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  • Deleted old content (mostly about a user whose name has been changed now) Martin 11:13 Jan 29, 2003 (UTC) Archive
  • Deleted old content (random freedom of speech debate) 9 Feb. 2003. Archive
  • Deleted old content (more freedom of speech debate, voluntary name change) 8 Oct. 2003. Archive
  • Archived content Wikipedia talk:Username/archive01

Acceptable usernames

I have seen a couple of users choose a website as their username. I don't think this should be acceptable as it promotes those sites on Wikipedia. However, this is not part of policy. So my question is should it be? Dori | Talk 05:51, Mar 27, 2004 (UTC)

  • I disagree. A username is not an official wikipedia statement (unlike an article). If we apply article rules to usernames, then RickK would be banned for self-promotion. Meelar 05:53, 27 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Perhaps I should clarify. I mean things like example.com I am fine with just example Dori | Talk 05:54, Mar 27, 2004 (UTC)
I still think it's not worth having a policy on. Let people name themselves "The User brought to You by Nike, Coca-Cola and Microsoft", if they want. It's not an official wikipedia statement, so we have no real right to intrude, unless it seriously offends other users. And users like that will get judged on their own merits. Meelar 05:58, 27 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Examples? Martin 16:46, 27 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Here's one that I remember since I left the person a note: User:www.Baileysbooks.co.uk Dori | Talk 18:10, Mar 27, 2004 (UTC)

Reserved Keywords

Many computer languages have a (short!) list of reserved keywords, which you are not allowed to use to make your own identifiers. Perhaps wikipedia could have a similar list, and reject names and article titles that are in that list. This would help prevent bugs and perhaps prevent certain classes of exploits (be they software or wetware). Specifically this would help prevent people using confusing interface or wikipedia terms. Words that *do* appear in the list can then safely be assigned special properties. (though not all words on that list need have such properties) Kim Bruning 12:40, 29 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Policy may be too weak

"Edgy" user names give the project a bad name and waste resources and debate. I think the policy should state more clearly that user names that communicate any sort of POV, agenda, power, sponsorship, special status, corporate backing, etc etc are inappropriate. Same should be true for sigs but that is, IMO, less important. If a user name causes controversy or annoyance to even a small fraction of the community, if the objections are reasonable, the name should not stand. It simply isn't a part of the project where we need a lot of indulgence. Like edit summaries, user names are widely visible, and are likely to be part of any alternate distribution of the Wikipedia content (for GFDL compliance). They also transcend any category boundaries that we might have in place, so if we develop (for example) an elementary-school edition that is a subset of the content, most user names will still be visible. UninvitedCompany 03:27, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I think I support that. Martin 13:18, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)
That said, if we are serious about getting rid of inappropriate usernames, we really should start removing them from the history via an enforced rename. I hope the devs sort out a way to allow sysops to rename users. Martin 13:57, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Limitations

Can the "Choosing a username" section be updated to include an explanation of what the limitations on usernames are? By that, I mean:

  • Is there a minimum or maximum length?
  • Are usernames case-sensitive?
  • What special characters (spaces, punctuation marks, etc.) are allowed?

Stuff like that. Pat Berry 18:27, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)


I can't remember my Username

I know I've edited at least one article in the past, a long time ago, but I unfortunately didn't keep a record of my Username. I don't want to just create a new one because I'd like to keep continuity with the old username, in case this site keeps a record of which articles I've edited (I'd like to remember all the articles I've edited, if it's possible). Could someone please let me know how to find this out? Or if there are any Admin-type people reading this, could you please email me and let me know what my old Username was? My email address is demeter@jimmycat.com. I'll be able to remember my password if I'm reminded of the Username.

On a related note, the dang login page doesn't have an option to get this information from the server. I think it's really important to add this. If I wasn't the resourceful person that I am (and modest too!), I wouldn't have been able to figure this all out and might just have given up on Wikipedia altogether.

Thanks. -Carol

Hi Carol. If you remember which article you edited in the past then you can find out your username quite easily. Go to the article, click "page history" (on the left hand menu, or at the bottom of the page) and you will find a record of all edits made to that article, and who made them. You may need to click through to older pages if it's a frequently edited article (click "next 50"). I hope that helps. fabiform | talk 15:15, 11 Apr 2004 (UTC)

This is Carol, replying: unfortunately I can?t remember which articles I edited (that is in fact the reason I want to use my old Username ? so I can find them). Thanks anyway for your message fabiform ? it?s nice to know someone read my message at least. I?m still hoping to hear from anyone who manages this site, so they can email me my original Username. -Carol

Hi Carol, is the e-mail address you posted above the same as the one that you used for the account? If it is, then maybe a developer could find your username. Otherwise, it might be lost. The best way would be to remember the articles, or the general area of the articles so that we could look at them.
I don't understand what you mean by the server giving you the information. Do you mean giving the e-mail address and having the server respond with the usernames registered with that address? If not, then the server has no other information to associate with a username, so it couldn't give you any more info. I'll ask a developper about the e-mail address though. Dori | Talk 03:27, Apr 13, 2004 (UTC)
Hi again, I just asked a developer, and there is no account associated with demeter@jimmycat.com. You would need to give us the exact e-mail address that you used, and if you didn't give an e-mail address, then I'm afraid there is no way to find out what the username is (there is no other information kept besides username/password/e-mail). Dori | Talk 03:33, Apr 13, 2004 (UTC)

Sysop blocks of inappropriate usernames

Proposed policy

In extreme cases (for instance, a username consisting of a highly offensive statement or a string of profanities), sysops make on-the-spot judgements that a username is against our username policy. They base this decision in part on discussions on the user's talk page, and the requests for comments page. They also base it on any relevant precedents.

