Scratch is a platform that thrives on creativity, innovation, and ease of use. However, by not allowing the period (.) and slash (/) in usernames, Scratch limits the potential for even greater personalization and inclusivity. These characters are widely loved and used across nearly every online platform, from gaming communities to social media, as they offer users the ability to express themselves more uniquely. Allowing these characters would enhance the user experience by giving Scratchers more freedom in choosing meaningful and recognizable usernames, reducing frustration when their preferred name is taken. Additionally, periods and slashes are harmless and already exist in countless online platforms without issue, making their exclusion unnecessary. By accepting my recommendation, Scratch would not only cater to the voices of thousands who desire this change but also set itself apart as a forward-thinking, user-focused platform. Unlike others who might request changes without strong reasoning, I provide a clear, logical, and widely supported argument that aligns with Scratch’s mission to encourage creativity and accessibility. Now is the time for Scratch to take this step forward—because the community wants it, and the platform deserves it.

it would be kind of hard to talk to “…………..” or “////////////////”. It's a lot easier to refer to them by actual names or usernames. Also, i can't think of anyone who I have ever seen talking about this.

brgnht wrote:

Scratch is a platform that thrives on creativity, innovation, and ease of use. However, by not allowing the period (.) and slash (/) in usernames, Scratch limits the potential for even greater personalization and inclusivity. These characters are widely loved and used across nearly every online platform, from gaming communities to social media, as they offer users the ability to express themselves more uniquely. Allowing these characters would enhance the user experience by giving Scratchers more freedom in choosing meaningful and recognizable usernames, reducing frustration when their preferred name is taken. Additionally, periods and slashes are harmless and already exist in countless online platforms without issue, making their exclusion unnecessary. By accepting my recommendation, Scratch would not only cater to the voices of thousands who desire this change but also set itself apart as a forward-thinking, user-focused platform. Unlike others who might request changes without strong reasoning, I provide a clear, logical, and widely supported argument that aligns with Scratch’s mission to encourage creativity and accessibility. Now is the time for Scratch to take this step forward—because the community wants it, and the platform deserves it.

There is a high chance that this suggestion will enter the OLoRS.

is this ai generated?

Semi-support, although this might cause issues with urls and having to escape characters, because both . and / are reserved

acohen_bhusd wrote:

There is a high chance that this suggestion will enter the OLoRS.

what the is olors.

(jokes aside i know that it’s the tolors/official list of rejected suggestions im just nit used with the “T” being omitted)

MagicCoder330 wrote:

it would be kind of hard to talk to “…………..” or “////////////////”. It's a lot easier to refer to them by actual names or usernames. Also, i can't think of anyone who I have ever seen talking about this.

there has been suggestion about allowing periods, if i recall correctly.
and i don’t think usernames like “………” would be allowed

and i’m not so sure on the slash, since that can be mistaken in links

hydrofungus wrote:

acohen_bhusd wrote:

There is a high chance that this suggestion will enter the OLoRS.

what the is olors.

(jokes aside i know that it’s the tolors/official list of rejected suggestions im just nit used with the “T” being omitted)

MagicCoder330 wrote:

it would be kind of hard to talk to “…………..” or “////////////////”. It's a lot easier to refer to them by actual names or usernames. Also, i can't think of anyone who I have ever seen talking about this.

there has been suggestion about allowing periods, if i recall correctly.
and i don’t think usernames like “………” would be allowed

and i’m not so sure on the slash, since that can be mistaken in links

official list of rejected suggestions

And what happens if you got on @scratchcat/projects user profile ?

No support. Can't explain why. I could see why this might go into TOLORs. Also, it would be hard to talk to someone who's username is a bunch of slashes.

Please don't use AI to make posts.

Regardless, I don't see why this is needed. There are an incomprehensible number of usernames left out there.

brgnhtThese wrote:

These characters {periods and slashes} are widely loved and used across nearly every online platform, from gaming communities to social media…

Who loves them? Not a single person is cited as saying that in your whole post.

brgnht wrote:

Additionally, periods and slashes are harmless and already exist in countless online platforms without issue, making their exclusion unnecessary.

Just because they exist elsewhere doesn't mean they are harmless on Scratch. Has the Scratch Team ever added new characters to usernames? Nope. Why? Obviously, it must be far too much work to reconfigure the servers. Plus, why should they work so diligently just to add a measly two characters?

brgnht wrote:

Unlike others who might request changes without strong reasoning, I provide a clear, logical, and widely supported argument that aligns with Scratch’s mission to encourage creativity and accessibility.

You've provided one weak reason. I don't think that qualifies as ‘strong reasoning.’

brgnht wrote:

Now is the time for Scratch to take this step forward—because the community wants it, and the platform deserves it.

Now you're flat out lying; nobody other than you and @redspacecat have supported this suggestion.

