Wikiversity:Why create an account

This page explains why you should create a user account and join the other registered users of English Wikiversity.

Reputation and Privacy
You do not need to reveal your offline identity, but having an account gives you a fixed, Wikiversity identity that other users will recognize. Editing Wikiversity, while logged in, lets you build trust and respect through a history of good edits. It is also easier to communicate and collaborate with an editor if we know who you are (at least, who you are on Wikiversity). It is also easier for veteran users to assume good faith from new users who take the effort to create an account (and you may well become a veteran user yourself someday!).

If you are not logged in, all your edits are publicly associated with your IP address at the time of that edit. If you log in, all your edits are publicly associated with your account name, and are internally associated with your IP address. See Wikiversity's privacy policy for more information on this practice.

You are actually more anonymous (though more pseudonymous) logged in than you are as an "anonymous" editor, owing to the hiding of your IP address. Before selecting your username, you should consider various factors, including privacy and the possibility of offline harassment. For example, if you include personal information, such as your email address, in your Wikiversity username, you may attract junk mail to your email account.

Voting
If you are logged in, you may see near the top of your window a message similar to: '''Voting has begun in the elections! Voting ends at UTC. Verify your eligibility and vote now.'''

Click on the link, follow the instructions, and, provided that you meet all qualifications, you will be able to vote in that particular election. The first requirement for eligibility to vote in any election is that you must be logged in. If not logged in, you cannot vote.

For most registered users, eligibility to vote requires a history of good edits, available only to registered users who log in and generate proof of good faith through such a history. If you create an account, login to your account, and do good work on Wikiversity, in time you will become eligible to vote in elections held by Wikiversity and other members of the Wiki Foundation.

Upload file
If you are not logged in, there are limited selections available under "Tools" menu to the left. If you are logged in, an additional selection appears, "Upload file." When you are logged in, you can upload a file to Wikiversity. If not logged in, you cannot upload. This is how the Wikiversity community assumes good faith on behalf of all registered users who log in. If you create an account and login to your account, you are rewarded with this powerful tool.

Thank and be thanked
If you are not logged and you view the history of any page, it seems that everything is there that should be there. However, if you are logged in and you review the history of any page, another option appears against the work of another user who was logged in and recorded a change, "thank." If you are logged in when you contribute to Wikiversity, you can be "thanked" for your work, but only by another user who is logged in. If you are not logged in, you cannot "thank" or be "thanked."

New Pages
If you are not logged in, the number of new pages you may create is limited. If you are logged in and your account is autoconfirmed, this restriction is lifted.

Cookies
Make sure you set the browser's preferences to accept cookies from Wikiversity. Special:Log/newusers will show when your user account is created. If your browser is not accepting cookies, then you can create an account, but you will not be able to log in to your account. If you create an account while not accepting cookies, you will see this message after you create your account: