Wikipedia talk:Username policy

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[edit] Archiving

Boring procedural note- I see that this page is now very long. Do others agree that having a Bot work on archiving it would be a good idea? Perhaps all threads older than 7 days to be archived? WjBscribe 04:06, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

A week is good. I see too many places that use 24 hours, which is too short. And 'automatic' is good... Shenme 04:21, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Yes, autoarchiving is good, and a week is a good time limit. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 14:33, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
7 days sounds good. Clear out the cobwebs. HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 14:35, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
I'll add a template then... WjBscribe 02:09, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] User names with exclamation mark character

I've brought this up for discussion, as it's something I found out about today when welcoming a user. I discovered Matt 3!!! XL (talk • contribs • page moves • block user • block log) when RC-patrolling today, and this user's name broke the {{welcomeg}} template when I left a note on his talk page.

It doesn't seem to break the {{userlinks}} template: Matt 3!!! XL (talk · contribs · logs · block user · block log) but it breaks the welcomeg template.

Anyone else here think that the exclamation mark character should be disallowed in usernames, like the @ symbol is?? --sunstar nettalk 13:08, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

  • I had to urlencode the username here, as below:

Matt+3%21%21%21+XL (talk · contribs · logs · block user · block log) --sunstar nettalk 13:10, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Personally think that most special characters should not be allowed. If they want to have a bunch of !!!!'s in their signature then go ahead. I think it's destracting to have a bunch of ?<>!@#$%^&*()-+ in someone's username. CascadiaTALK|HISTORY 13:33, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
  • Good point. However, I'm confused about one thing. The @ symbol isn't allowed in usernames, yet Stewards have to use it in the form "User:Wikieditor1@enwiki when setting user rights. Confusing, or what?? --sunstar nettalk 13:37, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
It appears the @ symbol is used as part of backend syntax... CascadiaTALK|HISTORY 13:49, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
See #Proposed_amendment for more discussion on related matters. The @ sign was disabled to stop e-mail addresses in usernames, not for technical reasons(as far as I know). HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 14:24, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "expert"

What about usernames like "Anytopic expert"? I didn't find an appropriate section in the policy, but I tend to believe that such usernames are likely to offend other users who may feel like experts on the topic themselves, and to bite newbies who may be discouraged by such an immediate display of over-confidence. After all, how are you going to convince someone who has the expert written in his username? —KNcyu38 (talk • contribs) 02:08, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

It is inappropriate to give an "expert" any sort of special treatment on Wikipedia, WP:V applies just as much to Stephen Hawking as me. I see no reason to prohibit such names. As for other experts getting offended at a person claiming to be an expert, well, I don't think we can always spare the feelings of the most sensitive. Has there been any problems with this type of name already? HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 13:39, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Impersonation of organisation

Hi, User:Hillsong church is entering various negative POV items on Hillsong related pages, and is clearly not representing the church. They also entered defamatory information on the Bobbie Houston page, which I have warned the user about. I was going to add the {{UsernameConcern}} tag to his page but I'm not actually sure which part of the policy covers this, if any. I am assuming it would be considered inappropriate for anyone to sign themselves up with a username apparently representing any organisation or person (trademarked or otherwise) and then carry out actions like this. Any guidance appreciated - thanks! Halsteadk 12:10, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Usernames that promote a company: Usernames of or closely resembling the names of companies and groups are discouraged and may be blocked as a violation of Wikipedia policy against spamming and advertisement. MaxSem 12:17, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Obfuscated e-mail addresses disallowed?

Are obfuscated e-mail addresses like "NobodyAtExampleDotCom" disallowed also? The policy is unclear on this: it just states that usernames containing '@' are rejected by the MediaWiki software, apparently due to spam concerns. If this is the case, can we amend the policy to also say "Usernames that are not literal e-mail addresses but clearly convey one (such as "NobodyAtExampleDotCom") are also disallowed."? I bring this up because I noticed such a name get blocked. -SpuriousQ (talk) 15:31, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

  • Usernames which imply a domain are disallowed so I don't really think there's a needto change policy on this one Ryanpostlethwaite contribs/talk 15:33, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
    • Yeah, I did consider that it was covered by the domain clause... but still thought it was a bit unclear. Maybe it would be better if the "E-mail addresses" section were indented to be under the "Domains" section, to clarify that it's just a special case? -SpuriousQ (talk) 15:40, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
      • A major reason why the @ sign was blocked was actually because it causes problems with templates as well. I still think that it's clear enough already, but others may differ. I would maybe support chaning wording to Usernames which imply a domain, web address or email adress Ryanpostlethwaite contribs/talk 15:44, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
        • Now that I think of it, there's an inconsistency in that e-mail addresses that predate the MediaWiki '@' ban are allowed, but these do of course contain domain names. So it appears the cases are not identical. -SpuriousQ (talk) 15:54, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
  • Another such name was not blocked. It would be good to have more clear policy here. -SpuriousQ (talk) 14:33, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
  • E-mails are not allowed unless they predate the rule(sept 26 2006), no matter how you obfuscate them. The rule against domains also did not exist when the e-mail rule came about so I would say that the domain issue does not apply to e-mail username predating the rule. HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 14:40, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Potentially inflammatory

