# User Aliases

## Purpose

Aliases allow you to participate in livechat and ticket conversations under a different persona than that of your user account. This can be useful to:

* Maintain your privacy.
* Establish goodwill with an alias localised to an audience demographic or region.
* Force multiply your perceived team size.

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## Configuration

Aliases are managed in [user account](https://documentation.proto.cx/docs/settings/user-account) settings.

### Create Alias

Select the **+** button next to "User aliases".

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### Alias Settings

Create a new alias or select an existing **alias' button** to view its settings:

* **Avatar** — the profile image displayed next to your chat replies.
* **Name** — the name shown next to your chat replies.
* **Set as default** — sets the alias as your default persona for all new conversations. If no default is set, your user account's first & last name is the default.
* **Email signature** — the alias' content for the signature block that shows at the bottom of ticket (email) replies:
  * **Name** — can be the same as the Livechat name or different, e.g. more formalized.
  * **Content** — any unique text appearing below the name.

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### Delete Alias

In the **alias' button**, select the **X** button and confirm deletion. This is a permanent action and cannot be undone, however an identical alias can be recreated. The deleted alias will remain visible as a participant in the chat logs of prior conversations, but cannot be applied to future ones.

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## Alias Usage

1. Open a conversation in the [Inbox](https://documentation.proto.cx/docs/modules/inbox).
2. At the top of the **message editor** is an **alias button** showing the currently-applied alias. Use the dropdown to switch aliases.

The default alias is auto-selected for new conversations, and the last-used alias for ongoing conversations. Aliases can be switched at any time in ongoing conversations, but note that this is perceived as a new individual from the other person's point of view.