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Username Lockdown?

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SlipperyMooseCakes
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:02:04 Reply

Why not make our pages with our User ID then?

like mine would be:

847924.newgrounds.com

But do what myspace does. Each use has an ID like "847924" but you can still cover it up and make it like www.myspace.com/ohsnapyourface instead of www.myspace.com/847924

Ya know?

Ethereal
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:03:00 Reply

If you must.

I'm happy with my name, but when I first signed up, I was some queer "xmettalicax" shit.

I feel bad for those people who won't realize how awful their alias is, and get locked down into eternal faggotry.

Dopefish
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:05:39 Reply

At 11/6/06 10:05 PM, WadeFulp wrote: I personally never cared for name changing. The only time I changed my name is when I went from NG Fan to NG employee. I decided to drop "RedDakota" (which was dumb anyway) and go with WadeFulp. I haven't changed since.

I've always wondered why your name isn't just Wade instead of WadeFulp, or why TomFulp isn't just Tom instead. It would look a lot better in my opinion.

Anyway, I like the idea that some have mentioned about having a set url name and a separate, changeable screen name. That may be a bit confusing, but it would solve the problem of name changing.


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Latecks
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:06:28 Reply

I still want to be able to change mine. :( Actually, I wanted to be just plain Rubber, but that was taken. -Rubber- would have looked pretty good, but the hyphen rules made that impossible. So I went with Rubberr for a short time, but then changed it to what it is now.

Still, I'd like to be able to change it for no reason whatsoever, should I come up with something brilliant and desperatly want to change.


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Rudy
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:10:29 Reply

here's what i gotta say..
Tom Fulp ate my kids...


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Earfetish
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:18:42 Reply

You could be stuck with your first url but still free to change your username.

AndersonCouncil
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:27:23 Reply

I'm for being able to not change your name. Remember people a lot easier. You should probably add a warning for when people sign up that this will be there permanent name forever (if you actually follow through)


"What is a joke exactly?"

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ViceFullbuster
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:38:10 Reply

At 11/6/06 08:26 PM, TomFulp wrote:
I get this bad feeling that people will totally freak out at the thought of not being able to change their names. Plenty of sites already don't allow you to change your name, but people are accustomed to the option here on NG. Then again, are name changes really necessary or is it a feature that people abuse in the first place?

Perfect saying there Tom,never once i've seen a site where you could change your username and still have the account,i always thought it was cool but knew it could be easily abused.

If it's the best for Newgrounds then i'm all up for no more namechanging.

Consider this post a sort of heads up... There's a chance your name might go on lockdown, so be sure it's the name you want to have. This is also a chance for everyone to share their opinions concerning this course of action. Go for it.

Well i gave my two cents in but i'm probably gonna stick with the name i got since i'm not very creative.


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BOZARTH187
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:39:50 Reply

Go ahead. I'm never gunna change my name.

Twerpo
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:40:09 Reply

I don't think that many people change their name. After all, you can always make an alt if you want a different name.


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Fox
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:55:33 Reply

I think the username lockdown will piss off users at first, but with time, they will be able to get used to it. Maybe users could have the option to change their username only once. after that, they will need to create a new account if they don't like their alias anymore.

</my two cents>


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PaulyBFromDa303
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-06 23:58:52 Reply

Wait, what if one of us wants to hide, you know you pissed some people off and you want to hide by changing your name for a few days . . . just to get away from it all.

Personally I think you should leave it as is, but its up to you Tom.

SpeedMetalSandwich
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:07:02 Reply

meh im not really phased by this i guess...

jmtb02
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:11:33 Reply

Locking down names is probably a good idea. It makes so much more sense if people are quoting each other in the forums. If you go back into older posts, you'll find that half of the quoting doesn't make sense, because the names don't match up anymore.

Flexibilty compromised for consistancy may be a better idea.


Hi there!

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squeakytoad
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:17:36 Reply

squeakytoad.newgrounds.com would be awesome.
Numbers and crap would be kinda lame.
I'm fine with having the name locked down.

However, considering there are a few people who aren't, perhaps that display name and account name idea someone propsed earlier?

