OK, we've now seen that there is no limit to the length of a username. I think we definitely need one; vroom's excellent work creating a formatting system for the front page is pointless if usernames like i_had_a_litle_trouble_so_i_came_up_with_this force scrolling anyway.

What kind of limit should be set? I'm at 10 characters, maleteen2000 is at 12, there are a few other long ones. Some are inconvenient to type, but not drasticly so; so what would be a good limit?

I vote for 13 characters, but I'm willing to be convinced that another length would be better.

- Ozymandias

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
RE: Long User Names
by mdillon (Priest) on Jun 29, 2000 at 20:46 UTC
    i don't think that 13 is long enough, but the 40+ characters of i43s is excessive. i think that 18-20 characters is an acceptable limit.
[reply]
    A reply falls below the community's threshold of quality. You may see it by logging in.
RE: Username limits
by Adam (Vicar) on Jun 29, 2000 at 21:21 UTC
    I think 15 chars is a good limit, 18 would be pushing it, and 20 or more would be excessive. I think that i_had_a_little_trouble_so_i_came_up_with_this should come up with a shorter name regardless. I was thinking "little_trouble". :) I'm not sure if there is a way for people to change names, so vroom might need to help with that. Also, not all of us have large screens or like to use small fonts...
[reply]
RE: Username limits
by Shendal (Hermit) on Jun 29, 2000 at 21:14 UTC
    Well, 'Anonymous Monk' has 14 characters, so 13 isn't enough. I'd say something like 15 should be enough for anyone.
[reply]
RE: Username limits
by c-era (Curate) on Jun 29, 2000 at 22:02 UTC
    I think that we should not limit the length, but not allow "_"s. Since spaces can be used there isn't a need for "_"s, and if spaces are used instead the name will line wrap.
[reply]
      Which brings up issues of /msg'ing and other bits of unpleasantess. I don't see the need for usernames that long. Others have made good points, and I think a longer limit would probably be better; 20 would most likely be acceptable.

      - Ozymandias

[reply]
      A reply falls below the community's threshold of quality. You may see it by logging in.

Back to Perl Monks Discussion