Posts

1. Changing your username happens with no second step of confirmation, just the usual password entry on the bottom of the account page. Given the 90-day period before you can change it again, I think this needs a second step to prevent issues – having to enter it twice, a confirmation email with a link you have to click, even a mod to check off on it.

Also, breaking links is quite nice when renaming to ditch an old name you don’t want people finding easily.

1. You know what purpose entering email twice in forms serves? None. Don’t be an idiot with account settings.  
2. If you’re linking your profile outside of Derpibooru, please do keep it up to date. Also, breaking links is quite nice when renaming to ditch an old name you don’t want people finding easily.  
3. My only concern would be that people can be tricked by old URLs, but doing this would mean waiting for your target to rename and relying on URLs not being updated. Also, you can’t 100% imitate artists, they have user links.  
4. Good.  
5. How does this create a problem?  
6. Good.  
7. What? I think you misunderstand how this works. Comments remember the username at posting time and will show it in the previously known as if the username is different (and this overrides recent renames). Usernames btw have nothing to do with the link working (see top).

IF YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO NEEDS TO CHANGE YOUR PROFILE NAME DUE TO A PRIVACY CONCERN OR FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY

If you are reading this thread and are someone who would like to change your name or hide your past presence on the site without others seeing that it has happened, especially if you have a concern for your own safety or privacy, please report your profile for a reason of “Other”, and explain in the text field what you would like.

I or one of the other members of staff who help with this will contact you to talk about the options that are available and will work out the details of how to help you best.

1. Changing your username happens with no second step of confirmation, just the usual password entry on the bottom of the account page. Given the 90-day period before you can change it again, I think this needs a second step to prevent issues - having to enter it twice, a confirmation email with a link you have to click, even a mod to check off on it.-^~
    
   _{^{~~2. Changing your username breaks all links to your current account. Previously-used usernames are still associated with your account, it’d only take a little extra code to check for a name there before giving up and going to the homepage. This would work even without tying up the username for re-registry, since the minute someone else registers the name, all those old links would redirect to their account instead. Which brings me to:~~}
    
   ^~~3. Username reuse opens the door to impersonation and squatting. Of course, impersonation happens already, with clever character replacement in usernames, but a direct link to your account would not redirect to the impersonator. This changes with this new feature, the door is now open to 100} accurate impersonation.^%
    
   %^4. There is no limit to the number of username changes. Sure, it’s rate-limited to about 4 times a year, but that’s still encouraging at-will changes. This is an issue of wants and needs; usernames on this site are important enough that a change should be a need, not a want. I can’t think of a reason why anyone would need to change their name more than once, if at all. This isn’t comparable to changing an avatar or user title, those are more like flair. Your name is your identity.^%
    
   %^5. The two-week notification period is too short. Honestly, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that people will go more than 14 days without seeing a comment from a particular user. Some people don’t even check the site that frequently. Just look at how many people were late to the party for the community collab that was in the site banner for over a month.^%
    
   %^6. There is no way for regular users to see previously used names. Aside from the 2-week window, there is no public record or indication that a user has a new username most places on the site. All previously used names should appear on user profiles, not just the last, if that notification does indeed persist there. If a user really wants to distance themselves from their current identity, creating a new account is a better approach anyway.^%
    
   %^7. “Comments made under an old username will show it indefinitely” is wrong. At the very least, it is misleading. Old comments currently display the new username. That’s acceptable behavior, but the language of the page seems to imply the opposite. If they did intend for old comments to display as the old username, it could again lead to broken links, and could be abused by users trying to distance themselves from duckish posts the way Tumblr and Twitter names are abused.^%
    
   %^I believe this feature needs to be disabled until these problems are addressed. At the very least, we should have a two-step process for setting new usernames, and restrictions placed on being able to re-register a retired username. Ideally, I think this is a feature that should require having account verification (e.g. user links) to warrant, otherwise changing usernames should be left to mods to handle. Another idea might be to leave the original username intact, and simply let users change the name that displays on uploads, comments, and the like. We don’t currently make a distinction between account name and display name around here, and as such, it is unwise for users to change these things on a whim.~~^%