Star Trek Expanded Universe:Usernames

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's also helpful from a copyright perspective: if someone wants to use your contributions in their Star Trek Universe, they can ask you on your talk page, for example. Also this encourages giving appropriate credit to authors, and your username is used to give that credit.

Dealing with problem usernames
If you notice someone whose username is inappropriate, please ask them on their talk page 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. Admins should not block usernames that may have been chosen in good faith. We do not want to scare off good contributors.

Choosing a username
The best username is typically your real name, a longstanding Internet pen name, or a new name that you use only for STEU, depending on how much of your anonymity you want to preserve while editing.

Please pick a username that helps us to write an encyclopedia. That means picking a name 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 color other users' perspective on your own credibility or political viewpoint. In addition, 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.

STEU recommends that users avoid
 * 1) names of politicians, military or religious figures, movements, 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 based purely on your contributions, rather than on 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 yours.

Real names versus pseudonyms
Historically, many wikis have encouraged users to use their real name as their user name, e.g., UseRealNames, in their belief that a user will offer constructive contributions to the project if they are more likely to be accountable for their actions. Most STEU users choose to use pseudonyms, although many disclose their real names on their user pages.

STEU editors, especially administrators, have occasionally been subject to harassment outside of Wikipedia due to their contributions or vandal-fighting activities on STEU. Some people have ended up switching from their real name to a pseudonym and perhaps regretting not using an untraceable pseudonym from the start. If you choose not to use your real name, you are welcome to use a name-like pseudonym instead (avoid impersonating any well-known persons or fictional characters, though).

Username capitalization
STEU 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".

Username disambiguation
Some STEU usernames are similar to or identical to the titles of articles found here. This has the potential to create confusion when inexperienced users find these pages in search engine results. As a common courtesy, it is recommended that a simple disambiguation hatnote be added to direct readers to the correct page.

Please note that if a username is both ambiguous and inappropriate, merely adding a disambiguation note does not make a username appropriate.

Inappropriate usernames
Inappropriate usernames include both clear and masked names. 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. Please don't try to find this line.

STEU does not allow certain types of usernames, including the following:

Confusing, misleading, or troublesome usernames:
 * Names that can be confused with other contributors. (If someone else is using a nickname that you wish to use, please consider using either an alternative pseudonym or your real name instead. In the unlikely event that someone else is editing STEU with your real name, please add a middle name or initial or some other way of distinguishing between you and the existing contributor).
 * STEU terms. This includes commonly used Wikipedia software or community terms, or names implying an official position on Wikipedia. Prohibited username components include, but are not limited to words resembling the following:
 * Names that imply an official role or a position with access to additional tools not available to a standard user, such as "Administrator", "Admin", "System operator", "Sysop", or "Moderator".
 * "Rollback" or "Revert", "Edit war", "POV", etc.
 * Editing processes, such as "Delete", "Upload", "Pagemove", or "Redirect".
 * Names that give the impression that you intend to cause trouble, such as "Vandal", "Hacker", "H4X0E", "Spammer", or "Troll". This includes names that may refer to malware, such as "Virus" or "Trojan horse".
 * Names that imply bot accounts, potentially but not necessarily including "Bot", "Robot", "Script", "Initialize", "Automated", "Daemon", etc., unless the name is intended as a designated bot. Names that imply bot accounts may be blocked, and the user may be requested to contact an administrator to confirm that the account is indeed a bot account.
 * Technical terms, such as visible toolbar buttons or namespaces. They may be confusing to inexperienced users or otherwise imply a capacity different than that of a normal user.
 * Also, beware that the letters capital i and lower case L, and the numeral 1 look exactly the same (I/l/1) in certain fonts, as do upper/lower case O and the numeral 0 (O/o/0). This should be taken into account, and creative use of one in place of the other (I where L would be expected and vice versa) is discouraged, given its past misuse.
 * Names that consist of random or apparently random sequences of letters and/or numbers or of extended repetition of a particular character.
 * Extremely lengthy names.
 * Names that resemble an IP address, including "invalid" IP addresses (like xxx.xxx.xxx.xx.xx or xxx.xxx.xxx.xx. or a number which goes over the range, such as 256.889.72.0).

Inflammatory usernames: STEU 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:

hatred or violence. Term of disparagement|slurs or insults.
 * Names that promote or imply
 * Names that are recognised as
 * Names that refer to symbols of hatred, including historical figures or events that are widely associated with such.
 * Names that refer to or imply sexual acts, genitalia, or sexual orientation including slang, innuendo, and double entendre.
 * Names that refer to or allude to reproductive or excretory functions of the body.
 * Names that promote or refer to violent real-world actions (e.g terrorism, organized crime)
 * Names mentioning or referring to illnesses, disabilities, or conditions (e.g. AIDS, Amputation, Asperger syndrome, etc.).
 * Names that contain profanity, obscenities, or other potentially offensive language (including non-English profanities).
 * Names of religious figures such as "God", "Jehovah", "Buddha", or "Allah", which may offend other people's beliefs. Usernames partly comprised of these terms are not necessarily prohibited but may be subject to review.
 * Names that promote a controversial or potentially inflammatory point of view.
 * Misspellings or spellings of any of the types of names listed above with "creative substitutions", such as using numbers or similar letters.

Harassing or defamatory usernames: Harassment and defamation in any form is inappropriate on Star Trek Expanded Universe Database; your username is not an exception. In particular, your username is not a vehicle to attack other users with whom you have a disagreement. Your username should not be used to insult or mock other users, usernames, articles, or actions. Additionally, a username should not be used to defame other people, companies or groups, regardless of whether they edit STEU. Nor should usernames divulge the personal information of other users. This can include parts of a name formatted similarly to a telephone number, social security number, or street address.

Usernames that closely resemble any used by vandals: Any usernames that are similar to those that are known to have been used in the past as a signature by returning vandals will likely be blocked on sight.

Rationale
The primary purpose of usernames is to identify and distinguish contributors. This facilitates communication and record-keeping. The username is not a forum to be offensive or make a statement. No one has a right to any particular username. While colorful, interesting, or expressive names may add to the pleasure of Wikipedia, they are not essential. This might include legitimate names and long-established internet pseudonyms that can be misconstrued.

Using multiple user accounts
It is recommended that users not edit under multiple usernames, unless they have a very good reason. See Sock puppet.