# User-name problem **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 27, 2002, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399 "2002-03-27T16:56:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Parameter\_928\_178](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Parameter\_928\_178](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parameter_928_178)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399/1 "2002-03-27T16:56:23Z")
For some reason my user-handle, which is **Parameter Π²** , didn’t come out right when I first registered. Any suggestions or comments, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399/2 "2002-03-27T17:29:47Z")
Besides switching your major to chemistry? 🙂 Don’t use “special characters” in names. Stick to non-accented letters of the roman alphabet, and arabic numerals. E-mail an administrator to ask them to fix your username. Tell the administrator “Here’s what I want my username to be, please change it for me.” Expect a one-or-two-day response time since we’re only volunteers doing this in our spare time and we get a lot of e-mails. ---
**Author:** ![Parameter\_928\_178](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Parameter\_928\_178](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parameter_928_178)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399/3 "2002-04-10T16:17:40Z")
I seem to be surviving the memory test at each log in–I’m not cookied. The weird user-name doesn’t seem to bother anyone. Is it OK, Mr. **Winkelried** , if I just leave it as it is? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399/4 "2002-04-10T17:18:11Z")
Please, call me **Your Excellency**. I suppose I could live with it (though my brain hurts everytime I look at it,) but I’ll ask the other SDMB staff members if it offends their delicate sensibilities. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399/5 "2002-04-10T18:30:37Z")
Little long and bothersome for me, I’d prefer it be changed to something shorter, less character-filled, and less prone to cause problems for people reading the board. (I see potential problems with word wrap and etc.) Please try again, Parameter. Drop me an email at [TubaDiva@aol.com](mailto:TubaDiva@aol.com) with your 3 best ideas and I’ll change it for you. List in order of preference, please. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![Parameter\_928\_178](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Parameter\_928\_178](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parameter_928_178)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399/6 "2002-04-12T16:52:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TubaDiva \* > \*\*Little long and bothersome for me, I’d prefer it be changed to something shorter, less character-filled, and less prone to cause problems for people reading the board. (I see potential problems with word wrap and etc.) > > Please try again, Parameter. Drop me an email at [TubaDiva@aol.com](mailto:TubaDiva@aol.com) with your 3 best ideas and I’ll change it for you. List in order of preference, please. > > your humble TubaDiva > Administrator \*\* Please let me cogitate. It took me nearly two weeks to finally get my current name chosen and registered. ☹ Unless you, or **His Excellency** , the Right Honorable, Struck-down-in-Battle, **Arnold Winkelried** , can change it to a (capital-Pi) raised to the second-power. 🙂 I first tried this but it seems that all variations were already-occupied names. ☹ Since I don’t know whether or not the term **[sym]P[/sym]²** is a universal constant or a parameter with the value as we calculate it, the word “Parameter” is not the important part of the name. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399/7 "2002-04-12T17:12:57Z")
The point, Parameter [sym]P[/sym][sup]2[/sub], is that, if I understand this correctly, thread titles and user names are stored in different tables from the posts, and these tables do **not** accept vBB codes or extended-ASCII/Unicode symbols as legitimate encoding. Might I suggest that you use “Parameter Pi Square(d)” as your nick, and then sign your posts as you do now? ---
**Author:** ![Parameter\_928\_178](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Parameter\_928\_178](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parameter_928_178)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399/8 "2002-04-12T17:27:24Z")
Please let me cogitate. It took me nearly two weeks to finally get my current name chosen and registered. ☹ That is: unless you, **TubaDiva** , or **His Excellency** , the Right Honorable, Struck-down-in-Battle, **Arnold Winkelried** , can change my name to a **(capital-Pi) raised to the second-power**. 🙂 **[symbol]P[/symbol]²** is the name I first tried, but it seems that all variations were already-occupied names. ☹ Since I don’t know whether the term **[symbol]P[/symbol]²** is a universal constant or is a parameter, the word “Parameter” is not the important part of the name. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399/9 "2002-04-12T17:36:29Z")
To be more precise, I’m pretty sure that the display of usernames is restricted to the default font for the message board, so the [symbol]P[/symbol] won’t show up in the symbol font, and even though Π (displayed as Π) seems to be the correct HTML code for a capital Pi, it isn’t allowed as part of a username by the vBulletin software, and probably wouldn’t show up that way in every browser (maybe only Unicode-capable browsers?) I think you’re out of luck. I _am_ glad to see you put some thought into your username, since we are loth to have users change their name on a whim. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/user-name-problem/100399/10 "2002-04-12T19:08:51Z")
So Pi[sup]2[/sup] just send myself or TubaDiva some new name suggestions.