I removed "potentially" in front of inflammatory in the "No inflammatory usernames." A username that people think has the "potential" to be inflammatory or offensive, but which no one actually claims it is inflammatory or offensive should not be disallowed. Someone, somewhere, can be inflamed by just about anything. Mangojuicetalk 17:14, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

I have put it back in, it is good that you were bold, but I have reverted in the spirit of Wikipedia:BOLD, revert, discuss cycle.
I think that it is a very important word to have. Keep in mind we hold usernames to a higher standard than regular speech. The fact is that usernames should not be decided based on how a particular editor feels about the name, but the potential to offend other editors. Otherwise WP:RFCN becomes WP:ILIKEIT, WP:IDONTLIKEIT. We are making decisions based on how the Wikipedia public will react, so the term "potential" is very important. HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 17:44, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
I agree with HighInBC. Besides, if, for example, something was obviously highly offensive to Scientologists or some other significant but not highly prevalent religious group, why should we wait until one happens to come along and gets offended before doing anything about it? It doesn't mean we have to be extremely conservative or unreasonably obtuse about what is actually likely to offend people, but we should be allowed to react before something actually offends someone.--Dycedarg ж 17:51, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
Won't someone think of the scientologists! HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 17:59, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
Seriously though, there was a recent discussion about just this here is a link. HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 18:07, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
Obviously, we must consider how editors in general will react. That's not the point. I think we can all agree that we judge usernames on their potential to inflame or upset or offend, because we can't just let it offend people in order to decide. Here's my point. I see four levels of usernames: (1) obviously inflammatory, (2) inflammatory, but not obviously so, (3) not inflammatory, but theoretically could be, and (4) obviously not inflammatory. We should, in fact, disallow usernames of level 1 and 2, and should not disallow ones of levels 3 and 4. The current wording can imply to some people that those level 3 names should be disallowed, because with enough imagination, they can be considered "potentially inflammatory." If we remove the word "potentially" from the policy, I cannot really believe that usernames that are actually inflammatory but in a non-obvious way will suddenly become allowed, so levels 1 and 2 will be disallowed, and levels 3 and 4 will be okay. Put another way: this page isn't about the process, or about how we decide which names are okay. Rather, it's about what kinds of names are okay, and I say it's the "inflammatory or offensive" ones, and not the ones merely with potential, that are not okay. Mangojuicetalk 18:32, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
I am confused, first your say "I think we can all agree that we judge usernames on their potential to inflame or upset or offend", then you go on to say that the word "potentially" should be removed. This level 3 your speak of, where a name is "not inflammatory, but theoretically could be" will exist no matter where we set the bar. Do you have a specific wording in mind, because simply removing the word potentially will not result in what you are proposing. HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 01:57, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
Level 3 may always exist, but right now the rule tends to somewhat endorse the idea that level 3 usernames are not okay, but they really are okay. I know that changing the rule won't prevent people from going too far in imagining potential for offense when none really exists. However, right now the rule supports that kind of speculation by the use of the word "potentially", and it would be better not to. Especially, it would be better not to because the word is just plainly unnecessary in the rule. Let me put this another way: including "potentially" makes the wording slightly more accurate, but it does so at the cost of implying that the spirit of the rule is more exclusive of problematic usernames than I think we really mean. When it comes down to it, the spirit of the rule is more important than the need to be accurate by mentioning the issue of potential offense. If this doesn't convince you that my wording is the best choice, I will try to craft an alternative that both embraces the proper spirit and keeps the accuracy of the word "potentially" in place...but I'm afraid it will end up being clunky and inelegant. Mangojuicetalk 03:43, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
Some times level 3 is okay, other times it is not, consensus decides. I frankly don't think we are too biased in the direction you think we are. If anything we are letting one's through that should be disallowed. Which usernames do you think have been blocked inappropriately because of the word "potentially"? HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 17:03, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
I think most such names are not disallowed after a discussion... but damage is done by them even being discussed, in light of WP:BITE. See User:Ghanarhea for instance, someone ended up giving that user a barnstar of resilience for just putting up with the discussion, over a username that was, at best, theoretically offensive to someone. Mangojuicetalk 17:42, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
Discussion is a good thing, it is how we solve problems. I don't see anything bitey in discussing a name then allowing it. HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 17:47, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notibility vs. fame

Should the policy about names of notabile people read "Well-known" or notabile since policy dictates not to equate the two? Also does this apply to fictional characters? BuickCenturyDriver (Honk, contribs, odometer) 17:47, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

We are not deciding if we should build an article for them, but if we should let people use their names. We should have different, lower, standards of fame for simply protecting someone's name. WP:N which you refer to is about a persons worthiness of encyclopedic mention, which is unrelated to usernames. HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 17:49, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
Another question comes as what consitutes proof that User:John Doe or John Doe? BuickCenturyDriver (Honk, contribs, odometer) 17:55, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
Usually we e-mail the person using an official contact number from a pre-existing official website. So if it was an actor we would confirm it through their agent or official e-mail address. HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 18:01, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
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