3 FAQ tagged with username


What is my username? Can I change my username?

Your username is whatever name you chose during the signup process and is included in the receipt you received from PayPal. If you can't remember it, please drop us a note at the Contact Us form.

You cannot change the username attached to your account on your own (i.e., the name on your past posts and comments). Usernames are your identity in the community and carry a lot of weight with others that read your comments. If you are changing your username you are effectively disappearing from the site and reappearing anew. Retroactively changing an account's name causes confusion as people mention users by name in discussion. We will change the username attached to an existing account in some situations: MeFites being stalked or harassed, trans MeFites, and some very rare legal issues. Please talk to us if this is your situation.

If you are just unhappy with your username, you can sign up for an all new account and use that for your participation in the future instead (see the FAQ entry on new accounts for more details about when it's okay to make new or second accounts).
(tags: ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

I signed up but had a PayPal problem and now they say my username isn't available. What now?

When you start the sign up process, your username is reserved. If you don't finish signing up for some reason, the username is still reserved. If you come back to try to sign up again, you'll find the username is already taken. But it's taken by you! To fix this, use the "Log In" link (not the "Sign Up" link), with the username you've chosen, and you should be prompted to go through the remainder of the sign up process. If not, just contact the mods and we'll help figure out what's going on.
(tags: ) September 23, 2010 - permalink - back to questions

It looks like I am logged in with some other person's username. What's up?

This can happen if you work at a big company or are using a big cache server (either university, cable company, or Google). It means the front page was saved by another member also on that system in the last x minutes and you're getting that person's copy instead of a fresh one from the server. You can not post/comment as anyone else, since your user information is pulled from your cookie information.
(tags: ) January 7, 2007 - permalink - back to questions