Help:Username

When you create a new account, so you can log in, one of the things you'll have to do is pick a username. This page gives some advice on this.

What are usernames used for?

Your user name will be attached to all your edits, while you're logged in. This is partly for reasons of accountability. It is also helpful from a copyright perspective: if someone wants to use your contributions in a way not allowed under the copyright, they can ask you on your talk page, for example. Also, the GFDL encourages giving appropriate credit to authors, and your username is used to give that credit.

We recommend against using multiple usernames, unless you have a very good reason.

Choosing a username

The best username is typically either your real name, or a longstanding Internet pen name. Please pick a username that you're comfortable writing under, but it also means picking a name that others are comfortable seeing and collaborating with. Remember that a controversial name may colour other users' perspective on you. In addition remember that PGVWiki is a world-wide book so take care in selecting a name to avoid anything that might potentially cause offence to someone from a different culture, religious or ethnic group.

PGVWiki recommends that users avoid

1. names of politicians, military or religious figures or events;
2. any other names that may be seen as potentially offensive, or endorsing or opposing the politics, policies or beliefs of a public figure.

People should be able to judge you purely on your contributions, not an emotional response to a potentially controversial nickname. Avoiding such names is in your own interest. So do please be careful. Remember you are working as part of a community. Show everyone else the respect for their beliefs that you expect them to show to you.

Username capitalization

PGVWiki usernames are case sensitive and, for consistency, the first letter of all usernames will be capitalized when you create an account. This means that if you request the username "your name", the account created will instead be: "Your name".

If your username will consist of more than one name, and you'd like your signature to be internally consistent, you might prefer to capitalize each one when you create the account. This conforms to the widely accepted rules of capitalization: usernames are, after all, proper nouns. Examples would be "Your Name", "Your Middle Name", and "Your M Name".

Inappropriate usernames

Fairly or unfairly, the line between acceptable and unacceptable user names is drawn by those who find the username inappropriate, not by the creator of the name.

Signatures

Through the Preferences, one can choose a nickname used in signatures, independent of the actual user name (connected to a User: page). In general, the same rules apply for signatures as for usernames. A signature should not be misleading.

Changing inappropriate usernames

If enough people complain about your user name the administrators will change it. Neither complaints, nor name changes should be arbitrary, but user names that are offensive to a significant number of people will be changed, not without notice, but without appeal. Where inappropriate or borderline inappropriate usernames are coupled with vandalism, the username may be blocked indefinitely on sight: again. Usernames that are designed to impersonate legitimate users may be blocked immediately. The IP address of these users should be left autoblocked.