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Wikipedia:Username policy: Difference between revisions

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Promotional names: make it less likely to be misread
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The following types of usernames are not permitted because they are considered '''promotional''':
The following types of usernames are not permitted because they are considered '''promotional''':
*Usernames that unambiguously consist of a name of a company, group, institution or product (e.g. AlexTownWidgets, MyWidgetsUSA.com, TrammelMuseumofArt). However usernames that ''contain'' such names are sometimes permissible; see under {{p/s|Usernames implying shared use}} below.
*Usernames that unambiguously consist of a name of a company, group, institution or product (e.g. AlexTownWidgets, MyWidgetsUSA.com, TrammelMuseumofArt). However usernames that ''contain'' such names are sometimes permissible; see under {{p/s|Usernames implying shared use}} below.
*[[Email address]]es and [[URL]]s (such as "Alice@example.com" and "Example.com"). Plain domain names (without ''.com'', ''.co.kr'', etc.) are sometimes acceptable, such as when the purpose is simply to identify the user as a person, but they are inappropriate if they promote a commercial Web page.
*[[Email address]]es and [[URL]]s (such as "Alice@example.com" and "Example.com"); plain domain names (''without'' <code>.com</code>, <code>.co.kr</code>, etc.) are sometimes acceptable, such as when the purpose is simply to identify the user as a person, but they are inappropriate if they promote a commercial Web page.


A user who both adopts a promotional username ''and'' also engages in inappropriately [[Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#ADVERTISING|promotional]] behaviors in articles about the company, group, or product, can be [[Template:Spamusernameblock|blocked]]. In such cases, administrators should examine the user's edits to decide whether or not to allow them to create a new username. If there is evidence that the user would continue to edit inappropriately under a new username, the blocking administrator should enable the "autoblock" and "prevent account creation" features. Otherwise, the user should be offered the opportunity to create a new account. (Before blocking, disagreements as to whether a particular username is acceptable should be discussed at [[Wikipedia:Requests for comment/User names|WP:Requests for comment/Usernames]].) Users who adopt such usernames, but who are '''not''' editing problematically in related articles, should '''not''' be blocked. Instead, they should be gently encouraged to change their username.
A user who both adopts a promotional username ''and'' also engages in inappropriately [[Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#ADVERTISING|promotional]] behaviors in articles about the company, group, or product, can be [[Template:Spamusernameblock|blocked]]. In such cases, administrators should examine the user's edits to decide whether or not to allow them to create a new username. If there is evidence that the user would continue to edit inappropriately under a new username, the blocking administrator should enable the "autoblock" and "prevent account creation" features. Otherwise, the user should be offered the opportunity to create a new account. (Before blocking, disagreements as to whether a particular username is acceptable should be discussed at [[Wikipedia:Requests for comment/User names|WP:Requests for comment/Usernames]].) Users who adopt such usernames, but who are '''not''' editing problematically in related articles, should '''not''' be blocked. Instead, they should be gently encouraged to change their username.