WushuWiki
Advertisement

While you have broad freedom to pick any username you'd like, this wiki does have a few policies about usernames that you are obliged to observe. Because you effectively login to the whole of Wikia when you log in here, both Wikia and WushuWiki may offer limits upon your user name. This document concentrates only on the WushuWiki's policies. Additional limitations may be placed on you by the broader Wikia Terms of Use.

What are usernames used for?

Your username is attached to all your edits when you're logged in to this wiki and throughout all of wikia.com. This is partly for accountability reasons, but it's also helpful from a copyright perspective; if someone wants to use your contributions in a way not allowed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA) they can ask on your message wall. This also encourages people to give the appropriate credit to authors and your username is used to give that credit.

Guidance for new users

Your username is a nickname that will identify your account and thereby all of your contributions to the WushuWiki. It can be your real name, if you so choose, but you should be aware of the risks involved in editing under your real name. WushuWiki usernames are case sensitive, but the first letter is always automatically capitalized. By default, your username appears in your signature on posts to talk pages, message walls, and community forum.

Bear in mind that, once chosen, a username cannot be easily changed. If you choose "Dr. Franz Schröder", then your doctorate will be evident on history pages and, unless you change your signature, on all posts to talk pages. If you prefer to be less formal, leave off the title. However, you should read the section on using your real name as your username.

You specify your username when creating an account, and subsequently use it (together with your secret password) to log in to that account. Once you have an account, you may create a user page, titled "User:XXXX" (where "XXXX" is your username), to provide relevant information about yourself to other editors. You or any other editor may also create a user talk page, titled "User talk:XXXX", that people can use to contact you.

The software will not allow you to register with a username that is already in use, or one that appears too similar to one that is already in use. In the latter case, however, you may still request permission to use that name (see Similar usernames below).

Your username can be virtually any string of characters (subject to a few technical limitations). However, it should be a name which other users will be 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. This page describes certain types of usernames that are specifically disallowed, primarily because they can be considered offensive, misleading, or promotional, or imply that the account does not belong to an individual.

Inappropriate usernames

This section lists the types of usernames that are considered inappropriate.

These lists are not necessarily exhaustive. Use common sense in applying these rules (for example, a word that may seem offensive in one context may have another, more benign meaning in another context). For guidance on how to deal with inappropriate names if encountered, see Dealing with inappropriate usernames below.

Misleading usernames

The following types of username are not permitted because they may be misleading in a way that disrupts the project:

  • Usernames that impersonate other people (see Real usernames and Similar usernames below).
  • Usernames that give the impression that the account has ermissions which it does not have, for example by containing the terms "administrator", "bureaucrat", or similar terms like "admin", "sysop" or "moderator".
  • Usernames which could be easily misunderstood to refer to a "bot" (which is used to identify bot accounts) or a "script" (which alludes to automated editing processes), unless the account is of that type.
  • Usernames which resemble IP addresses (as these are expected to designate non-logged-in users), timestamps or other names which would be confusing within the signature format.

Disruptive or offensive usernames

The following types of usernames are not permitted because they are offensive or disruptive:

  • Usernames that are likely to offend other contributors, making harmonious editing difficult or impossible, for example by containing profanities.
  • Usernames that contain or imply personal attacks.
  • Usernames that seem intended to provoke emotional reaction ("trolling").
  • Usernames that otherwise show a clear intent to disrupt WushuWiki.

Note that 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.

Dealing with inappropriate usernames

If you notice someone whose username is inappropriate, please ask them on their message wall to change their username. If they don't seem to respond, contact an admin, and if it appears that their name is inappropriate, they will be blocked indefinitely.

If a username was obviously chosen in bad faith, or if a username is so problematic that it should never appear in article histories (e.g. a very offensive username), then admins may block it on sight.

Other particular types of username

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 the WushuWiki. 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 WushuWiki's 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.

Usernames with non-Latin characters

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 WushuWiki, 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 cannot be registered normally—but if you do want to use one, you may request its creation at Wikipedia:Request an account. Usernames that are 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 request should be approved. 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.

Using multiple accounts

It is recommended that contributors not use multiple accounts without good reason. For example, a user may wish to create an alternate account—such as if you have a bot. 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.

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.

Changing your username

Usernames can be changed by Wikia staff. For details on how to change your username, see Help:Changing your username.

See also

Advertisement