Editing Encyclopedia:Username policy (section)

=== Promotional usernames<span id="Company/group names"></span> ===
{{policy shortcut|WP:ORGNAME|WP:CORPNAME|WP:SPAMNAME|WP:PROMONAME}}
{{redirect|WP:ORGNAME|the convention for organization names|Wikipedia:Naming conventions (companies)}}
{{see also|:Category:Wikipedians who are indefinitely blocked for promotional user names}}

'''The following types of usernames are not permitted''' because they are considered '''promotional''':
* Usernames that unambiguously represent the name of a company, organization, website, product, musical group or band, team, club, creative group, or organized event (e.g. {{!xt|TownvilleWidgets}}, {{!xt|MyWidgetsUSA.com}}, {{!xt|TrammelMuseumofArt}}, {{!xt|OctoberfestBandConcert2019}}). However, usernames that ''contain'' such names are sometimes permissible; see {{slink||Usernames implying shared use}} below. (Usernames which represent the subject of a biographical article are not considered promotional; see {{slink||Stage names}})
* [[Email address]]es and [[Uniform Resource Locator|URL]]s to domains or websites (especially if they promote a commercial web page) and don't simply identify a person. Although usernames that only contain ''plain'' domain names ''on their own'' (those that do not include the [[Top-level domain|top-level domain]], such as <code>.com</code>, <code>.net</code>, <code>.co.kr</code>, etc. at the end) are sometimes acceptable (such as when the purpose is simply to identify the user as a person), they are inappropriate if their primary purpose is to advertise, promote, sell, gain support, or increase the attention or user-base audience of any person, company, market, product, channel, website, or other good or service. This includes any kind of websites that function in order to generate any kind of income or revenue for the owner. Examples include Patreon links or links to pages asking for donations, or revenue-generating click-thru links to vendors. All pages that are built or designed in one or more of these manners should be considered a commercial web page, and hence considered inappropriate for a username.

A user who ''both'' adopts a promotional username ''and'' who engages in [[Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#ADVERTISING|inappropriate advertising or promotional]] edits or behaviors – especially when made to their own user space or to articles about the company, group, or product – can be [[Wikipedia:Blocking policy|blocked]] from editing Wikipedia, and are often blocked much sooner than users who engage in only one of the two behaviors. In such cases, administrators should examine the user's edits to decide whether or not to allow them to create a new username. If there is evidence that the user would continue to edit inappropriately under a new username, the blocking administrator should enable the "[[WP:Autoblock|autoblock]]" and "prevent account creation" block settings. Otherwise, the user should be offered the opportunity to create a new account or have their current username changed. Before taking action, any disagreements as to whether a particular username is acceptable or not should be discussed at [[Wikipedia:Requests for comment/User names]] ''first''.