Thoughts on coloured usernames? Should there be restrictions?

[Shortie]

I have always found it nice to be able to offer members or even an incentive for a certain group on forums to have a coloured username, however, if restrictions are not put in place as to what colours and such can not be used, it can be quite much and in some cases can make the username very hard to read as well.

What are your thoughts on coloured usernames on forums? Do you like to see restrictions on the colours that can be used or do you not mind?

 

[Heatman]

I have always found it nice to be able to offer members or even an incentive for a certain group on forums to have a coloured username, however, if restrictions are not put in place as to what colours and such can not be used, it can be quite much and in some cases can make the username very hard to read as well.

What are your thoughts on coloured usernames on forums? Do you like to see restrictions on the colours that can be used or do you not mind?

Well, my thoughts on coloured usernames on forums is that it should be encouraged. It's one of those account upgrade features that forum owners use to make money from. There are some forum members whom will always be interested in upgrading their account to get a bold, new text style and coloured username.

 

[Shortie]

Well, my thoughts on coloured usernames on forums is that it should be encouraged. It's one of those account upgrade features that forum owners use to make money from. There are some forum members whom will always be interested in upgrading their account to get a bold, new text style and coloured username.

What about colours that are not so easy on the eyes, difficult to read or could cause issues for members who may have issues such as epilepsy or even sight issues?

Most colours are usually fine but when using some or even mixing two, it can cause issues for those who may have problems others may not be aware of.

 

[Heatman]

What about colours that are not so easy on the eyes, difficult to read or could cause issues for members who may have issues such as epilepsy or even sight issues?

Most colours are usually fine but when using some or even mixing two, it can cause issues for those who may have problems others may not be aware of.

Unfortunately, there's no way to bypass this particular issue especially when the feature allow the members to mix up colours the way they wanted it.

It can only be fixed or stopped by having specific colour changes picked out for selection which can only be activated by the administrators upon request.

 

[linux.poet]

I would restrict combinations that are obviously bad if possible, like all-yellow text on a white forum. That could violate WCAG guidelines and open me up to accessibility lawsuits.

 

[Frank]

I have always found it nice to be able to offer members or even an incentive for a certain group on forums to have a coloured username, however, if restrictions are not put in place as to what colours and such can not be used, it can be quite much and in some cases can make the username very hard to read as well.

What are your thoughts on coloured usernames on forums? Do you like to see restrictions on the colours that can be used or do you not mind?

I do think that there should be restrictions on the number of colours that are available. For instance, on some forums, there are colours that are meant for staff identification, and such colours shouldn't be allowed for other members to purchase from the store. If you don't stop it, it is going to cause confusion when a new member that joins is trying to navigate through the forums.

 

[Heatman]

I would restrict combinations that are obviously bad if possible, like all-yellow text on a white forum. That could violate WCAG guidelines and open me up to accessibility lawsuits.

When there's a clause in your forum's terms of service that states your website doesn't cover for anything people with disabilities, I don't think anyone is going to fault you for breaching the WCAG guidelines to even initiate accessibility lawsuit.

 

[Ja sa bong]

It's only here on Bizdustry I've changed my username colour on my own because of a halloween event contest which is being held. I've paid for account upgrades in other forums where my username text and color was changed by the admin. I wasn't one who did it by myself.

 

[Heatman]

I do think that there should be restrictions on the number of colours that are available. For instance, on some forums, there are colours that are meant for staff identification, and such colours shouldn't be allowed for other members to purchase from the store. If you don't stop it, it is going to cause confusion when a new member that joins is trying to navigate through the forums.

I completely agree with you on this ONE! It's just like how most forum uses green username colour for their moderator staff members, when just a regular member makes use of this colour because they purchased the upgrade to do so, it's definitely going to cause a lot of confusion.

 

[Grant]

I think it's nice to give users such an option, but I only allow it at a certain point. Like when they hit a certain post total, like once you hit 100 posts your name changes to a different color, and each milestone it changes. Maybe it changes to graphics at a certain point. Kind of like what you guys have here at Bizdustry with the name colors and fancy animated font.

And maybe for certain users, you can give them special titles.

 

[Kane]

I have not explored this option on the forums I run. MY forums are basically niche forums where I want in depth discussions on topics. I have never considered developing my forums as fun community. ON Bizdustry, we can get colored usernames and I think it is fun to change color once in a while. I am not against changing colors frequently.