Click to read more about Do-It-Yourself Name Changes.
By popular demand, it is now possible to change your username from the one you chose when you registered at BZP.
Now before you start requesting namechanges at a machine gun pace, let me establish some ground rules.
- Name changes will only be performed by administrators, and must be requested via a PM.
- Your choice for a new username must be available. And that doesn't just mean nobody has the exact name. I won't intentionally change users to names that are strangely similar to other BZP members, to the point that I decide it may cause identity confusion. To confirm this, search the member list by entering the name you'd like or some part of it and selecting "Name Contains" from the pulldown menu at the bottom of the list.
- Neatness counts. We encourage proper capitalizaton & punctuation where appropriate. The easier it is to read and/or type your name, the better for other users.
- After a name change, your old name will appear in your user profile. This means that name changes are not meant to conceal your identity, and this measure will wholly counteract such an attempt. (Exception: Corrections in capitalization & puncuation will not require this.)
- I will not approve repeat requests for name changes. Your name is your identity, and helps to establish a member of the community. If I allowed daily name changes, I may as well do away with membership altogether and allow wholesale guest posting. An established identity makes you accountable to your peers for your actions.
- Remember next time you login. I can already see the emails pouring in: You request a name change, I perform it, and then I get an email saying, "I can't log in!" If you've requested a name change, remember that the next time you log in to BZP, it may have taken effect. Try the new name if your old one fails.
- Your password must NO LONGER be reset. We used to require that you provide a new password with your name change request. Under this new software that is no longer necessary. If you submit a new password with your name change request it will be ignored, and your old password will remain.