Username Policy
 | This page documents a global Miraheze policy. This policy follows consensus and/or guidelines set by global functionaries. All Miraheze users should follow it, and changes made to it should be discussed on the talk page. In the event of any differences in meaning between the original English version and a translation, the original English version takes precedence. |
Per this request for comment, this policy outlines what usernames are and are not acceptable on Miraheze. The following criteria denote what is considered unacceptable for usernames.
- Usernames that are offensive, contain insulting material, harass a user or are in violation of any global Miraheze policy.
- Usernames that give the impression that the account in question has permissions which it does not have (e.g. "administrator", "bureaucrat", etc.).
- Usernames that are deliberately similar to other usernames in the possible scope of impersonation (i.e. user a is called "Example", user b is called "Examplee").
- Usernames that contain phone numbers or email addresses.
- Usernames that contain the exact name of a wiki (e.g. a user named "Miraheze Metawiki") or the name of Miraheze unless the account is run by that wiki's staff.
- Usernames which could be easily misunderstood to refer to a "bot" or a "script" (which alludes to automated editing processes) or indicates it is part of the MediaWiki software, unless the account is of that type.
- Usernames that seem intended to provoke a reaction ("trolling").
- Usernames that are in use on Wikimedia wikis unless it is the same person reusing the username, or a common name (such as the real name of a person, group, object, etc.) that users are likely to just pick themselves. Stewards have the discretion, on a case-by-case basis, to evaluate whether a username is being used to impersonate or not.
Enforcement
If an account that does not respect this policy is created, they should be warned, linked to this policy and invited to change their username. If they make edits or logged actions on a wiki globally and ignore the warning from a Steward, they may be locked for violating the policy.
Warnings given should be posted on wikis where the user is active and will see them.
Clear cut cases of bad faith violation (ex. a clear impersonation of a complicated username, usernames with clear intentions to attack others, usernames that violate policies) don't have to be warned and can be locked on sight.
Leniency
When considering cases, Stewards should be more lenient towards accounts which do not appear to be created with malicious intent, especially when locking. Stewards have the right to apply discretion and not enforce the policy in good faith or borderline cases and/or apply an exemption to the account.
Appeals
A lock under the Username Policy may be appealed firstly to a Steward then to Requests for Comment/Usernames. This does not include violations of the Code of Conduct or Terms of Use, which may only be appealed to Stewards collectively, who fulfill the appeal venue and dispute resolution/arbitration responsibilities of the former Code of Conduct Commission, and Trust and Safety team respectively.
Existing accounts
Usernames which already exist and that do not respect this policy (after it is in effect) will be given a warning and invited to change their username immediately, if they are confirmed to be active globally after the warning and do not change their usernames in a period of 3 months, they will be globally locked.
Revision history
- 2019-10-02: Requests for Comment/Username policy (2) – Established this policy