DariusR
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:18:33 Reply

You could always make a seperate display name and a user url name. That way, people can still get their name changed, but have an original url, kinda like myspace


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Leigh
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:21:12 Reply

At 11/6/06 08:59 PM, PsychoGoldfish wrote: what about having a display name and a user name

the user name is what you log in with, the display name is what appears in the bbs, portal, profile, etc.... kinda like an addition to your 'real name' and no need for formatting restrictions.

When first implemented you could just make all the default values equal to the username.

UMM... I TOTALLY ALREADY SAID THAT, YOU'RE JUST COPYING ME

STOP IT GET YOUR OWN IDEAS JERK

Bluemidgetguy
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:21:35 Reply

I think it's a great idea. Anyone who doesn't agree is a tool and a slimey piece of bloody vagina fart.

Miigga
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:29:22 Reply

I don't know why people have such a hurry to change their names. I use this name everywhere and I am fine with it ;)

Engalde
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:30:36 Reply

What about people with illegal characters in there names? Like * ( ) ^ &$% stuff like that don't work on uniform resource locators.


Unblock Newgrounds at school or work.

JoS
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:33:18 Reply

The only problem I see with locking down urls but not BBS names is that if someoen signs up for an account using your url name (because you chanegd your username so its technically free) they cant get a url in their own name. Also that means if someoen wants to sign-up with your username, but that url is free then again theya re screwed. one accoutn is taking up two names.

I say all or nothing.


Bellum omnium contra omnes

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Phantom
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:33:56 Reply

I've been meaning to have "Phantom" ever since I signed up in 2004, but it was always taken, until you lent a helping hand of course. So I personally wouldn't mind the user name lockdown but it could upset other users, because changing the user name in a specific way is a tradition like the muffin club...I'm positive some users will be against it, but I'm not since I look out for myself, and I'm doing just fine.


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Lost-Thought
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:34:35 Reply

well i like my name and i doubt i will change it again


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JDTV
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 00:36:21 Reply

Just a suggestion, I don't know if it has already been said:

Many other forums have a custom text above user avatars which users can edit. Maybe have usernames unchangeable and this small text customisable to users.

In my opinion the idea above seems pretty useless, but hey, it's a compromise.

alexsmolik
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 01:17:45 Reply

Don't take my nickname away from me, Tom !! :(
So yeah... mine has been, is, and will be the same. For ever.


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Listen2Reason
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 01:24:21 Reply

Give people a few weeks' warning. Maybe give them all a private message warning them about it. Display the message when they log in. "Notice! You will not be able to change your name after X date!" Then go for it, lock them all down.

I like my name, I've had the same one all the time.

Hmmm, this makes me curious. How many people have changed their account names? Can you divide the population into segments? Like...x% of the users never change their names, x% have changed it once, x% have changed it 2-5 times, x% have changed it 6 or more times? Just curious. :D This would give you an idea of how many people you'd tick off if you did this.

Don't forget to add stuff to the registration page saying "You'll never be able to change your username so be sure you have one you like"!

PaperBagMask
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 01:29:50 Reply

How about your url always stays the same but you can change your name whenever you want.
So if I had paperbagmask.newgrounds.com I could change my alias to something else but the URL will still be paperbagmask.newgrounds.com.
It'd work the same as the number system.

Jesse-Ray
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 01:30:32 Reply

I'm completely for it, more so because it gets pretty confusing around the BBS when users keep changing there alias's.


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4AM
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 01:33:49 Reply

A SOLUTION:

Allow users to change their names. Their old username URL points to their new username URL for, say, 30 days. Include a notice on the top of the page when this redirection takes place, a big yellow banner with red text right below the top header stating "This URL will soon change to whatever.newgrounds.com, please make a note!"

After 30 days, the old link goes dead and the name is freed up.

The only problem I can see with this is people would start "blocking" usernames and it would create a huge headache for you to admin this new system. Permanent lockdown of names would also prove a problem liek this as well.

You could keep a database of all the users of a certain name at one point or another, and when a link is followed the banner could pop up again and say "Not who you're looking for? Check the name change registry". Apon clicking, they could be given a link table allowing for redirection to any of the former users of the name.

But that might be a little over the top...or maybe not:

The best idea I can think of is a slight take on the way MySpace does it: Allow the DNS names to be changed at will, but the name just re-directs you to the account numbered page. DNS is useless for websites doing the linking, as anyone writing a web page with a link can easily be bothered to copy and paste the numbered link into their HTML code. Hell, that's just as easy as copy-and-pasting the DNS-prefixed URL. The whole purpose of a DNS name is for people to remember easily, so the sole purpose of that could be for users typing a URL into their browsers off the top of their head. Combine this with the DNS-prefix name history feature and you might just have yourself a workng dynamic system.

