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After viewing this user name (which contains a lot of Unicode) I had the idea to test if usernames allow ZALGO. To my dismay they do.

Is this wanted? Together with ShadowWizard we did a quick test. ZALGO has the ability to "break" comments.

Shouldn't that be avoided before someone start abusing it?

EDIT: little clarification: I asked around and it seems that some time ago Zalgo didn't work in usernames. So it seems that some "recent" change broke that rule. While it is true that missuses could be handled manually, it could be worth to check why the behaviour changed suddenly (assuming my sources where right).

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14
  • oh. it's something related to that username again ...
    – Vogel612's Shadow
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 10:48
  • 3
    You don't have to ban Zalgo in usernames. Just some display: inline-block; overflow: hidden; will do.
    – Antony
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 10:57
  • @Antony also a worth idea, and one that I could grease if they don't change it and someone start abusing. Yet, would be nice to know why it wasn't allowed before and now is.
    – ꓢPArcheon
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 11:01
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    I'm pretty sure this is by-design; until there's actual evidence of a genuine problem (that isn't solved simply by communication), I'm not sure there is anything to fix. If there was a change, I would expect it would relate to our increasing internationalisation.
    – Marc Gravell
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 11:39
  • @Marc so now you allow anything in the display name?
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 11:47
  • @MarcGravell mind reposting that as answer so that I could accept it?
    – ꓢPArcheon
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 11:53
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    Can't really have discussion by design, so changed back to bug. (assuming @Marc just removed the first tag to allow the bydesign tag itself)
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 11:58
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    S͛ͮ͂͛ͣ̓̂̒͌͑c͌̄ͯ̓̇ͥͩ̔ͮͧ͋͒̇r̈ͦͫ͆̊̀e͊̊̏̆ͥ̅ͨ̂͑̂̽͋w̾ͩͬ̇ͧ̐̋̎ͫͥ̅̄̇ͫͣ̀̐ͬ̊ ̍̒ͮ̉eͦ́ͮͯͩͦ̊ͥ͑ͩͧͩͦ̔̔̚vͭͭͣͭ̇́̒ě͊ͥ͗̾̓̔̎͗̾͂̈́̍͂ͥ͌͛̚̚rͫ̽̉ͨ̾̄̍̃̌ͨͩͩy̾̎́̓͛ͭ̾̃̚t͒ͪ̄͑̀ͫͪh̉̄̂̓ͤͫͩ͌̾̑͐ͥͮǐ̓̌n̈́̌̿̋̽́͑̌̏g͒̿̈͛̔ ̈ͨͦ̿̊̉̽̇́ͩ͂͆̄̃̌̚Sͥ̏̅ͬ̽ͮ̎͋̈́ͨ̉ͤh͊̌̂̎̽̈͗̂a̍̌̂͒̇͗͗ͭ̊̃̏̾̄́d̄̓̀̏̉̾̈ͬ͌̾̊ͬͨ̇o͋ͥ͗͗̐ͨ́ͬ͐ͣ̑̀̽͋̎͊͋̚w̉̾̔̉ͤͮ͊ͯͭ̇ͯW̿ͪ̈́̂̄ͥ͑͛̄i͐̓͊̽̑͊ͬͬͥ̾̉̉̔ͭz̓̾̆ͪ̈́̊̐̆͋̀ͯ̒ͭa̋ͨ͋́ͥͨ͂̂͌ͪ̂̏rͩ̐̒̋͒̉̏̍̉̓d̓ͬ͛ͮ̓͒͆͂̓̉ͧ̔̆͂͂̚ ̉ͮ̐ͧ͛ͣͪ͛̔̋̏̆̽͛͑̿̾̚ī̉̄̄ͣ̿s̑̂̋̌ͭ͂͌̒̉ͯ̅ͨ̚ ̂͐̍̈ͬ̋̈́̎̚s̓͋ͥ̄̃ͫͫ̃͊a͆ͪ͂̆̆͋͌͆̽ͩͧͪ̋ͥy̑ͣ̋ͭ̋̃̂̊̓̾̆̃ͫ͐̽ͨ̃ͮͬi͐́͐ͤͣ̆̍̃͑͌̄̀̀͊ͥ̒͊ͧ̚n̄ͪͮͩ̈́́ͧ͗̊̆̌ͯ̽̈́̒̏ğ̉̄ͤ́ͨ̂̈́̇ͦ̅̋̅ ͨ̈ͬ͑̐̈́̅ͪ͌̐̑͋̑͐͊͐̎ǎ̈́͊̅̈́̅ͣ͛ͬ̋̓̐bͮ̄̅͐͆ͩ̐͒͂oͩ̆̓ͨv̏̾́͋̈̑͑͂è̓͂ͦ̈̌̽̌́̈̎̐.ͬ̉͛̋̉͆ͧ̇̌ͮ̐͂̔ͨ ̋͒̉ͣ̽̄̏ͪ ̽
    – user1228
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 18:04
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    lol, it's still funny, @Won't :D
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Feb 29, 2016 at 9:20
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    @Won't how to generate that string.?
    – Sandeep
    Commented Mar 5, 2016 at 11:52
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    In principle, could someone add a diamond (♦) to the end of their name?
    – Wai Ha Lee
    Commented Mar 5, 2016 at 12:27
  • 2
    @WaiHaLee - not possible. The names disallow most special characters. The diamond is one of them, unicodes like "🦄" are disallowed too (I have tried). For some reasons, Zalgo works (probably related to the way Zalgo works in the first place).
    – ꓢPArcheon
    Commented Mar 5, 2016 at 16:43
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    This stuff comes up more and more often. Apparently, Cthulhu has a shrine at Stack Exchange headquarters.
    – Deer Hunter
    Commented Mar 6, 2016 at 18:11
  • @DeerHunter: one name - Shog9. Check his user welcome message on the meta chat and you will understand.
    – ꓢPArcheon
    Commented Mar 7, 2016 at 16:19

2 Answers 2

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If someone uses a user name that breaks site functionality, moderators will simply change that username and ask the user to rename to something harmless. If a user intentionally continues to break the site that way, they'll be suspended. Given how rare this is likely to come up, I think handling it manually is the best choice.

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  • 2
    Point is: based on other users some time ago it was disabled... so it seems that something broke that rule.
    – ꓢPArcheon
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 10:49
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    @SPArchaeologist Zalgo will not be silenced...
    – JonW
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 11:03
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By Marc Gravell's comment this is to be considered as by-design and as such won't be modified unless problems emerge that make the fix worth the effort. In the meantime abuse of the system shall be dealt with manually.

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