Wikipedia:Username policy

"WP:U" and "WP:UN" redirect here. For the guidelines on user pages, see WP:UP. For the United Nations WikiProject, see WP:WPUN.

The username policy describes accepted practices and behavior in naming and operating a user account on Wikipedia.

You may wish to create an account if you do not already have one. Creating an account provides a number of benefits; in particular, your contributions are attributed to your username. See Help:Logging in for help with logging in to an existing account.

Introductory clip on usernames

Appropriate usernames

Your username is a nickname that will identify your account and thereby all of your contributions to Wikipedia. It can even be your real name, if you so choose, but you should be aware of the risks involved in editing under your real name.

Whatever name you choose, it should be a name that other contributors are comfortable with and which does not interfere with the project. A controversial name may give a bad impression to other users, and avoiding this is in your own interest.

There are four kinds of usernames that are specifically disallowed:

• Misleading usernames imply relevant, misleading things about the contributor. The types of names which can be misleading are too numerous to list, but definitely include usernames that imply you are in a position of authority over Wikipedia, usernames that impersonate other people, usernames that imply you are a returning user, or usernames which can be confusing within the Wikipedia signature format, such as usernames which resemble IP addresses or timestamps.
• Promotional usernames are used to promote an existing company, organization, group (including non-profit organizations), website, or product on Wikipedia.
• Offensive usernames are those that offend other contributors, making harmonious editing difficult or impossible.
• Disruptive usernames include outright trolling or personal attacks, include profanities or otherwise show a clear intent to disrupt Wikipedia.

If you choose such a username, that account may be blocked – you are welcome to create a new and acceptable username. If you've inadvertently chosen an inappropriate username, you can change it – see below at Changing your username. If your username is considered borderline, you may be asked to change it voluntarily.

As part of the rule against misleading usernames, your username must not give the impression that your account has permissions which it does not have. Thus it may not contain the terms "administrator", "bureaucrat", "steward", "checkuser", "oversight", or similar terms like "admin", "sysop" or "moderator". Also, unless your account is an approved bot, your name should not be easily misunderstood to refer to a "bot" (which is used to identify bot accounts) or a "script" (which alludes to automated editing processes). Usernames should also not include the phrase "wikipedia", "wikimedia", "wiktionary", etc., if such names, due to the said inclusion, give the impression that the account may be officially affiliated with the Foundation or one of its projects.

These criteria apply to both usernames and signatures. Remember that the purpose of your username and your signature is to identify you as a contributor. If your username or signature is unnecessarily confusing, editors may request that you change it.

Usernames that are inappropriate in another language, or that represent an inappropriate name with misspellings and substitutions, or do so indirectly or by implication, are still considered inappropriate. Ultimately, the line between acceptable and unacceptable usernames is based on the opinions of other editors. If you want to seek approval for a username, you can do so by filing a request at Wikipedia:Request an account.

How your name will appear

Wikipedia usernames are case sensitive, and the first letter of every username is automatically capitalized. By default, your username appears in your signature on posts to discussion pages; for details on signatures and how to customize them, see Wikipedia:Signatures.

Your username comes with a "user page", whose title is of the form "User:Yourname", and a "user talk page" entitled "User talk:Yourname" that people will use to contact you. If your username is commonly misspelled, consider helping people by adding a redirect from the misspelled username to your actual username. While a user page can be created by any contributor, whether an associated account exists or not, you may wish to consider registering that username as a doppelgänger account to prevent it from being registered and used by another person.

Real names

Use of a real name allows contributions to be more easily traced to an individual. This may make a contributor more vulnerable to issues such as harassment, both on and off Wikipedia. You should consider the benefits and drawbacks of making substantial contributions under your real name before doing so, especially if you plan on editing or discussing potentially controversial subjects in Wikipedia articles or on any of the associated project or talk pages. While it is possible to rename accounts (see Changing your username below), a record of the previous name will still exist.

Do not register a username that includes the name of an identifiable living person unless it is your real name. This includes implying a relationship with another person. If you share a name with a well-known person, you need to make it clear that you are not the well-known person of that name. Such usernames may be blocked as a precaution, until proof of identity is provided.

• If you have been blocked for using your real name, please don't take offense; we're trying to prevent somebody from impersonating you! You are welcome to use your real name, but in some cases, you will need to prove you are who you say you are. You can do this by sending an e-mail to info-en@wikimedia.org; be aware that the volunteer response team that handles e-mail is indeed operated entirely by volunteers, and an immediate reply may not be possible.

