diff --git a/app/auth.py b/app/auth.py
index 6308aa8..fb68f7a 100644
--- a/app/auth.py
+++ b/app/auth.py
@@ -46,10 +46,12 @@ def create_session(user_id, temporary=False):
     })
 
 def parse_username(username: str) -> Tuple[str, str]:
+    """first is the unmodified name/display name, second is username"""
     if len(username) < 3:
         raise ValueError
+
     invalid_regex = r'[^a-zA-Z0-9_-]'
-    return username, re.sub(invalid_regex, '_', username.lower())[:20]
+    return username, re.sub(invalid_regex, '_', username.lower())[:24]
 
 def is_password_valid(password: str) -> bool:
     return re.match(r'^(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*\d)(?=.*[\W_])(?!.*\s).{10,255}$', password) is not None
diff --git a/app/templates/users/sign_up.html b/app/templates/users/sign_up.html
index 4b9a73c..14e0aa8 100644
--- a/app/templates/users/sign_up.html
+++ b/app/templates/users/sign_up.html
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Please read the rules etc. stub
 {%- endif -%}
 <form class="plank primary-bg full-width" method="POST">
   <label for="username">Username</label>
-  <input type="text" id="username" name="username" pattern="[a-zA-Z0-9_\-]{3,20}" title="3-20 characters. Only upper and lowercase letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores" autocomplete="username" required>
+  <input type="text" id="username" name="username" pattern="[a-zA-Z0-9_\-]{3,24}" title="3-24 characters. Only upper and lowercase letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores" autocomplete="username" required>
   <label for="password">Create password</label>
   <input type="password" id="password" name="password" pattern="(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*\d)(?=.*[\W_])(?!.*\s).{10,255}" title="10+ chars with: 1 uppercase, 1 lowercase, 1 number, 1 special char, and no spaces" autocomplete="new-password" required>
   <label for="password2">Confirm password</label>