Support

  1. Qualified support, only for "extreme cases" as stated on the policy page. I don't think we need discussion to figure out that a username should be blocked if it consists of a highly offensive statement or a string of profanities. Contrary to what is on the policy page right now, I think the user's behavior is not relevant to whether an inappropriate username qualifies as an "extreme case"; the content of the name itself is what matters. --Michael Snow 17:03, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  2. What Michael Snow said, but sometimes I think it makes sense to pay attention to the user's actions when deciding whether to make an on-the-spot decision, or use the RfC method. Martin 17:12, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  3. Support. I'm not particularly afraid that sysops will start banning users willy-nilly with a policy like this -- and even if they did it would likely be undone rapidly if it were controversial. BCorr|Брайен 18:38, Apr 10, 2004 (UTC)
  4. Support. Please make clear on the user's page what the problem was and how to fix it. No need to warn User:Fuckyouverymuch that such a name is inappropriate before a ban, but the User page should link to the place for requesting a name-change. +sj+ 18:41, 2004 Apr 10 (UTC)
  5. Support. — Timwi 19:49, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  6. Support. fabiform | talk 20:59, 12 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  7. Support. Angela. 19:46, Apr 13, 2004 (UTC)
  8. support. Perl 13:36, 14 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  9. Support. -- user:zanimum
  10. Support. Denni 03:31, 2004 Apr 15 (UTC)
  11. Support. Shoot first, ask questions later, it saves work for the admins. - Peter Perlsø 12:47, 2004 Apr 15 (UTC)
  12. Support strongly. -- Decumanus | Talk 23:28, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  13. Exploding Boy 14:59, Apr 18, 2004 (UTC)
  14. Support - transgressions should be dealt quickly. Admin action should be logged it public location for review. Public scrutiny of admin's actions and awareness that he/she could be demoted from office should be enough to prevent admins from overusing the power. Besides, other admins could be contacted and undone the action. -- Forseti 07:09, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  15. Support greatly. Do signed in users have some advantage over IPs? Sysops are no higher than signed in users, so why should signed in users be any higher than anons? It just means they spent the extra 10 seconds to create a username, possibly to circumvent quick blocks... ugen64 18:59, Apr 23, 2004 (UTC)
  16. Support. We don't need to go through a major bureaucratic procedure for everything. If an admin makes a bad call, it's easily undone. If it is a very bad call, the admin should be told. Cecropia 20:51, 2 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  17. Yes. →Raul654 04:20, May 4, 2004 (UTC)
  18. Support for clear-cut cases Stewart Adcock 05:48, 5 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  19. Support (William M. Connolley 11:25, 2004 May 7 (UTC))
  20. Support. KIZU 00:56, 10 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  21. Support. Teria 04:45, 18 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  22. Support with extreme prejudice. This online encyclopedia shouldn't be a troll's paradise. Neutrality 00:45, 25 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  23. Support. (is this poll still open?) xaosflux Talk/CVU 18:01, 5 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose

  1. I oppose banning of inappropriate usernames without prior discussion. The user in question should be asked nicely to choose another name and given ample time to do so. Immediate, unexplained banning could scare off new users acting in good faith, who might otherwise have become valuable contributors. Mkweise 16:33, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  2. I oppose banning of inappropriate usernames without discussion. Start a page for offensive usernames so that the community can discuss the appropriateness and suggest action. Users from other countries and/or age groups may make mistakes about choosing names. A guideline for username choice should be plainly visible at sign up. --Pharotic 21:10, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  3. Too much power. Oppose. Philwelch 15:09, 12 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  4. Oppose. It is my understanding that the current policy allows admins to immediately ban users with profane, blasphemous or other clearly offensive names. My objection is to admins being given authority to ban users whose names are not offensive, but the admins nevertheless think might be 'disruptive' from their point of view. JRR Trollkien 17:22, 12 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  5. Oppose. The benefit of such a policy seems insignificant compared to the danger from over-zealous admins. Lupin 15:25, 13 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  6. Oppose. The username issue is typically not urgent enough to require immediate sysop action, except in the case of profanity. Actions speak louder than usernames anyway (e.g. mydogategodshat and the somewhat unfortunately named Titto Assini). -- Cyan 16:49, 14 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  7. Oppose. A user with a troubling username is often either 1) a troll, in which case their actions will soon lead to their banning for other causes, or 2) misguided as to what Wikipedia community standards are, in which case we should gently approach them to change their username. Immediate banning is not required. -- Seth Ilys 22:39, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  8. Oppose. Unless the username poses a clear and present danger (someone's credit card number, for example), the decision of the inappropriateness of a username should be determined by consensus. anthony (see warning) 22:50, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  9. Oppose. I agree with Seth above. Let us not take the notion of administrative privelege too seriously — one dictatorship is every bit as bad as another. Jeeves 05:28, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  10. Oppose - for all the points above. LUDRAMAN | T 21:48, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)
  11. Oppose. Yes, it'll be harder for a username to be blocked (and it'll probably take longer for it to happen too), but it's not worth risking censorship. Besides, I don't the problem has or will escalate to a level that the wikipedia would need to have such fast blocking of usernames. Personally, I have never seen a username on any website that seems to pose a risk warranting such swift action (the worst i've seen is swear words). -Frazzydee 20:07, 2 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  12. Oppose - If I understand the current policy, any username which is offensive to at least some Wikipedia users may be blocked if after a courteous request to change the name they do not do so. This give ample opportunity for a serious contributor to simply choose a name which is not offensive and move on. This can happen very quickly without a lot of analysis of their particular contributions. Fred Bauder 13:22, May 4, 2004 (UTC)
  13. Oppose, on the grounds that I personally don't find too many user names offensive. Other people might, and thus they have the right to criticize the choice of usernames. The choice of user name isn't really the most important issue related to encyclopedia-building. Rickyrab 22:17, 4 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  14. Oppose - this only increases Admin witchhunts. Let the community decide, and administrators administer their decisions. Troll Silent, Troll Deep 22:19, 4 May 2004 (UTC) Pandoras Box: Imagine this. User A, claims that User Bs name is offensive to them (that's enough, under the current proposal, to cause user A to have to change it). User B is forced to change it, but engages in a retaliatory name change campaign against user A. We don't want this. Genuinely offensive (profane, abusive, deceptive) names can be banned, but not normal names that someone finds anoying. Troll Silent, Troll Deep 22:24, 4 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  15. Oppose - I may disagree with your username, but... An offensive username doesn't have an impact over encyclopedia content. If a user has done nothing bad (vandalism, insults), he doesn't deserve his username changed/banned, especially without prior discussion.Paranoid 22:31, 16 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  16. Oppose. Mark Richards 00:07, 25 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
  17. Strongly oppose. --[[User:Eequor|ηυωρ]] 04:12, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Comments