Internet addresses

Conflating your Wikipedia identity with the identity of something else on the Internet can cause problems.

Email addresses and URLs are not valid usernames. Plain domain names (without .com, .co.kr, etc.) are sometimes acceptable, such as when the purpose of the domain is simply to identify you as a person, but they are inappropriate if they promote a commercial Web page. Some users choose to make usernames based on their static IP addresses, but this is not recommended.

N Generally not acceptable: User:Example.com, User:Alice@example.com

Company/group names

See also: Wikipedia:Sock puppetry § Role accounts

Unambiguous use of a name or URL of a company, group or product as a username is generally not permitted. (e.g. AlexTownWidgets, MyWidgetsUSA.com, TrammelMuseumofArt) However, this does not prohibit every use of a company, group, or product name as part of a username. (WidgetFan87, Mark at WidgetsUSA, LoveTrammelArt, etc.)

• Users who adopt such a username and engage in inappropriately promotional behaviors in articles about the company, group, or product, are usually blocked.
• 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.

Before blocking, disagreements as to whether a particular username is acceptable should be discussed at WP:Requests for comment/Usernames.

Sharing account information is prohibited, as such, accounts that purport to represent an entire group or company are not permitted no matter the name. However, in situations where the account is not shared with other individuals, an editor may simply need to clarify that the account is being permanently used by one individual; see Sharing accounts below. Accounts created for sharing among editors should be retired and supplanted by accounts created for individual editors.

Promotional editing is not permitted regardless of username. No matter what username you choose, our conflict of interest guideline advises all users to exercise caution if editing articles about businesses, organizations, products, or other subjects that they are closely connected to. If you choose to edit articles that are in any way related to your company or group, you will need to carefully follow Wikipedia's advice on editing with a conflict of interest.

N Generally not acceptable: User:CompanyName, User:Buy example product today, User:Marketing department's account, User:Students in 3rd hour science

Usernames with non-Latin characters

See also: Wikipedia:Signatures § Non-Latin

There is no requirement that usernames be in English. Furthermore, contributors are welcome to use usernames that are not spelled using the Latin alphabet, but should bear in mind that scripts of non-Latin languages (such as Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, Greek or Japanese) are illegible to most contributors to the English Wikipedia, and sometimes the characters may not appear correctly. To avoid confusion and aid navigation, users with such usernames are encouraged to use Latin characters in their signature.

Similar usernames

Usernames that are very similar to existing ones can only be created by administrators and Account Creators; if you wish to use such a username, you may request its creation at Wikipedia:Request an account. You must not use a username that could easily be confused with that of an active contributor; a username that is similar only to unused or inactive accounts should not be a problem. Special:Listusers can be used to check for such usernames. The program that checks for similarity is a bit over-sensitive—if the username is different enough as to prevent other people from confusing the two users, the account should be approved regardless of how active the existing account is.

One should not choose a username that implies a relationship with an existing editor (unless the account is actually owned or the relationship is acknowledged by the editor themselves).

If your username is similar to that of another contributor or an article, you may wish to provide some form of disambiguation, for example by adding {{distinguish}} to the top of your user page.

Dealing with inappropriate usernames

If you have encountered an inappropriate username – in particular, a username that is misleading, promotional, offensive, or disruptive as described above, you have several different options for how to proceed. You should choose one based on the severity of the problem, and based on what resolution would be the best for Wikipedia. Use common sense in making your choice, and avoid biting the newbies.

Talk to the user

Many users who create new usernames have not read this policy. If you see a username that is problematic but was not obviously created in bad faith, you should make an attempt to encourage the user to create a new account with a better username. Often, the problem can be cleared up in an amicable way. If you want, you can use the {{subst:uw-username}} template for this.

Request for Comment

If you are uncertain about whether a user should be blocked over their username – for example, if you have discussed a problem with their username with them, but they refuse to change it – you can open a Request for Comment on the username, inviting other users to discuss whether to allow or block the name. Ensure that you have first attempted dialogue with the user regarding the name issue on their talk page, and that you have given them time to respond. As always, consider leaving well enough alone and assume good faith when dealing with usernames that do not unambiguously step out of bounds.

Blatant violations

If you think a username needs to be immediately blocked and is an obvious case, you should report it to Usernames for administrator attention noticeboard.

Conflict of interest

If the username simply indicates that the user has a conflict of interest, without otherwise being an inappropriate username, report it at the Conflict of Interest Noticeboard. Additionally, you can use the template {{subst:uw-coi-username}}.

