Hi, I have a user on our hosted solution who has reported not being able to change their username. They have provided a screenshot and there is no edit icon next to their existing username. [image] Additionally, they have option to delete their account, although I think this may be because they…

There are multiple settings in Admin > Settings > Users that you will want to review. Below are a few username change period delete user max post age delete all posts max

Hi @cpradio , thanks for such a prompt response… Ironically, I have recently reverted from an admin to a moderator - I can’t access those settings now… humpf.. I have had my account only two months longer than the other account in question and I have the ability to change my username, I’m guessing …

Hi Dean, That probably explains why I still have the option then. I fully appreciate I could change theirs, but wanted to get to the bottom of why the user couldn’t - I wasn’t aware of the username change period setting, will see if I can get hold of an admin at our end to check… guess I should ha…

Amongst a score of settings you’ll find if you search for “username” is username change period [image] It’s generally a Bad Idea to change usernames. If it’s changed, previous referrals to that user break. That’s why it’s so short.

Thanks for this, I hadn’t considered the linking back via tags and so on - I had explained to the user about familiarity in the community etc but of course, this is a very good reason! I’ve heard back from one of our admins who also stated it was currently set to 3 days, so this must be what it is …

[image] pfaffman: It’s generally a Bad Idea to change usernames. If it’s changed, previous referrals to that user break. That’s why it’s so short. Is this still the case? cc @team

Looks like that approach works for self-hosted sites, is that correct? If so, our community is hosted by Discourse - is there a similar option for that setup?

I don’t think so, actually – I think we improved it so user renames are less traumatic. They still aren’t recommended as a daily or weekly thing, people renaming themselves. As a once-every-few-years thing, perhaps.

[image] codinghorror: I think we improved it so user renames are less traumatic That’s great to hear! We don’t get requests often, but there is a user who’d like to change their username for privacy reasons (to hide their last name). Is it safe to say that we can do that for them without losi…

User has no option to change username?

Product Support

DeanMarkTaylor (Dean Taylor) May 10, 2017, 6:15pm 4

I believe moderators are allowed to change usernames

Allow the Latin case of a username to be modified (without switching to a different spelling first)

Topic		Replies	Views
Users' ability to change usernames: any pitfalls? General username	5	248	September 8, 2026
Can Username Change be limited to number of times? Product Support	10	1193	April 24, 2019
Username changeable Product Support	2	649	January 24, 2020
Username change wipes post history in user profile Product Support	9	2252	July 5, 2016
Ability to Change Username on Discourse ID Forums? Product Support discourse-id	5	428	April 26, 2026

User has no option to change username?

Related topics