So, let's see how much support there is for this. Martin 15:49, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Troll names

I think part of his problem is that I have given notice to him that I will block him because of his name. See User talk:Troll Silent, Troll Deep. Fred Bauder 14:03, May 6, 2004 (UTC)

While I don't support the banning of people with the word "troll" in their usernames, I am more or less neutral about denying the use of the username on grounds that it is offensive, should some person feel strongly about it. Frankly, though, I don't mind if trolls use the word "troll" in their username; I like the unambiguous signal that I don't have to take what they say seriously, as it is likely written primarily to annoy others (that's what trolling is, after all). -- Cyan 15:16, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
It is only the username which would be banned not the user. We might consider requiring some of these folks to have troll in their name. But the problem with that and with "not taking what they say seriously" is that we have a subclass of user, who have a right to respectful treatment but are sending a signal that their imput is to be deprecated. Fred Bauder 15:33, May 6, 2004 (UTC)
I'm not saying that others should deprecate the comments of self-labelled trolls, only that that's what I do. And I do try to treat self-labelled trolls respectfully in one-on-one interactions; I just take a realistic view of their desire to actually contribute to the facilitation of collaboration in the Wikipedia community. (In case there's any misunderstanding, my comment above should be construed as saying that I understand and am neutral towards your approach with respect to TSTD.) -- Cyan 15:46, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
When a troll labels themselves as such, people have a tendency to interpret what they do as trolling. This doesn't make trolling particularly more difficult for the troll. In fact it might even make it easier: it gives the opportunity for the troll to attack users who are biased against the name. The attack may seem justified by some other users, especially those who haven't been on the receiving end of the troll's previous edit wars and personal attacks. No doubt it also gives them a sense of superiority to see the community confused over their intentions, despite their explicit declaration. -- Tim Starling 02:54, May 7, 2004 (UTC)
Ban the username. Allow the user to create a new account under a legitimate, non-agressive name. The problem with allowing trolls to keep such agressive names is that owning such a name sparks them to their deeds. A troll wants a grand villain name to announce his deeds. Once he has it he tries to live up to it and give it a history. Remove the villainous name and put a damper on his enthusiasm for mischief. - Tεxτurε 04:28, 7 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]
Whoever heard of a super-villain called "Dr. Fairly Normal"? Good reasoning. Martin 20:58, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Y'all's obsession with trolls is unbelievable. --[[User:Eequor|ηυωρ]] 04:14, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Policy changes to forcing

ok, I'm making two changes to the current policy. I'm accepting the failure of the proposal to allow sysops to block extreme cases on sight to win over consensus. At the same time, this policy needs to reflect reality, and the current RfC page, and at the moment it doesn't. So:

  1. RfC subpage can also be user's talk page, where this is more convenient (simply provide a link to user's talk from RfC).
  2. Time delay isn't fixed at one week, but varies between one day and one month
  3. "general consensus" changed to "rough consensus", mirroring deletion policy.
  4. Where inappropriate or borderline inappropriate usernames are coupled with vandalism, the username may be blocked indefinately on sight.

Any objections, let me know. Martin 21:24, 27 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

I object to the policy to dicourage religious names

Real names and religious names overlap. E.g. Krisna in India and Jesus in Spain. What about Mohammed? I think the policy should be abolished. Andries 14:14, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)

agreed, well said24.70.95.203 15:17, 31 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Images in by-lines (copied from WP:VP 13:45, 22 Aug 2004 (UTC))

Lately, I have noticed some people putting images in their signatures (~~~~). I don't mind people putting ornamental Unicode characters in their sigs (but changing colours using <font> is borderline IMHO). However, using scaled-down images is just a waste of server resources. For some examples, scroll through WP:VFD. Right now, I see three different images: The EU flag, The Italian flag and a bulldog. Apart from using bandwidth, database and other server resources, the images attract unnecessary attention to the signatures that use them. — David Remahl 11:47, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)

