user + number names - when are you going to get rid of them?

[BIWI]

This has been going on for months now - loads of users who never bother to change their initial username that you give them.

It's really hard to tell them apart and, frankly, it's a gift to goady fuckers/trolls and the like.

We never used to have this system, so why do we have to have it now?

And, more to the point, why do we still have it when lots of us have been complaining about it as well?!

[AdalindSchade]

@user1495832265 is your post a joke? Why haven't you changed your username before posting on a thread complaining that people still have user+number usernames?

[WaitrosePigeon]

*they will

[WaitrosePigeon]

Don't worry B, they flag it with tech again

[BIWI]

So I started this on 3 March. It's almost 4 months later, and still we're full - feels like we're being overrun sometimes - of 'user1498q89eerue' posters.

When is this going to be sorted?

It's got to the point where I simply don't believe anything that's been posted by one of these users - especially when they start a thread. Which isn't really conducive to feeling like I'm reading/posting in the spirit of 'by parents for parents'.

What else is Tech working on? There don't seem (from a UX point of view) to be any major issues on the site. But why isn't this being dealt with?

Why, for goodness sake, given that so many of us have complained about it, can't we just revert back to the system that you set up originally?

[user1495832265]

Any news on this yet HQ? It's been promised for nearly a year now.

[BertieBotts]

You could even put a little note about zombie threads and why they are annoying!

[BertieBotts]

When I signed up I was given a nonsense name something like N9079FAOJDFOJ947897u3klhkhdjs. And IIRC (it was 8+ years ago) the welcome email included instructions on how to namechange and it was srongly suggested as something you might want to do.

If nothing else couldn't you set up a "Getting Started" page which has links to things like the acronym list, a suggestion to choose a posting name with instructions how, and a short overview of how the topic list/active/I'm on/watching works? And direct new users to this when they first sign up but also include a link to it on the talk home page.

[BIWI]

So, along with the zombie threads, are you doing anything about this yet, MNHQ?

Some of these posters are clearly not newbies - I've just AS the poster who reanimated the thread about a crying baby offending their neighbour to discover that he/she has made over 500 posts, so they should know their way around MN by now - enough to know how to change their name.

It leaves me to wonder whether or not these posters are staying 'anonymous' deliberately, to post in a goady way or to cause mischief - like the zombie thread - to wind other posters up. (And hey - good news! - it's succeeding! )

I wonder what, exactly, the tech priorities are, because you keep telling us that Tech is busy, or they're 'looking at this' or you at MNHQ will 'talk about it' - yet nothing ever gets done, and your user-base continues to be pissed off about it.

Please tell me it's not just all about the clicks these days? Because that's very much what it feels like on this side of the screen!

[ScipioAfricanus]

Thanks CarolineMumsnet, I am user1490948702! One fewer usernumber around to be irritating now; thanks again.

[CarolineMumsnet]

Hi user1490948702 Sorry you're having these password problems . We've just pinged you a mail with a few ideas that might resolve this for you. Have a look and do get back to us if you still aren't having any joy.

[user1490948702]

I want to change my name but it won't let me reset my password - no idea what it is if it isn't my usual. I can't find any way to resolve this - do I need to close account and start again? Or will that mean I can't use my same email address? I hate being a username but when I tried to change it one day in I was met with this password problem and no reset possibility.

[toldmywrath]

Now the word "sort" looks wrong. Never mind Navy hope your tooth is no longer aching.

[GiraffesAndButterflies]

It's sort of. Have another

[Sparklingbrook]

Perhaps it's another thing like Zombie threads. The newbies love the user12345678 names so they are staying....

[MrsJamin]

Yeah "we'll look into it" is basically, let's put this into the backlog as other things take priority to tackle.

[BIWI]

Flag it? But what does that actually mean? This has been an issue for months now. I can't believe that the Tech team aren't aware that this is a problem.

[LornaMumsnet]

Hi, folks

These usernames won't be around forever, promise!

There has just been a pretty big redesign of the local websites and so tech is somewhat swamped at the moment, but we'll flag this again now.

[MrsJamin]

Bump! Come on MN this is lousy.

[Venusflytwat]

The naming convention on this site is bizarre full stop. I've never been on a forum where you could name change so easily. The user12345 thing is ridiculous.

[BreakfastAtSquiffanys]

I post on quite a few different forums with different interfaces and mumsnet.com is the only one with this problem. However it is the only one where you can change your name (unless you're user6821548)