Making an Account

Lithiel Morn

Aes Sedai
Mistress of Novices and Recruits
Tower Gatekeeper
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
12,848
Pronouns
  1. They - Them
  2. She - Her
Hello! A quick thing. I was looking at TV.Net from the perspective of someone who doesn't have an account and is just making one. You know how our Membership Manual states that people need to have a unique name that isn't taken straight from the books, etc? Well, the Membership Manual isn't immediately obvious and people don't tend to click there a lot - even if they do, the rules and regulations for the names, avatars, etc. are buried kind of deep in there. In addition, the name requirements are also in one of the stickied threads in the Introductions, but historically people also gloss over that from time to time; of course, anyone who actually likes to research and be thorough and make sure they do everything 100% right will probably dig enough to find it, but otherwise it really isn't immediately obvious.

This, however, is what shows up when people try to register, and this is where I think we need to do better, because it says "You may use any name you wish", which is blatantly untrue. :laugh: Just wanted to point this out, thank you for your attention!​

unknown.png
 

Toral Delvar

Gaidin
Archivist
Joined
Oct 28, 2002
Messages
5,629
Location
Ann Arbor, MI, US
The rules for avatar, pseudonym etc are linked directly from the first page of the membership manual, hardly buried deep
 

Elania al'Manir

Aes Sedai
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Messages
10,238
Location
Missouri
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Regardless of how "buried" they are, more people sign up with usernames that have to be changed than not. Whether or not that's a problem is a question for @Arella Mathara.

Edit: As a gatekeeper, I can actually say that a member is much more likely to have their account approved if they have a WoT-sounding name. We do have issues where we accidentally deny non-bots because they have traditional usernames with letter/number mixes instead of WoT names.
 

Stasia t'Andrei

Aes Sedai
Joined
Mar 10, 2003
Messages
7,966
Location
Michigan, USA
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Hello! A quick thing. I was looking at TV.Net from the perspective of someone who doesn't have an account and is just making one. You know how our Membership Manual states that people need to have a unique name that isn't taken straight from the books, etc? Well, the Membership Manual isn't immediately obvious and people don't tend to click there a lot - even if they do, the rules and regulations for the names, avatars, etc. are buried kind of deep in there. In addition, the name requirements are also in one of the stickied threads in the Introductions, but historically people also gloss over that from time to time; of course, anyone who actually likes to research and be thorough and make sure they do everything 100% right will probably dig enough to find it, but otherwise it really isn't immediately obvious.

This, however, is what shows up when people try to register, and this is where I think we need to do better, because it says "You may use any name you wish", which is blatantly untrue. :laugh: Just wanted to point this out, thank you for your attention!​

unknown.png
I've wondered about this as well, because there's no clear link to get to the Membership Manual since we changed themes. The top bar has a link to the Library, but as a new member I would not realize I had to go to the Library to read anything. I'd just click the Register button and follow the instructions there.
 

Arella Mathara

Aes Sedai
Head of the Brown Ajah
Social Media Manager
Joined
Aug 23, 2019
Messages
8,777
Location
Norway
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Regardless of how "buried" they are, more people sign up with usernames that have to be changed than not. Whether or not that's a problem is a question for @Arella Mathara.

Edit: As a gatekeeper, I can actually say that a member is much more likely to have their account approved if they have a WoT-sounding name. We do have issues where we accidentally deny non-bots because they have traditional usernames with letter/number mixes instead of WoT names.
I agree this should be looked into. Thanks for the tag, I forgot to put it on my list when I first saw this thread :pleased-1:
 

Rhed al'Tere

Aes Sedai
Joined
May 4, 2002
Messages
14,053
Location
Durham, NC
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
If I was a new member and wanted to sign up and immediately had to read an enormous membership manual, I wouldn’t. Especially if I just wanted to scope the place out to see if it was a fit for me.
 

Erin al'Denael

Keeper of the Chronicles
Aes Sedai
Keeper of the Chronicles
Joined
Oct 1, 2002
Messages
13,411
Location
TN, USA
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Discord
Erin#8026
Do y'all think it would be appropriate to change this:
You may use any name that you wish.

To this:
Please choose a name that would fit within the world of the Wheel of Time. Actual character names are not allowed.

Then Membership can continue to do as they do, but might have to do less?
 

Arella Mathara

Aes Sedai
Head of the Brown Ajah
Social Media Manager
Joined
Aug 23, 2019
Messages
8,777
Location
Norway
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Could we also mention that you need a surname? Or will that make it TLDR? :look:
Otherwise I think it's a great change

I'm also gonna look to improve the stickies soon (I'm on vacation with no wifi this week)
 

Nadezhda al'Lanahrin

Nadie
Aes Sedai
Joined
Jul 13, 2021
Messages
3,667
Location
Huntsville, Alabama
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Discord
Josi#9711

Tallan Daar

Aes Sedai
Tower Gatekeeper
Historian
Joined
May 12, 2010
Messages
16,164
Location
Japan
Pronouns
  1. They - Them
  2. She - Her
It'd be good to make sure that page is entirely updated before we start sending new members to it directly.

Avatars are currently housed via your Member Home on our main site. To upload your avatar, click on the edit tab in your Member Home and scroll down to the Upload Picture box. Avatars over 50kb or different dimensions than 110x170 pixels will not be accepted. This avatar will show up in your profile, in the Who's Who, and on the forums.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2021
Messages
6,557
Age
55
Location
Curled up in a window nook in Norfolk Virginia
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Do y'all think it would be appropriate to change this:
You may use any name that you wish.

To this:
Please choose a name that would fit within the world of the Wheel of Time. Actual character names are not allowed.

Then Membership can continue to do as they do, but might have to do less?
I think the suggested change would work. As for Surnames, that shouldn't be a requirement otherwise we'll have to make @Tree add to their name
 

Lithiel Morn

Aes Sedai
Mistress of Novices and Recruits
Tower Gatekeeper
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
12,848
Pronouns
  1. They - Them
  2. She - Her
I think the suggested change would work. As for Surnames, that shouldn't be a requirement otherwise we'll have to make @Tree add to their name

It has always been a requirement that I don't think should change, and Tree actually used to have a surname. :shifty2:
 

Qamra Daielin

Tech Documentation Orderly
Aes Sedai
Director of Technology
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
7,037
Location
Calgary, Canada
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
As per Erin, this has now been changed to “This is the name that will be shown with your messages. Please choose a name that would fit within the world of the Wheel of Time. Actual character names are not allowed.”

Hopefully this will help our Gatekeepers and new members alike :)
 

Nadezhda al'Lanahrin

Nadie
Aes Sedai
Joined
Jul 13, 2021
Messages
3,667
Location
Huntsville, Alabama
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Discord
Josi#9711
Thanks Qam!
 

Ananke Ruadh

Formerly known as Ananke Zaresh
Joined
Dec 16, 2021
Messages
1,260
Pronouns
  1. They - Them
Thank you Qamra and Erin! That makes things a lot clearer.
 

Stasia t'Andrei

Aes Sedai
Joined
Mar 10, 2003
Messages
7,966
Location
Michigan, USA
Pronouns
  1. She - Her
Thank you!
 
Top