Full Name (First Last)

No, I haven't changed the policy. We've had a few people register over the past couple of weeks without using first and last names. I have written them and am just giving them a chance to change it.

 

Please use names that could plausibly be real names, although they do not have to be your own actual names.

 

When someone creates an account here using a handle or an improbable first and last name combination, I will try to engage them in a private conversation, letting them know of the first and last name policy here, and that usually does the trick. If they return and don't respond to the conversation or change their username, I will message them again. On some occasions, I will send an email.

For those who participate in forum discussions, there has never been a problem. I understand that this policy is not a common one, so people who have joined other forums are probably used to using a handle, so it's not anything that I'll get excited about. In other words, it's not a major crime.

However, after a reasonable period of time and no responses, I will either delete the account or simply assign the new member a name. If they have created their account using a free email service, I am more likely to simply delete the account, but if they are using a traditional email account, I will probably assign them a name because the chances are greater that they will return one day. If they log in using their email address, they will still be able to access their account, and they can change the name at that point, if they want to. Otherwise, our member list will still look clean.

If you have created an account here using a handle, you can easily change your username by placing your cursor over your member name in the upper right of the page. A box will pop up with two columns of options. In the second column, you will see an option for "Username Change." That's where you want to go.

Or you can simply ask me to change it and I will do so for you. For established members, I prefer not to because it confuses people.

 

Most people aren't used to forums that use first and last names rather than handles, and a lot of people don't read the registration text very carefully, so we'll probably always have people joining with handles. Please feel free to let me know when someone does that, either in a report to Admin or in private conversation, but that's something I'll notice before long anyhow.

When someone does that, I will ask them to change it, and then I'll give them a chance to do so and, since new members often don't log in every day, that means that their handle might be there for a few days or a week or so, but eventually they'll either change it or I'll send them something more official from the Admin account. Knowing that it's most likely an oversight, I prefer to go easy, though.

When I come across member registrations using handles, and the member hasn't logged in again after the first day, I just delete the account or, if they've posted, I'll make up a name for them.

 

Whenever someone creates an account here using a handle rather than a first and a last name, I write to them in conversation explaining that we have a policy of using first and last names here, and telling them how they can change their username.

Then I wait a while, since not everyone logs in everyday, and some of those who do don't seem to notice that they have a message in conversations or, for whatever reason, choose not to reply or respond by changing their username.

Once a month or so, I will go through the member list and delete those with handles who have not made any posts in the forum, as some people create accounts and never come back. For those who have posted in the forum, deleting their account would orphan their posts, and I don't like the look of that.

If they have posted in the forum, I will write to them again.

At some point, however, I will assign a first and a last name to their account, after which they may have difficulty logging back in because they won't know what their username is. They could still retrieve it using the email that they created the account with, but some people may have trouble with that so I tend to give them quite a while before resorting to that.

So when you see someone posting in the forum using a handle rather than a first and last name - no, the policy hasn't changed.

 

I moved the posts about ignoring/blocking to the "Ignore" thread.

 

Yeah, I wish everyone would use an avatar. As for the name thing, I still think it was a good idea and it's working. I will be assigning names to a few people soon though, because we still have a few people who are using either one name or a handle, rather than a first and last name, despite my having contacted them about it. As a reminder, the policy is that if they have posted in the forum, then I will assign them a name. If they log in with their email, they can still have access to the forum. If they have not posted in the forum, then I simply delete their account.

 

Sometime tomorrow or the next day, I will be deleting some accounts and changing the username on others because they are using handles rather than first and last names. Before I do this, I send them a couple of messages letting them know about the policy, telling them how to go about making the change, and offering to it for them if they wish. When they don't, I delete the accounts of those who have not posted in the forum and simply make up a name for those who have. That means that if they want to login to the forum, those who have been deleted will have to register another account, while those whose names have been changed will still be able to log in by using their email address, but otherwise, they'll be confused. That's when I get the angry messages about how dare I change their name, or whatever. I have sent the messages, and tomorrow it will be time to clean it up.

 

I forgot to do it today but will get to it tomorrow. Please, if you are using a handle or anything other than something that looks like it might be a real name (doesn't have to be your actual name), change it, as I would rather you make your own changes than wonder why you can't log in with the username you used before.

 

For the past several months, I have been rejecting registrations that don't follow the first name / last name convention, and that has been working very well. We are still getting plenty of registrations and it's a lot easier than trying to get them to change their usernames after they have joined. If you invite someone to join the forum, please alert them to the fact that we use first and last names here. Pseudonyms are fine if they look like real names.

 

No.