And it's slightly annoying. I think font color and unicode is okay as long as it's text only (or I'd put an American flag, A russian flag, a Latvian flag, and my pic :D) [[User:Ilyanep|Ilyanep]] 13:13, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)
One can do tricolours without images. zoney | talk 14:33, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Another bonus is that the text can be kept the same size as page text, and will scale (should one scale the browser text, Ctrl -/= with Mozilla Firefox) zoney ███ talk 14:41, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Would you happen to know an easy way to show a cross design (as in the Scandinavian flags) like you do the Irish flag? (I know, I know, probably a dumb question, but I'm curious, and my HTML is rusty.) Cheers Io 15:59, 20 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I agree, image sigs are beyond the pale. And actually I'm not too keen on colours and flags either. Anything that makes one editor stand out more than another breaks the general egalitarianism of Wikipedia. Sysops aren't supposed to have more authority than a newbie, but a new editors might not realise that the opinion of a hyper-sigged editor carries no more weight than anyone else. -- Solipsist 22:55, 20 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Font coloring is OK with me. Fancy font usage is borderline, but not so bad. Images, if they are very tiny and tasteful, will not cause me to lose any sleep. These animated images are getting out of hand, though. They are distracting and annoying, almost as much so as blinking text. The Village Pump already takes a fair amount of time to load up; if half the conversation is signed by personalized animated GIFs, it makes the problem far worse. I hesitate to make anything like a policy against this (even though to me it's verging on being akin to inappropriate usernames), but in the interests of maintaining a non-hostile community we should encourage people to avoid doing stuff like this. Please, if you are using an animated image in your sig, take it out. -- Wapcaplet 18:01, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Another problem with image as signatures, is when they're used in place of the name. That reduces searchability. For example, I tried to find all Theresa Knott's comments on this page, but had to browse through it manually since the signature was an image. — David Remahl 21:01, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I'd welcome a good policy based on recommendations, for example to avoid sigs with only pictures, blinking things etc. I was inspired when I saw the first user putting in an image in his sig (User:Cow) and has since tried different things, to inspire other wikipedians to follow and test the usefulness. David raises a good point; a point against having all images in your signature. Eventually I hope there will be a simple command like the one I use ({{User:Sverdrup/sig}} to include your sig. This would have to be included endlessly, but I think it is better than pasting three lines of font color=blue tags into the wikitext, making it unreadable. [[User:Sverdrup|User:Sverdrup]] 21:11, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)
The solution (for the future) that you suggest could also facilitate a user preference to standardise or allow signature customisation. It would be a bit heavier on the servers (more database queries to get the sig template to include, etc, but perhaps it would be negligible.) — David Remahl 21:36, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I did post a SourceForge Feature request on it, I will get the tracker URL to anyone who wants it. — Ilγαηερ (Tαlκ) 15:25, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I tried using a template as my sig for a while (User:Ilyanep/sig) but since after 5 times on one page the template stops working, I gave up. — Ilγαηερ (Tαlκ) 15:25, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I only created my animated sig as a bit of fun, and am happy to remove it if it irritates people. Also i didn't think about searchability. We should have a policy though. It seems to me that a sensible policy might be no images whatsoever. This has the advantage of being easy to enforce unlike e.g. "tiny and tasteful" in which we would then have to get into just how tiny, or what is tasteful. The fact is, no one has to have an image as part of their sig. Theresa knott

Your animated sig didn't irritate me personally, but on pages such as VfD and VP it takes an hour to load on DSL. — Ilγαηερ (Tαlκ) 15:25, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Well I'm not abandoning it completely, I'm going to keep it for ocassional use on my user page and user talk page.Theresa Knott 17:21, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I have drafted a section discussing signatures on Wikipedia:Username#Signatures. Please edit it if you do not agree with it. Further discussion will take place on Wikipedia talk:Username. This discussion has been copied there. — David Remahl 13:45, 22 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I added the text:

Please try to keep signatures short, because long signatures usually tend to cloud up the page source, making it harder for other editors to find where your comment stopped and could cause other problems as well.

I'm sure there's something wrong with it, so all you grammar experts go at it :D. — Ilγαηερ (Tαlκ) 15:29, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Pseudonyms and copyrights

Copied from the project page:

Also if you use a pseudonym rather than a user name that identifies you with your real name U.S. copyright law grants you only a fixed period of copyright rather than one based upon when you die.

Is this a relevant issue on Wikipedia, given that we work under the GFDL? Or are there situations where this distinction would matter. Just wondering. Sewing 15:17, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Signatures

A couple (actually a triplet) of questions regarding signatures:

  • Q: Is the use of images allowed?
    • A: Generally discouraged.
  • Q: Can one use a Wikipedia:Template for the username? Wikipedia:Template namespace seems to suggest this is OK.
    • A: I think that templates only work for 5 instances on any one page. So it's probably not a good idea Theresa Knott (taketh no rest) 00:18, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)
      • Testing would prove you right… [[User:Anárion|Åℕάℛℹℴη]] 20:01, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)
    • A: No, you should not use the template namespace for your own signature. You have the user namespace for personal stuff like that. -- User:Angela
      • Let me clarify: I was thinking of adding {{User:Anárion/sig}} to my signature. [[User:Anárion|Åℕάℛℹℴη]] 20:01, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)
  • Q: Is the use of block-level markup allowed? For example putting one's signature in a <p> or <div> block.
    • Q: ?
      • A: . ,; ().
    • A: Yes.

Anárion 22:00, 10 Sep 2004 (UTC)

GNAA usernames

I propose that all usernames referencing the "GNAA" ("Gay Nigger Association of America") are offensive and against policy. -Fennec (はさばくのきつね) 03:52, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I agree. ugen64 05:04, Oct 1, 2004 (UTC)

Famous figure / celebrity usernames

Recently someone created User:Hilary Duff and claimed to be the real Hilary Duff. Snowspinner asked for verification. I think he suggested that, for example, she or someone else could send an email from any address at hilaryduff.com. The person who created the account declined. Much of what went on is unavailable now because the user account and its talk page were deleted at the creator's request, although you can see some discussion at User talk:Snowspinner and at the re-created User talk:Hilary Duff.

There's apparently no express policy about a username that echoes that of a living celebrity. (An obvious tribute name like User:Diderot is different.) As FirstPrinciples mentioned in the course of the Hilary Duff discussion, there's an active User:Jerryseinfeld, but he has no user page; I don't think he's ever claimed to be Jerry Seinfeld.

