Premium Member Name Change.

[GTP_Monkey]

I know you can change it every year, Is that a calender year or every 12 months since last change.

 

[Danny]

I've always assumed it to be every 12 months. Which would make it a different calendar year anyway...

 

[Techy]

The actual duration is 360 days, which is practically an entire year + leap years.

 

[GTP_Monkey]

Thanks.

 

[Jordan]

After a name change, your name cannot be changed again for 12 months.

 

[Cowboys965]

I feel bad for Shem, or W3HS lol

 

[Daniel]

Does it really matter? Everyone still calls him Shem because that's his name, upside-down or not. If I changed my name to ןǝıuɐp then (hopefully) people will still call me Daniel, otherwise they'll waste time by searching for an upside-down text converter etc, etc.

 

[F1 fan]

After a name change, your name cannot be changed again for 12 months.

I've been meaning to make a request regarding name changes. I think this thread is appropriate. I think as a common courtesy, everyone who changes their username should display their previous username in their signature or in their title for a period of time.

Some of the name changes are obvious enough, but if I was to buy premium and change my name to for example, Dick Dastardly, it would make it hard for people to identify me. Some people have changed their username and made no real effort (to my knowledge) to let people know who they are.

 

[Jordan]

Nope; most don't make an effort, unfortunately. I've made my feelings on the subject known in the FAQs.

 

[AOS-]

I've been meaning to make a request regarding name changes. I think this thread is appropriate. I think as a common courtesy, everyone who changes their username should display their previous username in their signature or in their title for a period of time.

While your name changes, it's unlikely that your avatar, PSN, location, and sig will change drastically. Unless you're going for a full makeover, you should still be identifiable.

Or at least until someone quotes a post of yours before your name change, and anyone reading it will instantly know.

 

[1241Penguin]

After a name change, your name cannot be changed again for 12 months.

Is this due to a software limitation or do you just don't want people changing their names every day? Just wondering.

 

[astrosdude91]

Is this due to a software limitation or do you just don't want people changing their names every day? Just wondering.

Probably the latter. Just to keep people from saying "I want my name changed to this. No nevermind, actually this. You know what, just go back to the original."

 

[F1 fan]

While your name changes, it's unlikely that your avatar, PSN, location, and sig will change drastically. Unless you're going for a full makeover, you should still be identifiable.

Or at least until someone quotes a post of yours before your name change, and anyone reading it will instantly know.

Well here is an example. Ok, it's not very recent, but I believe he used to be "mr mulsanne". But I'm not sure on that. Oh, and different title, avatar etc.

But don't you think it's unfair to rely on other people to have to work out who you are based on approx post count and location? I think that unless things are fairly easy to guess, then you should at least have to devote one line of a signature or your title to the name change. At least for a few weeks.

Oh, and previously, my location was listed as Toronto as I was there. Soon, I'll be changing it to Tokyo. If I combine that with a name change, it may cause a bit of confusion. The Scottish flag will still be there though

Another example, the user formerly known as interludes. It was easier in his case as he kept the same avatar, but he changed his username, usertitle, location etc. His new username is "prisonermonkeys". Had he changed his avatar at the same time, it could have caused a lot of confusion. Luckily, he is one of the more well known members in the motorsports forum, so he was fairly easy to identify. People outside the motorsports forum, might find it a little harder to figure out.

 

[BobK]

I'm fully in agreement with F1 fan here. I often have seen a new name pop up and wondered who the heck that used to be.

There used to be a thread in the Premium forum where name change requests were posted. This made it easy (for Premium members, anyway) to keep track. I'd love to see something like that return.

The 12 months between name changes is not a software restriction.

 

[Liquid]

I've been meaning to make a request regarding name changes. I think this thread is appropriate. I think as a common courtesy, everyone who changes their username should display their previous username in their signature or in their title for a period of time.

I was thinking the same, actually. The username I usually select was already taken so the one I have now was a quick improvisation. I figured out an alternative after I'd register and I've just never gotten round to it. I've been here almost a year, so I think it's fair that I might want to change it.

I agree further with the displaying of the old username for a transitional period. It wouldn't be hard to have
Formerly known as... at the bottom of your sig, would it?

 

[daan]

To find a previous name of a member.

Click search at the top right
Put their current username in the username box
Sort results by "last posting date" and "ascending order"
Show results as posts
Find a post by the user, then find someone who has quoted it. (Might need a few goes at this to find a quote)
The quote will contain their username at that point in time.

This will not work if they changed their name a while ago and have made loads of posts since but, by restricting some other options in the search (by forum etc.), it can be made to work for most.

 

[Jordan]

Is this due to a software limitation or do you just don't want people changing their names every day? Just wondering.

It's because I don't want people changing their names too often; it hurts the sense of familiarity and community for individual vanity (usually). Once again, my thoughts on name changes are expressed in the FAQ.

 

[Small_Fryz]

To find a previous name of a member.

Click search at the top right
Put their current username in the username box
Sort results by "last posting date" and "ascending order"
Show results as posts
Find a post by the user, then find someone who has quoted it. (Might need a few goes at this to find a quote)
The quote will contain their username at that point in time.

This will not work if they changed their name a while ago and have made loads of posts since but, by restricting some other options in the search (by forum etc.), it can be made to work for most.

👍

Never failed me yet.

Would be cool to have a field in the user profile that listed all previous names though.

 

[F1 fan]

To find a previous name of a member.

Click search at the top right
Put their current username in the username box
Sort results by "last posting date" and "ascending order"
Show results as posts
Find a post by the user, then find someone who has quoted it. (Might need a few goes at this to find a quote)
The quote will contain their username at that point in time.

This will not work if they changed their name a while ago and have made loads of posts since but, by restricting some other options in the search (by forum etc.), it can be made to work for most.

And one simple line in the signature can prevent several users from having to do all that. It's all I'm saying. Bit of a common courtesy. Failing that, then we can either resort to sending the user a pm or your method.

 

[RocZX]

Would be cool to have a field in the user profile that listed all previous names though.

Other thread on the changed user names and having old one listed in user profile.
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?p=6004061#post6004061

 

[BobK]

Would be cool to have a field in the user profile that listed all previous names though.

It surely would!

I added that field [listing previous names in users' profiles] when I first started allowing username changes, with the assumption that I'd list previous names there when fulfilling requests. I eventually began to forget to do that as I changed more and more names, and now the field is mostly useless.

It would be great if you could kindly see your way clear to reinstating that procedure.