Note: I'm sorry if this post came off as mean. I was just trying to explain why adding slashes and periods might not be a great idea.

brgnht wrote:

(#1)
Scratch is a platform that thrives on creativity, innovation, and ease of use. However, by not allowing the period (.) and slash (/) in usernames, Scratch limits the potential for even greater personalization and inclusivity. These characters are widely loved and used across nearly every online platform, from gaming communities to social media, as they offer users the ability to express themselves more uniquely. Allowing these characters would enhance the user experience by giving Scratchers more freedom in choosing meaningful and recognizable usernames, reducing frustration when their preferred name is taken. Additionally, periods and slashes are harmless and already exist in countless online platforms without issue, making their exclusion unnecessary. By accepting my recommendation, Scratch would not only cater to the voices of thousands who desire this change but also set itself apart as a forward-thinking, user-focused platform. Unlike others who might request changes without strong reasoning, I provide a clear, logical, and widely supported argument that aligns with Scratch’s mission to encourage creativity and accessibility. Now is the time for Scratch to take this step forward—because the community wants it, and the platform deserves it.

Please don't write AI posts.

--ORI0N-- wrote:

brgnhtThese wrote:

These characters {periods and slashes} are widely loved and used across nearly every online platform, from gaming communities to social media…

Who loves them? Not a single person is cited as saying that in your whole post.

I LOVE PERIODS AND SLASHES IN MY NAME!!!

Support for periods only, it would allow 3 letter usernames. I don't support / because it is a reserved URL character, try going to @AmpElectrecuted/projects - you'll see my projects

hydrofungus wrote:

acohen_bhusd wrote:

There is a high chance that this suggestion will enter the OLoRS.

what the is olors.

(jokes aside i know that it’s the tolors/official list of rejected suggestions im just nit used with the “T” being omitted)

MagicCoder330 wrote:

it would be kind of hard to talk to “…………..” or “////////////////”. It's a lot easier to refer to them by actual names or usernames. Also, i can't think of anyone who I have ever seen talking about this.

there has been suggestion about allowing periods, if i recall correctly.
and i don’t think usernames like “………” would be allowed

and i’m not so sure on the slash, since that can be mistaken in links

Just add a backslash that can't be used or the link won't work (UNLESS it is used in the link), and add that right before every slash.

AmpElectrecuted wrote:

Support for periods only, it would allow 3 letter usernames. I don't support / because it is a reserved URL character, try going to @AmpElectrecuted/projects - you'll see my projects

Look at this suggestion to this suggestion.

unnor wrote:

hydrofungus wrote:

acohen_bhusd wrote:

There is a high chance that this suggestion will enter the OLoRS.

what the is olors.

(jokes aside i know that it’s the tolors/official list of rejected suggestions im just nit used with the “T” being omitted)

MagicCoder330 wrote:

it would be kind of hard to talk to “…………..” or “////////////////”. It's a lot easier to refer to them by actual names or usernames. Also, i can't think of anyone who I have ever seen talking about this.

there has been suggestion about allowing periods, if i recall correctly.
and i don’t think usernames like “………” would be allowed

and i’m not so sure on the slash, since that can be mistaken in links

Just add a backslash that can't be used or the link won't work (UNLESS it is used in the link), and add that right before every slash.

unnor wrote:

Just add a backslash that can't be used or the link won't work (UNLESS it is used in the link), and add that right before every slash.

That would break every link.

Was the OP written with AI?

No support. Unless the Scratch Team completely overhauled how they store usernames in URLs (which probably isn't gonna happen for a change as minor as adding two characters to the character whitelist), multiple links would break with the addition of the period and slash (especially the slash)

According to IBM, the slash (/) is reserved as a delimiter in URLs, so its use in usernames could cause problems and lead to a 404 error. The period isn't technically reserved, but could cause issues (it's used to signify changes in the path).

Sorry for the mis-understanding, this paragraph was not AI generated, I just took my time to write it out. Also just like how on Roblox, underscores aren't allowed at the end of usernames, you can also do the same. For example, / are not allowed in the beginning and end of usernames so they're won't be no URL mis-corrections such as:

https://scratch.mit.edu/users//ilovecake
or,
https://scratch.mit.edu/users/ilovecake/

Simple?

And I actually have a lot of fans who even encouraged me to engage in this topic. Atleast allow periods in names as most people know it is considered in lots of popular platforms. And 3 letter usernames or 3 character usernames has been taken by a heavy pile of bots, atleast adding this will give users a chance to create a creative name of their kind.

For those says back-slashes would interfere with creating a new pages, listen up! For users who are at the account creation page, as I do coding, python, java and web hosting. You can be redirected to the users profile by replacing the / with %2F, so if i attempt going to this:

http://scratch.mit.edu/users/n/q

(The username is n/q)

It would redirect me to
http://scratch.mit.edu/users/n%2Fq


This is to the users profile.


I don't see any issues with this, all you would have to do is replace the / with %2F.



But since back-slashes I think would cause issues, I think we should at-least consider periods!

simi suport (/)whould be cunfusiong but (.)should be ok

I support for . as it does encourage creativity.
Though have you written it from AI?

maybe support, but it shouldnt allow scratchers to make sentences their username.