Other policies

The username policy does not have to override other policies. If you find a user who is spamming or vandalizing under a bad username, for example, you should follow up using the spam or vandalism policy.

Except in very clear-cut cases, it is preferable that you report users to these noticeboards only when they have made at least one recent edit. This avoids spending unnecessary effort on blocking accounts that are never going to be used again, or used at all. Having at least one edit to examine also helps by providing some evidence of whether or not the user intends to edit in good faith.

Keep in mind that context is important. A word that may seem offensive in one context may have another, more benign meaning in another context. In most cases there is no rote formula for how to determine if a username is a violation or not, use common sense and remember that blocking a new user is not actually something we want to do, it is something we do when it is needed to protect Wikipedia from harm.

If the problem is not with the username, but the fact that the username draws attention to another problem such as vandalism, it is usually better to block for the bigger problem and not the smaller one. A vandal or spammer with a confusing username, for example, should be reported to the Administrator intervention against vandalism noticeboard so they can be blocked for vandalism or spam. The username will help to clarify that they are editing disruptively.

Confusing usernames

Some usernames appear problematic without fitting clearly into one of the four categories. This is often the case with confusing or extremely lengthy usernames, which are highly discouraged but which are not so inappropriate on their own that they require an immediate block.

Confusing usernames can often be a red flag for other problems. An editor with a confusing username or signature may be blocked sooner than usual for other inappropriate behavior such as disruption or vandalism, if their confusing username contributes to the disruption. As with all other blocks, admins should use their discretion and common sense.

Usernames for Administrator Attention guidelines

Usernames for administrator attention is a noticeboard for drawing attention to abusive usernames quickly. See Wikipedia:Usernames for administrator attention/Instructions for information on how to place or resolve UAA reports, including the options that are available to administrators.

Exceptions

Some usernames that appear to be in breach of this policy have been allowed to stand by consensus because they were created before a change in the policy that would now prohibit such names (see grandfather clause). These editors have usually been around for a number of years, and it will typically be the case that the issue has been discussed before. Please search that user's talk page (and archives if applicable) and the archives of the administrators' noticeboards and requests for comment - user names before raising the issue at WP:UAA.

Changing your username

Usernames can be changed by bureaucrats; requests should be made at Wikipedia:Changing username. User accounts with few or no edits will not normally be renamed, as it is quicker and easier to simply create a new account.

Once a username has been changed, existing contributions will be listed under the new name in page histories, diffs, logs, and user contributions. Signatures on discussion pages will continue to use the old name; while these can be changed manually, it is not recommended unless a contributor wishes to remove as much information as possible about their former name for privacy reasons. In such situations the old name will still be available in old versions of discussion pages. Username changes are listed in the user rename log.

Deleting and merging accounts

It is not possible to delete user accounts, as all contributions must be assigned to some identifier; either a username or an IP address. Editors seeking privacy per their right to vanish can have their accounts renamed and their user pages and (in some cases) user talk pages deleted.

Although it is technically possible to merge multiple user accounts, this feature has not been enabled on the English Wikipedia.

Sharing accounts

See also: Wikipedia:Sock puppetry § Role accounts

An individual should only have one user account, and as such, any user account should represent that individual and not a group. Sharing an account – or the password to an account – with others is not permitted, and evidence of doing so will result in the account being blocked. For accounts being used to represent a group or organization, see Company/group names above.

Exceptions to this rule are limited to accounts that directly represent the Wikimedia Foundation or internal Wikipedia committees, and bot accounts that are maintained by more than one contributor, provided the existence of such an arrangement is made clear and has consensus.

Using multiple accounts

Main page: Wikipedia:Sock puppetry

It is recommended that contributors not use multiple accounts without good reason. For example, a user may wish to create an alternate account for use on public computers as a precaution to keep their primary account more secure. Contributors operating any sort of automated editing process should do so under an alternative bot account. It is recommended that multiple accounts be identified as such on their user pages; templates such as {{User alternative account}} may be used for this purpose.

The use of multiple accounts outside of established policy for doing so is known as sock puppetry, and is not permitted. For example, multiple accounts may not be used to comment on proposals or requests, cast votes, or engage in edit warring.

Policies apply to individuals, not accounts. Blocked or banned users must not use sock puppets to circumvent a block; doing so will result in an extension of the block or ban.

"Wikipedia:Userboxes/Wikipedia/Related accounts" contains a selection of user boxes provided to identify clearly legitimate alternative accounts.

See also

• {{Namewarning}}
• Wikipedia:Identification
• Wikipedia:Usernames for administrator attention