Wikipedia:Unified login/Finalisation

On 30 April 2013, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that the user login system will be changing in order to be able to introduce new functions for all users. In future, there will only be unique global accounts across all Wikimedia wikis; it will no longer be possible for two users on different wikis to have the same user name. In order to accomplish this, all non-global user accounts will be converted into global ones where it is possible. Any accounts that clash with others on other wikis that own the SUL for that name will be renamed (by appending the wiki name to the user name, for example User:Example~enwiki). Users subject to renaming will be notified about the change in a variety of ways, including personal notes on their user talk pages.

Originally intended to take place at the end of May 2013, SUL finalisation is now expected to occur in August 2013.

Does it affect me, too?

In general, all accounts will be affected. In what way the user itself has to become active in the transition process, can hopefully be clarified by the following flow chart. But the most frequent questions will be also answered below.

I want to register a global account

Please go to Special:Preferences and look for the entry "Global account status" in the first tab. If you have no global account, you will see the message "Not using unified account". Should that be the case, click "Manage your global account" and follow the instructions provided for creating a global account.

I can't register a global account, but only edit the English Wikipedia

If you can't register a global account, this means that there's someone on another wiki with the same username who's already registered a global account for that name. As a result, your account will soon be renamed into User:YourName~YourProject, for example User:Example~enwiki. You will not lose any of your editing history, but you will have to log into your account with your new username. We appreciate the inconvenience this may cause, but unfortunately it's the only way the system can be rationalized in order to allow future developments for all Wikimedia projects.

If you want to change your username, until August you can do so by asking a local bureaucrat; after the transition, username changes for all users on all wikis will be handled by the stewards on Meta-Wiki.

I can't register a global account, and don't only edit the English Wikipedia

Despite former reports to the contrary, the Wikimedia Foundation intends to check whether unattached accounts are used by the same person or not. If User:Example on the English Wikipedia and User:Example on the English Wiktionary are both your accounts, while User:Example on the German Wikipedia owns the global account, they will be renamed to User:Example~enwiki, if that's your homewiki, and unified. You would have to log into this account in order to continue editing.

However, you can decide in advance whether you want to combine both accounts into a new account under a fresh name. Please check the availability of your desired username at SULinfo. To do this, you will have to request renaming your account on each project where you have a local account, either by local bureaucrats before the transition process, or after the transition from the stewards at Meta-Wiki. You will subsequently need to combine the renamed accounts by visiting Special:MergeAccount.

I have a global account, but can't connect it with all local accounts with this username

Did your password not match when you tried to merge a local user account on another wiki with your global account? Have you at least set an email address in your preferences on the other wiki that you can use for getting a temporary password? As long as you are able to log into your account, you can merge it with your global account at Special:MergeAccount. If you have neither a password nor a set email address, only a steward can help you — please state your problem on the talk page. Otherwise, your local user account will be treated as an unattached account which clashes with a global account and thus renamed in the manner described above. It will still be possible to rename and merge the account, but only by making a steward request on Meta-Wiki and providing, while logged into the account that was renamed, a confirmation of wanting to change username.

I have a global account, but someone on another project edits under my name

If these other users haven't requested renaming before the transition takes place, their account will be renamed in the manner described above (for example, to User:Example~enwikiquote). After the transition, you will be able to edit all Wikimedia wikis with your current username.

As a result of this change, if you begin editing another wiki where there was previously an active editor using your name, all old links to that user (for example, in signatures) will now point to you. As this could cause confusion, tt would therefore be polite to add a notice to your user page and user talk page on that wiki explaining that you are the new holder of the username.

I have a global account, but edited in other projects with one or more different usernames, and want to attach them now

You can make that request right now in the other projects. If your global account has edited on those projects, or just auto-created a local account, they can be renamed as you require by local bureaucrats on the projects (if you don't know where to ask for that, see the index of pages where renaming can be requested). To complete the process, after your accounts are renamed you will need to merge them at Special:MergeAccount.

Please note that not all projects' bureaucrats will be able to fulfill requests for username changes in the time before the transition process takes place. After August, requests for changes of username will need to be made to the stewards on Meta-Wiki. There may well also be a large number of people requesting changes before the transition, so it could be better to wait until then.

I want to combine two or more global accounts

Generally, the same applies as in the section above. If local accounts clash with each other, this problem can still be solved by local bureaucrats, followed by combining all renamed accounts at Special:MergeAccount. After the transition process, such requests will need to be made to the stewards at Meta-Wiki.

What happens to empty global accounts still remains to be decided; they will probably stay empty due to transparency.

Open questions?

Please raise your question on the talk page. When they illustrate a general problem, a new section can be added to this page.