StrategyWiki:Guide/Account naming

When you [ sign up] for StrategyWiki, you need to pick an account name. The possibilities are near-endless, but there are a few names that aren't acceptable, either because the MediaWiki software on which StrategyWiki runs won't allow them or because the names are demeaning/likely names for vandals. This is mentioned later on, but breaking this policy will result in you being instantly and indefinitely blocked from editing StrategyWiki.

Forbidden characters
These characters are forbidden in names, as the MediaWiki software will either not allow them outright, or editors will have issues talking to you on your talk page because of what the characters are. The ASCII character codes 0-31 and 127 are disallowed, as are the following characters:
 * 1)  <  >  [  ]  |  {  }  ?  %  /  + @

Please note that while # is not outright forbidden, it will truncate the username you try to register to the words before the # (so trying to register "Some#username" would register "Some" instead).

Numbers
Do not create an account entirely of a long (over six characters) string of numbers (like "850013298" or "0155007"), as such accounts will be suspected as being spambots or vandals, and that kind of first impression is not good. Try to shy away from random sequences of letters as well. Even if you aren't a spambot or vandal, having a long, random sequence of numbers or letters makes it harder for people to remember your name.

URL encoding
Do not create accounts that are not URL-friendly. This usually results from using entirely characters from foreign (non English) languages. While the occasional foreign character is acceptable, do not create a username entirely out of them. It makes directly linking to the URL very difficult and very rarely the wiki software cannot render the characters correctly as well. All English letters and numbers (and spaces) do not have any URL encoding issues.

Derogatory names
Do not create accounts with words that can be offensive to other people (like racial slurs and curse words). Also, do not create accounts that specifically bash another person or people.

Spoilers
As this is wiki is a guide on gaming, account names containing spoilers for games are disallowed and will most likely be blocked.

Impersonation
Do not create accounts deliberately designed to impersonate other users, there are some cases where you may like an account name because it's about your preferred idea/concept or a commonly used online alias, but obvious attempts to impersonate will result in being blocked and having to recreate a different account.

Accounts that could imply authority containing words like "sysop" "admin" or "script" are not allowed and will also result in immediate blocking. Accounts containing the word "bot" must be approved for use before any automated editing is allowed. See the bot policy for more information.

Companies/Trademarks
Accounts named after video game companies or relevant trademarks or copyrights or domain names are a violation of the GFDL and not allowed. They will be immediately blocked.

What happens?
If you decide to break any of the above guidelines to picking out a name, it will be immediately and indefinitely blocked from editing. If you think that your name is appropriate, please create another account and appeal to the sysop that blocked you or to the community so that you may be unblocked.