You're welcome.

4AM
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Response to Username Lockdown? 2006-11-07 02:16:16 Reply

OK, maybe I should explain my idea a little better:

I sign up for an account, here is my info:

ID: 123456 (permanent)
Display Name: The Winktologist (can be changed whenever)
DNS Prefix name: winktologylabs (Also can be changed whenever)

This creates not only an entry into the user database, but also an entry into a new database which tracks name changes:

Name Change Table
Entry #: 1
Account ID: 123456
DNS Name: winktologylabs
Dates: 11/07/2006 - Present

After which my account can be accessed from the following URLs:

http://www.newgrounds.com/users/123456
-OR-
http://winktologylabs.newgrounds.com

...the latter of which would redirect me to the former. Since my ID number will not change, this URL will ALWAYS point to me. However, the page content will ALWAYS reflect the DNS-prefixed URL, because it is easier to remember for people, which is the whole point.

One day, I decide I heart the bung. Why, I have no idea, but for the sake of argument, I am taint's biggest fan; so I decide to makeover my Newgrounds "image" to suit this change.

Account ID: 123456
Display Name: The Proctologist [CHANGED]
DNS Prefix Name: proctologylabs [CHANGED]

This causes an update in the NG user databases, and a new entry in our change table:

Name Change Table
Entry #: 1
Account ID: 123456
DNS Name: winktologylabs
Dates: 11/07/2006 - 11/08/2006 [CHANGED]
--------------------
Entry #: 2
Account ID: 123456
DNS Name: proctologylabs
Dates: 11/08/2006 - Present

Until someone claims the old name, BOTH URLs will redirect to my numbered page. This will allow people who are unaware of the change to continue to visit the page, as well as those using the new URL. Anyone hard-linking from a web page should use the numbered URL anyway, because no one will see it embeded in a page.

Perhaps now, another has been enlightened to the wonders of Winktology and decides to start their OWN animation lab which never submits anything to NG because of a lack of time and skill. This person creates the following account:

ID: 654321 (permanent)
Display Name: The Winktologist Jr.
DNS Prefix name: winktologylabs (a dupe!)

This is where most see conflict, but thanks to our tracking table, we see opportunity for a wonderfully dynamic online community! A new entry is added to said table:

Name Change Table
Entry #: 1
Account ID: 123456
DNS Name: winktologylabs
Dates: 11/07/2006 - 11/08/2006
--------------------
Entry #: 2
Account ID: 123456
DNS Name: proctologylabs
Dates: 11/08/2006 - Present
--------------------
Entry #: 3
Account ID: 654321
DNS Name: winktologylabs
Dates: 11/09/2006 - Present

Notice we now have plenty of data to clear up who is using what name; "winktologylabs" is presently in use by the new account, 654321, and "proctologylabs" belongs to the old account, 123456. Each URL is redirected to the proper user page based on ID, and so far all is well.

"WAIT A MINUTE," you say, "I wanted the original, not this lame n00b!" you say as you type "winktologylabs.newgrounds.com" into your browser. Never fear, NG is Teh Smartiez™ now! Using the Name Data Table, we can see that winktologylabs is less than 30 days old. Therefore, after the redirect, we could include a banner with a link to a page that lists any former user of the name and the dates they used it, with a link to their current URL. Again, with a simple query, the Name Data Table can provide this information in detail for us as well, including cross-referencing for a user icon, or the title of a recent submission.

After 30 days (or whatever amount of time), the banner could be reduced to a small box on the side of the page in a very unintrusive sort of a way.

All major problems are solved:

- Page names are flexible; have your work identified however you wish.
- Users who get lost can find their way quickly and with minimal fuss.
- A system is in place to prevent broken links, no matter what is happening with the DNS names. (This depends on webmasters using the numeric links in their HTML)

Locking down names might be easier, but this would be kind of neat and seem like sort of a cop-out now, wouldn't it? ;-)

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to wake up for work tommorow, and then play Guitar Hero 2 all night for 12 hours until my next work shift. ALIEN HOMINID RULES
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