My opinion is that celebrity usernames needn't be a concern. Few readers would take at face value an assertion like that on someone's user page. I would be lax on the point only in the User and User_talk namespaces, though. (I edited the Hilary Duff article to remove a link to the user page, because the link asserted that it was in fact the celebrity's user page. I think the claim was very probably bogus.) FirstPrinciples disagreed, stating, "I do feel that impersonating a famous person is on par with impersonating a user."

Should the article on usernames address this point? And what about someone named Mel Gibson, who runs a gas station in North Dakota, and wants to establish an account under his real name? JamesMLane 20:38, 23 Nov 2004 (UTC)

My concern is not with celebrity usernames, but rahter with impersonations. I do not think that impersonating another person on Wikipedia can be allowed, due to both legal concerns and the general rule of thumb guiding all interactions on Wikipedia of "don't be a dick," and I think this falls under the realm of common sense. I have cited previously, Fred Bauder has banned for impersonating real people in the past. But, simply put, I think impersonating someone else constitutes non-good faith additions to Wikipedia. Snowspinner 22:19, Nov 23, 2004 (UTC)
My feelings basically echo Snowspinner's. In my opinion, celebrity usernames are fine, but actively setting up a user page claiming to be a famous celebrity isn't, unless you can show you are really that person. Maybe I'm out of line here, but let's face it: in a free-membership community like Wikipedia, the odds are pretty high that someone claiming to be a famous person is in fact an anonymous troll.
Impersonating a celebrity isn't quite the same thing as impersonating a user, but it is on par - it's in the same ballpark. And it opens up many legal and ethical issues. Indeed, past instances of impersonation have been treated very seriously by the arbitrators (for instance,here).
On the other hand, setting up a celebrity policy and "policing" it could be fraught with difficulties, including: A) What constitutes "celebrity"? B) How would one "confirm" celebrity status to everyone's satisfaction? and C) As the Hilary Duff incident has shown, any questioning of a user's identity can cause serious animosity and disrupt the smooth functioning of the community. -- FirstPrinciples 00:05, Nov 24, 2004 (UTC)
You're right about the potential for animosity. That might be reduced if there were a pre-existing written policy that could be cited. ("We're not singling you out as a possible liar -- this is how we handle all such names.") If we take the view that using the name is OK but the impersonation isn't, then the username policy could say something like this:
Celebrity names. Use of the name of a well-known real person as a username is permitted, provided that the user does not claim to be the celebrity. Any such claim, on the user page or elsewhere, can be removed unless verified.
We wouldn't need to set up a specialized celebrity police. Disagreements about the verification would presumably be handled just like those about any other challenged assertion on Wikipedia. JamesMLane 00:26, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Yes,having a username same as a celebrity is not bad (damn you Michael Bolton), saying you are that celebrity and not proving it, potentially bad. Dori | Talk 01:49, Nov 24, 2004 (UTC)
I think it would be a good idea in general to have an identity verification procedure, or a page about how one can verify identities. I can think of non-celebrity cases in which this could be relevent - if someone claimed to be a history professor at a given school and attempted to use that as the basis for an argument from authority, an identitity verification could be in order. I'll draw up one or two ways in which identity verification would be possible at Wikipedia:Identity verification so that we can have that in place and point to it in cases where it's going to be important. Snowspinner 02:49, Nov 24, 2004 (UTC)
I agree with Snowspinner and Dori. Andre (talk) 19:43, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)
The real issue here is, I think, already covered in Wikipedia policy. Unverified / unverifiable information should not be included in an article. As far as the issue of people making false claims, everyone on the internet has some degree of anonymity, and "assume good faith" does not mean "believe everything you are told". I feel that lying about one's identity is wrong (as opposed to merely not revealing it), but it is not Wikipedia's job to be the identity poliece. --L33tminion | (talk) 23:27, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)

I've taken a stab at re-wording the "famous figures" notation here. I think recent discussions, and the history of this Talk page shows that using names of famous figures is not inherently bad, but that it may become inappropriate based on the user's actions. -- Netoholic @ 19:15, 2005 Jan 7 (UTC)

It would be useful if there were some suggestions about alternative usernames that could be chosen if someone's desired username is already chosen. eg: I'm sure there will be more than one John Smith out there in cyberspace. If we are to encourage use of real names, then we must consider that two people may share that name famous or not. What happens once John A. Smith and John B. Smith are all used up? Do we then suggest John A. Smith of California? Some guidance for newbies please.

POV usernames

A recent edit says that people shouldn't select usernames "endorsing or opposing the politics, policies or beliefs of a public figure". I don't see any justification for including that in the username policy. The usernames don't appear in the articles. For those readers who do look at the page histories or the talk pages, it can't hurt to know that a particular edit was made by a user named BushIsMyHero or whatever. Beyond that, such a guideline would generate disputes aobut what it did or did not permit. Why should there be a ban relating specifically to "a public figure" but not to a religion, a country, a political party, etc.? Does that mean that User:BushIsMyHero would be unacceptable but User:Capitalistroadster and User:Radicalsubversiv can keep their names? (I mention two "opinionated" usernames that happen to occur to me offhand. I'm sure there are plenty of others.) Splitting hairs about usernames is generally an unproductive use of time. It should be reserved for names that pose serious problems for the project by being confusing ("Administrator") or offensive (insert sexual vulgarity of your choice). JamesMLane 12:08, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)


Banned words

Is there a concrete list of banned words? I saw a user User:IsWayneBradygonnahavetosmackabitch, and I don't know if that constitutes an invalid username. Certainly the name could be interpreted as mysogynistic, but it is a reference to a well-known Chappelle show joke. --DropDeadGorgias (talk) 20:07, July 26, 2005 (UTC)

Group accounts

I know there is a prohibition on "public accounts", but I don't see anything specific on more limited "group accounts." I assume that accounts are supposed to be used by only one editor. Has this been settled in any way? Thanks, -Willmcw 17:36, August 29, 2005 (UTC)

Deleting comments on talk pages by people with blocked usernames?

