Global rename policy

A global account is a WickedGov account, unified and usable across all sites in the WickedGov family. Global accounts are identified by usernames. These usernames may be changed upon request in certain cases, as outlined in this global rename policy.

Criteria

General

• The new name must not already be in use and must not be excessively similar to an existing username (the one exception is usurpation).
• The new name must be carefully considered; repeated or frivolous requests may be denied.
• The new username must not:
  • Be profane, discriminatory, violent, sexually explicit, or disruptive in any other way.
  • Encourage or condone acts which are considered by most societies to be illegal or severely immoral.
  • Suggest an intent to vandalize or disrupt the projects or to violate any policy.
  • Impersonate another user or falsely appear to be an administrator or bot username or an IP address.
  • Suggest that the account is operated by more than one person.
• The new username must be in full compliance with the local username policies of all wikis on which the user is or plans to be active.
• The purpose of the rename must not be obfuscation or concealment of past misconduct.

Usurpation

In limited circumstances, users may be renamed to an existing username. This process is called usurpation. Usurpation is permitted only if, in addition to the standard global rename criteria, the following criteria are all met:

• The target username has no or very few edits or logged actions.
• The target username has zero edits or logged actions in a long time (at least 3 years).
• The target user has been contacted on the user's talk page and has not made an objection to the usurpation for 7 days.
• The requesting user is in good standing (i.e. not blocked, not recently blocked, and not under sanctions on any wiki).

Process

Requests

Global rename requests may be made at Special:GlobalRenameRequest on this Meta-Wiki. If renames are complex or require usurpation, requests should instead be made at Stewards/Requests/Username changes.

Execution

Stewards shall execute global renames in most cases. System administrators may execute global renames in the course of their duties. WickedGov staff may execute global renames of staff members, as well as in other cases, in the performance of their duties.