Editing Eurovision Wiki:Changing username (section)

== History ==
Initially, usernames could only be changed by [[mw:Developers|developers]]. In 2005, [[WP:Bureaucrats|bureaucrats]] were given the ability to rename users using the [[mw:Extension:Renameuser|Renameuser]] extension. Before 2008, users had to create separate user accounts on each Wikimedia wiki, meaning that the same username could be used by different people on different wikis. Username changes could only be done locally, and a user who had accounts on other wikis would need to request a username change on each individual wiki.

The [[Wikipedia:Unified login|unified login]] system was introduced in 2008 to make accounts and usernames global, meaning that the same username could only be used by the same person on all Wikimedia wikis. In 2014, the [[m:global renamers|global renamer]] user group was created that allowed for username changes to be done globally, simplifying the renaming process; consequently, bureaucrats were no longer responsible for renaming accounts. In 2015, as part of [[mw:SUL finalisation|SUL finalisation]], all unattached local accounts were attached to global accounts, eliminating the need to perform local renames entirely.

From 2007 until 2014, the [[Wikipedia:Changing username/Usurpations]] page was used to request usurpation of local accounts on the English Wikipedia. It was also used to request usurpation of unattached local accounts blocking SUL unification by other accounts. Following the creation of the global renamer user group, the page was used as an alternative way to request usurpation of accounts whose home wiki was the English Wikipedia. It was closed in February 2025.<ref>[[Special:PermanentLink/1275463643#RfC:_Should_all_future_username_usurpation_requests_be_directed_to_Meta-Wiki?|RfC: Should all future username usurpation requests be directed to Meta-Wiki?]]</ref>

From 2008 until 2010, the [[Wikipedia:Changing username/SUL]] page was used for username changes related to the initial migration to the unified login system. It was closed in April 2010, and its functions merged with the usurpation requests page.<ref>[[Wikipedia_talk:Changing_username/Archive_3#On_the_merit_of_SUL_requests|Wikipedia talk:Changing username/Archive 3 § On the merit of SUL requests]]</ref>