User:Frostly/Account-required editing

This idea is in the brainstorming stage.
Feel free to add new ideas; improve, clarify and classify the ideas already here; and discuss the merits of these ideas on the talk page.

Issues with IP editing:
- Additional maintenance burden on developers
- Privacy concerns
- Issues with shared devices
- Communicating with an IP on a screen can feel impersonal; usernames are a form of creative expression
The Wikimedia Foundation's IP masking proposal:
- Editors without accounts would still not have permissions to complete many actions, access many tools, modify their preferences, etc.
- Additional maintenance burden on developers
Potential solution: require accounts for editing + easier account creation workflow
- Account creation is embedded into the editing interface, after "Publish edit" is clicked
- Passwords and email addresses are optional. If they are not used, browser cookies are used to access the account. The account can be solidified into one with a password/email at any time
- Passkeys might be able to be leveraged
- Username suggestions are presented (a la GitHub)
- There is no expectation that an account is "permanent"; casual readers might create passwordless accounts and forget about them.
  - Sockpuppetry concern?
Concerns presented:
- Communications/PR. If this is implemented well, it should be barely noticeable.