Last modified: 2014-02-20 00:33:26 UTC
I noticed this when training new users to edit: when you create an account on en:wp, account usernames that are similar to existing registered usernames are blocked from creation. However, it seems like the similarity metric is too broad to be helpful. A new user I was helping was trying to create a username. First they tried 'sleepyjean' and it was blocked for being similar to the registered 'Sleepy Jean'. Then they tried the username 'la loie' and it was blocked as being too similar to the registered 'lalo 13' -- this seems like a stretch. For what it's worth, lalo 13 has edited once, in 2008, to add non-free media which was promptly deleted, and they haven't been back. Sleepy Jean was registered in 2006 and never edited at all. I would suggest that the article creation similarity metric be tweaked to be less stringent; and perhaps that it be changed to not reject names similar to those that perhaps have never edited. Given that there are 20M+ registered usernames in en:wp, the vast majority of which have never edited, this is somewhat of a burden for new users to come up with a new and memorable username.
