User:Slate/Inkipedia:Policy/Username

{ {Shortcut|INK:USER}}

Inkipedia has restrictions on what is admissible as a username. These requirements are covered by this policy.

This policy does not describe user signatures.

Summary requirements

 * Usernames must be in-keeping with other existing policies:
 * Usernames must not be inappropriate.
 * Usernames must not contain personal information or advertisements, such as your, or someone else's, name, address, emails, phone etc.
 * Usernames must not be written to troll or vandalize.
 * Usernames must not be misleading or be an impersonation.
 * Usernames must not be disruptive.

The username must represent you

 * The username must not imply that it will be used by more than one person, for example TheSmithFamily.
 * The username must not imply to be a part of, represent, or impersonate, a company, business, website, organization, event, etc., for example NintendoAmericr.
 * The username must not imply a protected role, position, or title within the real-world, for example POTUS or UN Leader.
 * The username must not be promotional in nature.

The username must not be misleading

 * The username must not resemble system-like messages.
 * The username must not contain user permission names or staff roles, such as 'admin'.
 * The username must not imply it is a bot account when it is not.
 * The username may be Splatoon related, including representing fictitious people and titles. For example the username Grizzco Employee may be admitted.
 * However, the username should not directly overlap with material that Inkipedia covers. For example User:Splatoon 3 will likely be disruptive to the search functionality of Inkipedia.
 * Administrators may find usernames disruptive, trolling, or impersonating in breach at their own discretion.
 * If the username is too similar to that of another user, especially active users, it may be found in breach.
 * If the username was registered to a user, who has been recently renamed, it may be found in breach.

The username must be appropriate and sensible

 * The username must not be offensive, profane, inflammatory, threatening, or generally inappropriate.
 * The username must not promote hate speech, violence, or illegal activities.
 * The username must not be disruptive:
 * Usernames must not solely be punctuation.
 * Usernames must not contain non-language symbols (for example ♥ ✀ ✔︎ 🃏) or emojis.
 * Usernames must not be more than 32 characters long. There is no prescribed minimum.
 * Use of decorators and emoticons around the "actual" username is highly discouraged and in breech if disruptive.
 * The username must not contain personal information or advertisements, such as your, or someone else's, name, address, emails, phone etc.
 * The username must not resemble a telephone number, address, or IP.
 * The username must not contain leaked or non-public information.

The username must be in comprehensible script

 * Usernames must be written with comprehensible language script.
 * Usernames do not have to be English.

We encourage editors to use Latin characters only as a username, however this is not required. Usernames in non-Latin script writing systems are welcome, providing that the registered name follows the rules on this page. There is no requirement that usernames must be in English or Latin-characters only.

This is because Inkipedia is an inclusive community and also written in languages other than English (French, Spanish), in which users are encouraged to use the same username. In future, Inkipedia may expand the wiki family into other languages.

Please note that usernames in non-Latin script may appear illegible or may not display correctly to other contributors, and not every user's keyboard or input device may have immediate access to non-Latin characters. As a courtesy and to avoid confusion or mistaken identity, we encourage users with such usernames to provide a Latin-character transliteration of their username on their userpage, and/or as their signature.

Copyrights and trademark enforcement
Due to a large amount of username sign-ups and manual checking of these legal registrations, Inkipedia cannot technically and actively block usernames from being infringing.

We humbly request trademark and copyright holders get in touch with a bureaucrat by email, talkpage, or Discord to resolve any disputes.

Grandfather clause
This policy has come into effect long after the establishment of Inkipedia. As such, existing usernames are exempt, with exceptions:
 * The username violates another previously-established policy
 * The username is copyright or trademark infringing, and Inkipedia has received a take-down request
 * For any reason at the discretion of a bureaucrat

Dealing with violations
Accounts with minimal to no edits will be blocked. For longer-standing accounts, a rename request should be submitted citing this policy (and the waiting period will be waived).

If you see a potential violation, please write on the user's talk page first to discuss. For blatant violations, please inform an administrator.

A note on the permanence of usernames and accounts
It is not currently possible to merge user accounts and is not possible to ever fully-delete user accounts, as all contributions must be assigned to a username.

Editors that wish to be forgotten can apply for a rename and we will rename the account to something like User:FormerUser1. As always, editors may mark their userpages for deletion, and should remove their email from Preferences.