On Display Name Changes

[Guest Bullshiterica]

I know, it's funny, coming from me and the thorn in the side that I was till I was handed some sort of responsibility, but an initiative I've decided to take, naturally without consulting my superiors, is to roll back our Hot Rats/Tie Wearers responsibilities by allowing anybody to change their own names. Now listen to me good and listen well, because there's a bit of a process here.

 

This and all "new names" hereafter will be known as Display Names. These are distinct from your current usernames, or Log In Names. (Were I to match my name with my av, it'd be a Loggins Name. But that's getting off topic.) Right now, since Display Names have just been added to the board, the LINs have been your DNs, but no longer. The Display Names are what you'll be changing. The Log In Name remains static. So if you're Patrick Spoon and decide you want to be known as "Moist Party Gurl" again, you'll log into the board as Art Sandusky, which is what you are known as now, change your name, but the name now associated with your posts, threads, profiles, and so forth will be Moist Party Gurl, until you elect to change it again.

 

When you're ready to reinvent yourself, here's how you do it. Go to your control panel up at the top, and on the left-hand panel under Profile Information, where you'd usually go to tinker with your subtitle/avatar/signature troika, at the bottom of that group should be "Change Display Name." In that spot, you just write your new name, like when you visit Namingway in Final Fantasy II, then write in your password under that to verify that you're you. Now's not the time to change your password along with your name. That's separate. If the name is free to use (new Display Names cannot conflict with existing old Log In Names) then it'll be approved, and off you go. You get one name change a week, so make sure you don't have any typos, unless you really did want to be known as "bigolshitty" from now on. If you're not the type to stay logged in at all times, don't log in with your Display Name. It won't work. You'll freak out that you got banned but you weren't. You just didn't read the instructions. Your Log In Name, like the song, remains the same.

 

Now here's the really bomb-ass part of this whole feature. If you go to the member profiles, under the little pulldown that shows Find Topics and Find Posts, you can now also find Display Names. You'll be able to see the names that a poster used to go by (from here on out, that is; I presume that my stints as Cock Ring Warehouse and Beastalentier are lost to the ages), for those times that you can't remember exactly who Penis Skullduggery is, and you're pretty sure it's SOMEONE, so you check this thing, and ohhhhhhhh okay, it's Cyber Mark, right, duh. There are several pros to this:

-Display Name changes will now be formally catalogued rather than having to look through old posts where people were quoted to remember these things

-This is control panel work that I won't have to do

-By giving everyone more autonomy on a piddling little thing like Display Name changes, we wouldn't look quite like such dictatorial maniacs if we were to start randomly gulagging idiots. "What do you mean we're just as bad as the old guys? I let you change your own name!"

 

I hope that you guys have some fun with this new feature, and I hope I didn't ensure my administrative demise by not running this past anybody else. I'm pretty sure I ascertained that this works, but if you're not getting this to work, then let me know here and we'll figure it out together. I'm not very good at computers.

[Guest]

Like so.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

You're fired.

[BUTT 0]

STEP ONE

WE CAN HAVE LOTS OF FUN

 

STEP TWO

THERE'S SO MUCH WE CAN DO

 

STEP THREE

IT'S JUST YOU AND ME

 

STEP FOUR

I CAN GIVE YOU MORE

 

STEP FIVE

DON'T YOU KNOW THAT THE TIME HAS ARRIVED?

 

HUH!

(synth string fill)

[Maztinho 0]

Look I'm a slurred version of my previous name!

[tekcop 0]

Damnit, I couldn't help it.

[Mik 0]

This is going to make things confusing if people change avs/sigs as well.

[Guest Bullshiterica]

That's why you can check their name histories, silly goose!

[Fökai 0]

Is there a way to add that history feature to the drop-down menu on *this* page? (y'know, scroll up a bit, see Czech's username? That drop-down menu).

 

 

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I thought that's the menu he was talking about and noticed it wasn't there. When I was looking for it on the actual profile pages I couldn't seem to find it in the "options" menu... but then I did.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I'm already regretting being stuck as a Bobby Heenan reference tribute name for a week. Think hard about your name changes, kids.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

Yeah.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I am quite happy with this new development.

[Turbo Lion 0]

Nice. I messaged the old regime about merging or changing my LunarPhoenix name back to my old Spider Poet handle or something like it and...

 

... and never heard back from that mod at all.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I accidentally clicked on my current name while trying to change to something else. Must I wait until Tuesday or can someone change it for me?

[Guest Teal-y Dan]

I'll fix it. What would you like?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

"#55, USC"

[Guest]

I don't think you can have the number sign in your name. Won't let me put it in.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

"55 USC" will do.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Thanks, 909, assuming it was you who made the change.

[Guest]

Yeah, no problem.

[Guest Czecherbear]

Since we were talking tournament in NHB, just a friendly reminder that there's going to be a freeze on display name changes starting December 22nd and running till the Final Four (ours, not the NCAA's). It's just temporary to make sure that we're all locked into our identities when such things might kinda matter. My advice is to revert to the moniker for which you're best known, or a minor variation on the theme. Gary Floyd and Cyber Mark might want to go back to those for voting/tabulating/listing purposes. Mellowblankful will probably just be listed as "Mellows" or something. If anyone wants advice or has questions on all things nomenclature, here you go.

 

Scroby is going to be listed as "Scroty" on the brackets whether he likes it or not, though.

[bob_barron 0]

I'll change my name back to Slayer soon

[BUTT 0]

Well, I suppose this means I'll have to speed up my planned display name transition schedule. "BUTT" is still in the cards, however, don't you worry!

[Slayer 0]

I'll change my name back to Slayer soon

As TSM Ombudsman, you should not be in support of this

 

Really though, this would not be the best year to take credit for my work. I haven't had a good year as far as the board goes... hell, I was gone for most of the summertime. The live chats, be they Maff, baseball, or that damn teen show that Czech and Kreese really love, are where I feel I really shined this year (CHATTING HARD)

 

Scroby is going to be listed as "Scroty" on the brackets whether he likes it or not, though.

He would have to get nominated in the first place

 

 

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I'll change my name back to Slayer soon

 

More like Gayer, amirite?

[BUTT 0]

FOUR WEEKS, SLAYER. FOUR WEEKS.

 

[Guest Czecherbear]

Whoa, the return-premiere is the same night as Nomination Night. The thread is gonna turn out like the one last year where a couple of us watched How High and that shitty princess movie.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Wait, y'all watched How High??!! And you didn't even tell ya boy! What the fiuck?

[Guest Czecherbear]

Yeah, I think so. I spotted a Judah Friedlander cameo.

 

So I was checking the control panel to make sure I can shut off self-changes without deleting everyone's name histories or deleting the entire board or whatever it is I end up doing whenever I tinker with the admin stuff, and apparently I can safely do this. I tested it on Brody, since he's in a one-man category and seems like a pretty good test subject in general. Anyway the point of this post is that since the minimum time for a new name is four days, any change you make between like tonight around 10 and Monday night is the the last one you get before we freeze names. If you realize you're saddled with a dopey nickname and can't fix it yourself, then PM a staffer and we'll try to manually fix it for you. Okay thanks!