Kovopedia:Username Policy

When creating an account on Kovopedia, a user must assign themself a handle to be known by and for the wiki to track their edits by. This is known as a username. While users of the wiki are allowed to use almost any username they desire, there are some restrictions on what their username can and cannot be, as is detailed below.

Inappropriate usernames

The following types of usernames are considered inappropriate and will not be permitted:

• Usernames that employ vulgar, derogatory, or offensive language. Not only do such names reflect poorly on Kovopedia, but other users should not have to gloss over saying something offensive just to refer to another user by name.
  • Examples: names containing profanity, slurs, insults, hate speech, references to problematic persons, and references to controversial events (e.g., real-life tragedies, acts of terrorism).
• Usernames consisting of gibberish, also known as keysmashing, or are otherwise incomprehensible. Since this type of username makes it difficult to recognize and refer to the user, and is often attributed to spam activity, it is disallowed.
  • Examples: "hjlh182743jkhlkjh", "......", and "@%#&@%!$@".
• Usernames consisting of non-English language characters, mainly those which do not appear on English language keyboards. Kovopedia is an English-speaking wiki, so most users may have trouble recognizing and referring to such names and would not have the means of typing them out.
  • Examples: "霊", "نجم", and "Magical⠧⠁⠉⠁⠞⠊⠕⠝".
• Usernames that are too long. Such names make it difficult to recognize and refer to the user, can complicate the titles of their userpages and signature, and can cause pages such as edit histories and RecentChanges to have unnecessarily long lines and/or line breaks.
  • Examples: "I am a Fan of Magical Vacation: Itsutsu no Hoshi ga Narabu Toki for the Nintendo DS" and "Kalethemastermagicianofalltime12345".
• Usernames that are similar or identical to the username of an existing active user, or of an inactive but significant user. Additional characters such as numbers, symbols, and other minor changes to an existing username are not considered unique enough to be allowed. Some users may find such names confusing, as it makes it hard to discern similarly-named users from each other and refer to individual users, especially when this type of name is employed to impersonate others. Since this can prove problematic on a community-based platform like a wiki, immediate recognition and ease of referring to fellow users are highly important.
  • Examples: "xX_Magicwindsock_Xx" and "Rman14".
• Any other usernames not covered by these policies but are deemed inappropriate by Kovopedia's administrators will be disallowed.

Handling users with inappropriate usernames

The following is a guide on how administrators should handle newly-created accounts with usernames that violate the above policy:

• If the username employs offensive language, is incomprehensible, or is excessively long, the user should receive an indefinite block with permission to edit their talk page. If the username consists of non-English characters or is very similar to another user's, they should not be blocked immediately unless it is apparent that the account is operating in bad faith.
• Unless it is obvious that the user does not intend to create an encyclopedia, assume good faith. CheckUser can identify the user's IP address, approximate location, and ISP to assure they are not a known vandal or are attempting impersonation. Standard procedure for handling malicious sockpuppets applies if the user is a known vandal.
  • If the user is abusing multiple accounts that violate the username policy, a temporary ban on their IP range(s) may be issued. The ban should not be infinite, as it can prevent other users within that IP range from contributing to the wiki in the future.
• On the user's talk page, explain how their username violates Kovopedia's policy with a link to this page. Be sure to also mention that they can choose a new username. If the new username is appropriate for the wiki, and the user behaves constructively, report it to an active bureaucrat so they can grant it to the user and lift their block. The new account may function as normal, while the old account with the inappropriate username remains blocked. Alternatively, the two accounts can be merged under the permissible name.
• If the user disobeys and/or refuses to choose a new username, they must remain blocked indefinitely until they comply.