I was about to revert this edit, which removed a comment by User:GeorgeWBush, who was blocked for having an innapropriate username.

Is it official policy to remove such comments? --pile0nadestalk | contribs 01:35, 4 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

On Unicode and other odd characters in usernames

۞ (talk · contribs) and ░ (talk · contribs) recently came to my attention, and I brought them up at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/User names. These are problematic for several reasons:

  1. These characters won't render correctly (if at all) in many browsers.
  2. They are generally confusing, even if they do render.
  3. It is impossible to type such a name without doing a bit of copy-pasting.
  4. Searching for a username would prove difficult.
  5. How would one refer to ░ in a talk page discussion? Mr. Shady Character?

Since this is the English Wikipedia, usernames ought to be constructed using English characters, with allowances for scripts from other languages (é, û, ß, ñ, Đ, etc.) I propose that usernames not typable from a standard English keyboard (or, alternately, from a standard English keyboard plus the little box below the edit box that has all the special characters in it) be disallowed unless there is a good reason for using the special characters, such as:

  1. The special character is part of a foreign-language word or name (e.g. Peña)
  2. Special characters are kept to a minimum in an otherwise-normal username (e.g. Ûbereditor)

Of course, this policy would not apply to signatures. Put as many funky characters in those as you want (and indeed, I have in the past). Comments? android79 16:03, 16 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Here's another one: ¹ (talk · contribs). This odd-character-username idea seems to be popular with vandals. android79 21:47, 16 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Haven't you thought about restricting logins to alphanumeric characters & certain length. There's a relative simple way of calculating how many combinations one can achieve a subset of ASCII character set. My 2c. --Vlad 19:06, 28 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
One possibility might be to require that for each username there is a language that uses all the characters in the username other than numbers and punctuation. So Πρτ would be accepted but not Μαçôn. This would forbid the use of bizarre Unicode characters and would also make it a bit harder to make new usernames that look like existing ones.Dfeuer 16:21, 8 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
After I wrote this I realized it would be too restrictive. Dfeuer 17:49, 8 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What about websites used as usernames?

Hello!

I might have missed, but in the list of unappropriate names I do not see websites as usernames. Should this considered spam, when for instance, the site is one of "free online announcements"? Then this username should be changed, right?

Thanks! --Vlad 17:32, 28 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Overzealous blocking of Willy-like usernames

Please take a look at WP:AN#User:Kswheels. I'm not sure the "resembling infamous usernames" section should be here at all, as it implicitly gives license to admins to randomly ban any account containing "Willy", "wheels", or "WOW", which some are doing. ~~ N (t/c) 18:16, 1 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Names of the famous

User:Schneier has chosen as their username the name of the well-known cryptographer Bruce Schneier, and gone on to edit articles about cryptography. To me this is highly misleading and may lend their edits a false authority. I asked about it on their talk page but received no response. Is this against policy? If not, should it be? — ciphergoth 16:56, 10 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

blocking usernames used for impersonation

I think that the policy should be changed so that people whose usernames resemble that of someone else should not be blocked, unless the user actually claims to be the other user. Suppose that we have a user named "Fred". Another person tries to register as "Fred", but the name is already taken, so he chooses "The Real Fred" instead. An administrator blocks "The Real Fred" before he has the chance to make any edits. This is why I propose this change.

However, people with offensive usernames should still be blocked. After all, people with offensive usernames are usually up to no good anyways. --Ixfd64 20:33, 15 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Be very careful on this issue

Wiki already has enough rules. Constantly making more, perhaps just to satisfy a small group of members, will rapidly take the fun out of the site. We don't need potential new editors passing the site by because they are afraid of something as simple as choosing the wrong username.

Obvious offensive ones, that is usernames that would offend almost everyone, should be taboo...that's just common sense, But when you start banning names simply because they fit some characteristic that someone has invented is getting VERY close to "over the line". I'm sure that someone here can find something offensive in every single name here.

Some say "GeorgeWBush" shouldn't be used. What are you gonna do when a REAL GeorgeWBush shows up?? Tell him he can't use his own name?? What's so different between his & yours?? Somebody out there shares your name also.

When "Jesus" decides to be an editor, are you going to tell him his name isn't allowed?? What about "Mary", "Joseph", "Mark", "Gabriel", & "Muhammed"? When you get done with the "names" catagory and get all those banned, which catagory will you start on then??

My username implies that I will fight a war for the highest bidder. I will not, but I'm sure that's offensive to SOMEONE out there. Guess what it is...an 11 letter username, that is all. Seems to me like it's getting just a little carried away. Just my 2 cents. MercForHire 06:44, 7 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

  • I completely agree. Recently, I've been patrolling the block list for accounts that have been unfairly blocked. You may have seen me unblocking a bunch of users lately. --Ixfd64 22:34, 8 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Wording Issue

  • Also, beware that the letter capital i and lowercase L look exactly the same (I/l) on certain fonts, as do numeric "1" (1/I/l) and numeric zero ("0/O/o"). This should be taken into account, and creative use of one in place of the other (I where L whould be normal and vice version) is discouraged, given its past misuse.

