# IMPORTANT! If your user name has a space in it or a non-alphanumeric character READ THIS **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 12, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560 "2020-06-12T20:15:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/81 "2020-06-13T17:21:38Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Well, this really sucks for **iamthewalrus(:3=** and people like that. iamthewalrus(:3= gets ported over as iamthewalrus\_3 > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I realize there’s no point to me saying it here, but I’m going to say it anyway: this restriction on usernames is stupid. A lot of message boards have restrictions like this. It usually has something to do with how they store the user names and accounts. Unfortunately it’s not something that we have any control over. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/82 "2020-06-13T18:01:20Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Well, this really sucks for **iamthewalrus(:3=** and people like that. > > I realize there’s no point to me saying it here, but I’m going to say it anyway: this restriction on usernames is stupid. I recall we had one poster (who I haven’t seen for a while) whose name consisted entirely of exotic characters. I’m wondering if they get converted to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ or to ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/83 "2020-06-13T18:06:08Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Is it just me? Or aren’t letters just as unique as (#$%&etc)? I find those such an aggravation to put in (and remember). Please don’t give me crap about being a computer Luddite-I get that enough from my kids. At least I knew enough to capitalize Luddite. As an IT professional, I fully agree with you. The rational is that a dictionary attack is an order of magnitude (or more) more challenging. The reality is that many people just add “!” at the end of their password and call it a day. I use a password manager with either a completely random password for sites I rarely log in to and a mnemonic password for my daily use accounts. This is usually built from a movie line or a song lyric to make it easy to type, easy to remember, but not vulnerable to a dictionary attack. For example, if I was a fan of Star Wars, I could use empire&LC80 (Empire Strikes Back, Lando Calrissian, 1980). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/84 "2020-06-13T18:42:36Z")
Could it be that this is just a quirk of the port but isn’t an actual limitation? Maybe a new user could have spaces and old ones could be changed back. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/85 "2020-06-13T18:59:49Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > A lot of message boards have restrictions like this. It usually has something to do with how they store the user names and accounts. Unfortunately it’s not something that we have any control over. Yeah, I know: a lot of message boards aren’t as powerful and state-of-the-art as the vBulletin we have now. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/86 "2020-06-13T19:09:33Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Could it be that this is just a quirk of the port but isn’t an actual limitation? Maybe a new user could have spaces and old ones could be changed back. No. Discourse doesn’t allow it. I don’t know the actual technical reason in this case, but typically things like this result from the system creating a file name with the user’s name to store all of their user data, which restricts the user name to valid file name characters. vBulletin, for all of its other faults, seems to store user data by user number and the name is just a text string, which makes it more flexible. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/87 "2020-06-13T19:22:20Z")
The Discourse user data is in a Postgres database table called ‘users’ ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/88 "2020-06-13T19:37:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I recall we had one poster (who I haven’t seen for a while) whose name consisted entirely of exotic characters. I’m wondering if they get converted to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ or to That would be interesting. It read out as DeepFried as I recall but with crazy characters. You could probably find it since you have access to the Members List. It would be one of the first alphanumerically. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/89 "2020-06-13T19:50:27Z")
Found it! > **[Straight Dope Message Board - Your direct line to thousands of the smartest,...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php)** > > Fighting Ignorance Since 1973 **«Ðëëp¤F®ïêd»™**. The things I will waste my time doing during quarantine… ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/90 "2020-06-13T19:56:38Z")
I asked in a PM, and my name transfers as Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank, which is considerably more than 20 characters. Still wondering if I shouldn’t change it a bit, as it’s unwieldy. Gotta think a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Petek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/petek/32/1590_2.png) [@Petek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petek)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/91 "2020-06-13T20:02:39Z")
Does the new system allow an ASCII 255 (Alt-255) character in a username? That character displays as a space. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/92 "2020-06-13T20:03:25Z")
How about \_\_\_\__Intentionally\_Left_ Blank. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/93 "2020-06-13T20:34:29Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > How about \_\_\_\__Intentionally\_Left_ Blank. > > 😃 Oh yeah, that should about do it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/94 "2020-06-13T20:39:15Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Found it! > > [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=24444](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) > > **«Ðëëp¤F®ïêd»™**. > > The things I will waste my time doing during quarantine… ISTM we also had a user named ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯ ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/95 "2020-06-13T23:04:35Z")
I think there is a lot of confusion here. If I understand correctly, for instance, **Face Intentionally Left Blank \*\* will transfer as Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank but** FaceIntentionallyLeftBlank\*\* will transfer as **FaceIntentionallyLeftBlank**. So if you don’t want underscores in your name you need to remove spaces either before or after the transfer. So there is no hurry to rush into changing user names. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/96 "2020-06-13T23:32:30Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Well, this really sucks for **iamthewalrus(:3=** and people like that. > > I realize there’s no point to me saying it here, but I’m going to say it anyway: this restriction on usernames is stupid. It does kind of suck, and it’s kind of astonishing that new (more modern?) bulletin board software can’t handle arbitrary strings for usernames, but whatever. If I may request, can my username just become **iamthewalrus**? Without the emoticon it doesn’t really make sense to have the other characters. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/97 "2020-06-14T08:20:02Z")
Spaces appear to be filtered out by [this file](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/app/models/username_validator.rb), though it’s not clear exactly what for. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/98 "2020-06-14T12:47:14Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > «Ðëëp¤F®ïêd»™ This gets ported over as \_Deep\_F\_ied > [@Senegoid](#): > > ISTM we also had a user named ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯ This gets ported over as Anonymous\_f66420f42f1d36f3335aec9be0ff2cd3 That’s the worst mangling I’ve seen yet. Holy cow. > [@DPRK](#): > > Spaces appear to be filtered out by [this file](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/app/models/username_validator.rb), though it’s not clear exactly what for. One thing I have noticed is that if you view a profile here on vBulletin the URL contains the system’s user number. My profile, for example, is user number 13769: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=13769](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) On Discourse, the name is part of the URL: [https://boards.straightdope.com/admin/users/13677/engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/admin/users/13677/engineer_comp_geek) Doing it this way requires all parts of the user name to conform to what is allowed in a URL, which is significantly limiting. It also means that we’re probably not going to be able to change it, unfortunately. I’m not happy about it, but it looks like we are stuck with it. We’ll just have to deal with it as best as we can and go forward. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/99 "2020-06-14T13:58:27Z")
I imagine my username doesn’t come across well, does it? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560/100 "2020-06-14T14:26:36Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > I imagine my username doesn’t come across well, does it? That’s what you get for being employed by Big Spark. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/important-if-your-user-name-has-a-space-in-it-or-a-non-alphanumeric-character-read-this/855560.md?page=6)