ip": "Ban IP",
 	"view-history": "Edit History",
 
+	"locked-by": "Locked by",
+	"unlocked-by": "Unlocked by",
+	"pinned-by": "Pinned by",
+	"unpinned-by": "Unpinned by",
+	"deleted-by": "Deleted by",
+	"restored-by": "Restored by",
+
 	"bookmark_instructions" : "Click here to return to the last read post in this thread.",
 
 	"flag-post": "Flag this post",
diff --git a/src/topics/events.js b/src/topics/events.js
index 7db04751f4..dfe43967c2 100644
--- a/src/topics/events.js
+++ b/src/topics/events.js
@@ -1,38 +1,44 @@
 'use strict';
 
 const db = require('../database');
+const user = require('../user');
 const plugins = require('../plugins');
 
 const Events = module.exports;
 
+/**
+ * Note: Plugins!
+ *
+ * You are able to define additional topic event types here.
+ * Register to hook `filter:topicEvents.init` and append your custom type to the `types` object.
+ * You can then log a custom topic event by calling `topics.events.log(tid, { type, uid });`
+ * `uid` is optional; if you pass in a valid uid in the payload, the user avatar/username will be rendered as part of the event text
+ *
+ */
 Events._types = {
 	pin: {
 		icon: 'fa-thumb-tack',
-		text: '[[topic:pinned]]',
-	},
-	pin_expiry: {
-		icon: 'fa-thumb-tack',
-		text: '[[topic:pinned-with-expiry]]',
+		text: '[[topic:pinned-by]]',
 	},
 	unpin: {
 		icon: 'fa-thumb-tack',
-		text: '[[topic:unpinned]]',
+		text: '[[topic:unpinned-by]]',
 	},
 	lock: {
 		icon: 'fa-lock',
-		text: '[[topic:locked]]',
+		text: '[[topic:locked-by]]',
 	},
 	unlock: {
 		icon: 'fa-unlock',
-		text: '[[topic:unlocked]]',
+		text: '[[topic:unlocked-by]]',
 	},
 	delete: {
 		icon: 'fa-trash',
-		text: '[[topic:deleted]]',
+		text: '[[topic:deleted-by]]',
 	},
 	restore: {
 		icon: 'fa-trash-o',
-		text: '[[topic:restored]]',
+		text: '[[topic:restored-by]]',
 	},
 };
 Events._ready = false;
@@ -57,11 +63,20 @@ Events.get = async (tid) => {
 	const eventIds = await db.getSortedSetRangeWithScores(`topic:${tid}:events`, 0, -1);
 	const keys = eventIds.map(obj => `topicEvent:${obj.value}`);
 	const timestamps = eventIds.map(obj => obj.score);
-	const events = await db.getObjects(keys);
+	let events = await db.getObjects(keys);
+	const users = await getUserInfo(events.map(event => event.uid).filter(Boolean));
+
+	// Remove events whose types no longer exist (e.g. plugin uninstalled)
+	events = events.filter(event => Events._types.hasOwnProperty(event.type));
+
+	// Add user & metadata
 	events.forEach((event, idx) => {
 		event.id = parseInt(eventIds[idx].value, 10);
 		event.timestamp = timestamps[idx];
 		event.timestampISO = new Date(timestamps[idx]).toISOString();
+		if (event.hasOwnProperty('uid')) {
+			event.user = users.get(event.uid === 'system' ? 'system' : parseInt(event.uid, 10));
+		}
 
 		Object.assign(event, Events._types[event.type]);
 	});
@@ -69,6 +84,17 @@ Events.get = async (tid) => {
 	return events;
 };
 
+async function getUserInfo(uids) {
+	uids = uids.filter((uid, idx) => !isNaN(parseInt(uid, 10)) && uids.indexOf(uid) === idx);
+	const userData = await user.getUsersFields(uids, ['picture', 'username', 'userslug']);
+	const userMap = userData.reduce((memo, cur) => memo.set(cur.uid, cur), new Map());
+	userMap.set('system', {
+		system: true,
+	});
+
+	return userMap;
+}
+
 Events.log = async (tid, payload) => {
 	await Events.init();
 	const topics = require('.');