This seems a little ill-worded to me, although I'm not sure how it would best be fixed, save to say that it should explain that it's number one (1), capital i (I) and lowercase L (l) that are confused, as are numberic zero (0) and capital o (O). ConMan 13:59, 10 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

At the moment, usernames that use odd characters in potentially confusing ways are blocked by bots run by certain admins. I think it would be far better to come up with a coherent, detailed policy open to public comment than to allow admins to set their own personal policies for their bots that may or may not meet everyone's needs. I would suggest that at a minimum, usernames should only be allowed to use characters from a single language. Dfeuer 17:18, 8 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

newbie username question

when i fell in love with wikipedia, i made a few minor edits w/o an account. then i created one, but my legal name and common username alyosha was unavailable, so i went to ALYOSHA and made a few edits under that. then that started to feel like shouting, so im looking at settling on "alyosha". is that ok? are either of these too similar to alyosha? -- im not trying to impersonate. but alyosha will show up Alyosha, right? and are "s ok? thx for any help. "alyosha" 03:08, 15 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]


Allowing administrators to hide blocked and banned offensive usernames from the public

As usernames cannot be deleted, may I propose allowing administrators to hide blocked and banned offensive usernames from the public? I am proposing this while I have seen too many offensive and insulting usernames at Chinese Wikipedia and Chinese Wiktionary where I am an administrator. Many of them make personal attacks, especially to Zhou Ji, the education minister of the People's Republic of China. In Chinese language, calling someone a pig like these usernames is very offensive and this kind of publicly insulting someone may even constitute a criminal offence in certain countries and areas.

As administrators may delete copyright violations from the public view, I would like to propose allowing administrators to hide indefinitely blocked and banned offensive usernames from the public.--Jusjih 06:00, 23 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Without commenting on the wisdom of this remedy, let me mention a similar problem. We've had some people attempt to harass other users by using their phone numbers as usernames. All we could do in these instances was block the account, then tediously remove that username's edits from the history. Some solution would be beneficial, recognizing that these problsms occur only rarely. -Will Beback 20:43, 23 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Blocked accounts remain visible at Special:Listusers, right? My point is whether we should eventually allow administrators to hide blocked and banned offensive usernames from the public view, which is currently not possible.--Jusjih 04:47, 2 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is username changing broken or not?

There was a line about username changing being disabled, hence the policy on it being moot, so I've made that more clear. But WP:CHU doesn't seem to say that at all? Is it possible to rename users with problematic names? Stevage 11:14, 5 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No, username changing is not broken. It can be done by bureaucrats, and that has been the case for a few months now. It is definitely possible to rename any user with less than 20000 edits. However, I suspect that section was written a long time ago, because it had a link to wikipedia:Wikipedia-L, which became a redirect on 20 November 2002! I've removed references to username changing being broken, and have bypassed the very old redirect. Graham talk 07:20, 26 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Delete this policy?

How despicable! I never knew something this toxic existed on WP until I accidentally ran into the controversy surrounding JebusChrist. This is contrary to freedom of speech. Just like content should not be removed from articles just because they may offend certain people, usernames should not be deleted because they offend certain people. Stop this unhealthy policy that's scaring away potentially valued contributors. I appeal to the best judgments of the people! Loom91 15:35, 19 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You're right. Let me rush off and register Joe_is_a_motherfucking_cunt right away. All for free speech, of course. // Pathoschild (admin / talk) 18:31, 19 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If you want to make a fool of yourself, I see no reason for others to complain. And that's the whole point of freedom of expression. Everyone can stick to high ideals in favorable conditions, the true test is sticking to it in adverse conditions. Everyone can practice non-violence among friends, but only the great people can practice it among enemies. If we promoe freedom of expression when people are saying things favored by me, and then start banning them when they are speaking against me, I'm just being a hypocrite. This policy should be declared invalid because it violates the more fundamental WP policy of WP:NPOV. Censorship is POV. I'm filing an apeal with Jimbo about this. Loom91 05:04, 20 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There is no policy of freedom of expression on Wikipedia. Any such freedom is de facto only. // Pathoschild (admin / talk) 10:32, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Sadly true. In fact, WP only has policies against freedom of expression, as demonstrated by this page. That is what I proposed to change in the original post. Loom91 11:43, 20 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia is neither an experiment in democracy nor a vast parody of MySpace. The single driving goal of every Wikipedian should be the development of an encyclopedia; freedom of expression is completely irrelevant to that goal. In many cases, it becomes harmful to that goal by sidelining the encyclopedia. // Pathoschild (admin / talk) 18:06, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Hear, Hear, Loom, excatly what I feel. Just look down in my post, 'Wikimedia in general'. I feel excactly how u feel. Interesting view, on the freedom of expression. Definately, the policy of the usernames has scared me from joining; if I'm allowed to delete my account, I'd love to join. Well put Loom! Your a writer of intelect, one I look up to! Excatly [bout the hypocracy].24.70.95.203 14:41, 31 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"Impersonating Churchill"?

This page seems to suggest that having "Winston Churchill" as a username would somehow be impersonation. Sadly, Mr Churchill is dead, and is therefore not in a position to be editing Wikipedia (or is he...editing from beyoind the grave!!!) --David.Mestel 07:14, 20 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Whether or not most users will believe that the user is their namesake isn't particularly relevant. It is impersonation in that they are intentionally taking that person's name and will be associated with that person on Wikipedia. // Pathoschild (admin / talk) 20:47, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
OK, so we don't have to worry about a User:Napoleon Bonaparte being active I guess, though we did have a User:Bonaparte and a User:NapoleonBonaparte. Alexander 007 06:48, 10 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikimedia in general

Deleting accounts

Looks like you guys have a problem with vandals. Well delete thier accounts. Yea, you don't have to delete thier M.O. pages because we could use them for future reference. [I might feel different about this later in my life, but this will suffice for now.]

Wikimedia is an elitist community. I'd like to vote, but I want the security of being able to delete my account. Is this fair representation?? Also, deleting accounts saves server resources. 24.70.95.203 14:55, 31 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

See the community discussion page for feature requests. // Pathoschild (admin / talk) 21:13, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

Usernames

Wikimedia is also hypocritical. Wikimedia is for all languages, so then why are usernames only allowed in the Latin alphabet. Yes, you say its so it'd be easier for wikipedians to refer to the username, but obviously not all wikipedians know the Latin alphabet. What offends me the most is how Wikimedia is so inculsive in its projects, but its government isn't that at all.


