Template:Alternative account
 | This user is not a sockpuppet. Instead, this is a legitimate account under the Wikipedia policy here, operated by [[:User:{{{username}}}|{{{username}}}]]. Any comments should be posted on [[User talk:{{{username}}}|{{{username}}}'s talk page]]. |
This is the alternative account template. If you have an alternative account, please put this template on (at a minimum) either account's user page or user talk page.
For example, if User:Example for whatever reason registers a new account User:Example editor 2, they could place {{Alternative account|Example|because reasons}} on the user page of User:Example editor 2, assuming they want to keep using Example as their main account and redirect talk messages there.
Example could also place {{Alternative account|Example editor 2}} on the user page of User:Example, assuming they intend Example editor 2 to be their new main account.
Example could also place this template on any other page in their user space, that other editors can easily find. Some users prefer to place templates such as this one on their talk page. The important thing is for you to be able to point to you having used this template to disclose the connection before any issues have occurred.
Categories
[edit]There are two categories related to alternative accounts. This template does not populate either.
Place your main or primary account in the Category:Wikipedians with alternative accounts by using a template such as {{User alternative account name}} in your main account's user space.
Place any alternative accounts in the Category:Wikipedia alternative accounts by using a template such as {{User alternative account banner}} in each alternative account's user space.
Temporary accounts
[edit]This template was designed to be used for alternative registered accounts.
You are still welcome to disclose your logged-out editing (your use of temporary accounts), but as of November 2025[update] this is not what we normally refer to as an "alternative account". Since temporary accounts expire no later than six months after creation, they are exempt from the requirement to disclose alternative accounts. Furthermore, to protect their privacy, editors editing from temporary accounts while logged out from their registered account are never required to connect their usernames to their temporary accounts on-wiki.
To disclose your use of temporary accounts, you can place the {{User alternative account name|nocat=true}} template on your registered account user page. You could also disclose your registered account on the talk page of any temporary account you use, but this is optional and you might end up using a large number of temporary accounts. Please consider using {{User alternative account banner|cat=no}} in that case. The |nocat= or |cat= parameters ensure your accounts are not placed in either of the two related categories, which are reserved for main accounts with registered alternative accounts and registered accounts that are used as alternative accounts, respectively.
An easy approach is simply to link to your temporary accounts on your registered account's user page, like this:
- I, Example, have edited using the following temporary accounts:
- ~2025-31096-01
- ~2026-23085-52
- ~2026-23219-86
etc
Usage
[edit]{{Alternative account|username=EXAMPLE|reason=REASON.}}
Parameters
[edit]| Parameter | Usage |
|---|---|
| username | YOUR USERNAME: Your exact username. If your username is Example Man, don't put example man or ExAmPlE MaN. |
| reason | OPTIONAL FIELD: A full sentence, (with punctuation), stating what this account is for. Like, |reason=This account is for use when editing on public computers and other times when security is a concern.}} |
See also
[edit]- Templates
- Policies