Help:Registration

Technical types of Users on RationalWiki

* Blocked users

* Vandal bin

* Unregistered editors

* Registered editors

* Sysops/Janitors/Administrators

* Bureaucrats/Moderators

* Techs

Before you edit, it is advised (although not compulsory) to register with a username. To do this, just click on Create account in the upper right corner (alternatively, you can click on Log in and then Join RationalWiki).

You will be asked to provide a username and a password. Note that you can retain your anonymity, since providing an email address and a real name is optional and therefore can be skipped, if you wish to remain anonymous. There is a check (CAPTCHA) to eliminate automated spam programs or "bots".

Please remember your password for future "log ons". Your username can be anything but should not be offensive (racist, homophobic, pornographic etc.), as such accounts will be promptly banned and/or sometimes renamed to something more pleasant (and sometimes to jokes at your expense). For technical reasons you can't pick a username over 25 characters long or containing certain special characters or words, if you receive an error message pick something else.

Why register?

• Ease: A username is easier to remember (and more constant) than an IP address, allowing more "personal" interaction between editors.
• Trust: Edits made by unregistered editors, or so-called "BoNs" ("Bunch of Numbers"), are more likely to be viewed with suspicion by other editors; this isn't anything personal, it just happens.
• Privileges: Only registered users can be given a mop additional privileges, such as image uploading and page deletion rights.
• Identity: Also, if you're logging on from work or school (or from anywhere that other people have access to the machine or anywhere IPs are allocated by a central web server), you may be confused with (or impersonated by) another person who might sully your perfect reputation.

What next?

Once you have registered you can adjust your preferences (click Preferences), including your displayed signature. You can find it in Preferences, then User profile (first tab), in Signature.

Privacy caution

Remember: if you don't log on, your IP address will be shown on any edits you make. While this might not matter to you, it makes it possible for anyone to trace your approximate location or at least your ISP's location.

If you accidentally make an edit while logged out, then it is probably safest not to admit it after logging on, as this allows readers to match your username to your IP address.

Undoing/reverting it won't help either, as it will remain registered in the fossil record of the page you edited. If it's very important to you that it's hidden, please contact any active Tech privately.