Sorry I had a shitload more to say, but can't remeber now.. Also, I hit the back button...24.70.95.203 14:55, 31 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This is the English Wikipedia; it follows that usernames should be at least legible, if not understandable, to English users. I've reverted your removal of content from the page. // Pathoschild (admin / talk) 21:11, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

User:Slim Shady

Is User:Slim Shady an inappropriate user name, since Slim Shady is synonymous with Eminem? The User:Slim Shady account is not blocked. Alexander 007 06:46, 10 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Names of countries, or of large or disputed regions

I think we should consider not allowing users to have user names such as User:Bulgaria, User:Romania, User:Serbia, User:Macedonia, User:Mexico, etc.---here is my reasoning: imagine if a User:Bulgaria logs in, and turns out to be a horrible troll, but like many trolls in Wikipedia, he goes on editing for years; or a User:Serbia logs in and happens to be an eccentric homosexual who often engages in personal attacks and blasphemy against all Orthodox Christianity, etc. This is like a User:Winston Churchill logging in and being a troll, which would not be tolerated, and I don't think we should tolerate a User:Serbia of that nature either.

You'll notice that there is already a User:Macedonia, who, while not a troll, is a nationalist editor (though not always engaging in nationalistic editing) who is almost always in an edit dispute with someone. Alexander 007 07:24, 10 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

More examples to illustrate the problem: it would be quite a catastrophe if User:Bonaparte had instead logged in as User:Romania and went on an edit rampage and sockpuppetting spree as he did under User:Bonaparte; or imagine how numerous editors would feel if User:Miskin had chosen the user name User:Greece---I know numerous editors who would groan over that :-) These kind of user names don't seem appropriate. Alexander 007 07:42, 10 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, just today, obviously in response to this post above, User:Romania was created. His first edit was to Romania. I have subsequently blocked this editor. I feel that using the English name of a country is inappropriate, and politically devisive. From User talk:Romania:

"I'm sorry, your username could be politically divisive. It could be interpreted as you claiming to be editing on behalf of the country of Romania, and that would cause issues. From the policy, "Wikipedia is a world-wide source book, so take care to avoid anything that might cause offence to someone from a different culture, religion, or ethnic group." This name falls under that category. Please choose a new one, multumesc. pschemp | talk 20:59, 12 April 2006 (UTC)"[reply]

If for some reason, an editor with the name of an Islamic country started making edits to Jewish articles, I'm sure that that would be seen as offensive, and even if the edits were not offensive, the username would be inflamatory and make it difficult to AGF. Since the policy already states: "No inflammatory usernames: Wikipedia does not allow potentially inflammatory or offensive user names. Inflammatory usernames are needlessly discouraging to other contributors, and disrupt and distract from our task of creating an encyclopedia. This includes, but is not limited to: (etc...)", I don't think we need to rewrite policy, but I beleive that country usernames, certainly in English should be blocked as inappropriate. pschemp | talk 21:52, 12 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I encourage giving fair warning first; letting them voluntarily choose to make a change, rather than just being outright blocked, as that may cause them to leave, and we don't want to lose good editors over something we could have done without a block. I'd suggest a templated message that says something on the line of "Please request a change within 48/72 hours/a week/etc. or we will be forced to block your account." Also, a dedicated editor who was willing could solve a lot of these problems by taking the time to go down a list of countries (I'm sure we have one somewhere) and create all the usernames; just be sure to tag them with {{Doppelganger}} first. Essjay Talk • Contact 22:02, 12 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
In the case of User:Macedonia, he should be warned/notified. His username is not appropriate, and it is sparking tension constantly. It seems so un-Wiki-like. These kind of usernames create the atmosphere of an ethnic and nationalistic battleground. We are writing an encyclopedia, this is not a nationalist Usenet :-) Alexander 007 22:22, 12 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
If there is consensus that the username is inappropriate, I will warn User:Macedonia myself. But I would like affirmation that I have consensus behind me, rather than making an empty threat. How should we proceed? Alexander 007 22:57, 12 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, as a neutral party I'll do that, you don't need to.pschemp | talk 04:24, 13 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I found my way here from a polite note pschemp left on my talk page. Let me start by saying that I'm not Slovak, I have no political agenda, I have not (as far as I can remember) edited any article relating to Slovakia, and I'm not particularly attached to this username and will happily change it if a consensus considers it inflammatory. However, having noticed that you've also blocked the username Jordan, owned by a Bulgarian editor whose first name is actually Jordan (if there's a back-story I'm not aware of here, please correct me), I'm somewhat disinclined to pander to what seems like a bad case of trigger-happy admin.

I understand that a username can be an aggravating factor in disputes and trolling, even if the name is not offensive in itself - but there's no need to take issue with usernames just because there's a possible hypothetical scenario where they could be misused or misunderstood. Devote your efforts to resolving actual disputes please, not imagined potential ones. Slovakia 19:17, 13 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, this is not a case of trigger happiness, but fair application of the rules to everyone. Its a better safe than sorry issue, meant to prevent abuse. pschemp | talk 19:23, 13 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Inappropriate real names?

I don't think we should continue to include the section which discourage people from using their real names in certain cases (viz. Willy, Jonny, Cunio, etc.) without qualifications. Real names are a good thing. I'd like to add some wording to indicate that names like this might be problematic, but, if this really your real name, you should contact and admin and we'll figure out a work-around. Comments? - Nat Krause(Talk!) 23:37, 12 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Real names are a bad thing when mad vandal stalkers start sending you death threats. Just a thought. pschemp | talk 04:13, 13 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
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