Ryan’s Journey

Do you have an OpenID?

The other day I had enabled the OpenID plug-in. So now when you leave a comment, you can use your OpenID to sign it. I saw this on a few sites, but what got me to get the plug-in to work, is that wordpress.com now functions like an OpenID host. Other sites that you may be signed up with are LiveJournal, ClaimID, Movable Type, Zoomr, and a number of others. Below is a quote from the OpenID main page:

OpenID starts with the concept that anyone can identify themselves on the Internet the same way websites do-with a URI (also called a URL or web address). Since URIs are at the very core of Web architecture, they provide a solid foundation for user-centric identity.

The first piece of the OpenID framework is authentication — how you prove ownership of a URI. Today, websites require usernames and passwords to login, which means that many people use the same password everywhere. With OpenID Authentication (see specs), your username is your URI, and your password (or other credentials) stays safely stored on your OpenID Provider (which you can run yourself, or use a third-party identity provider).

To login to an OpenID-enabled website (even one you’ve never been to before), just type your OpenID URI. The website will then redirect you to your OpenID Provider to login using whatever credentials it requires. Once authenticated, your OpenID provider will send you back to the website with the necessary credentials to log you in. By using Strong Authentication where needed, the OpenID Framework can be used for all types of transactions, both extending the use of pure single-sign-on as well as the sensitivity of data shared.

So in other words, depending who you use as a blog, you may already have an OpenID at your disposal. You may want to check into it if you are interested in truly signing comments by you and only you with some web address you have established and authenticated.

Technorati Tags: OpenID, URL, authenication, LiveJournal, WordPress, plugin

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