[wp-hackers] GSoC 2009 Ideas: Open ID integration with Wordpress & Template Versioning

[Otto]

I'm still against OpenID in core for all the same reasons I've said
1000 times before. Nothing has changed there.

That said, making the core *easier* to integrate different
authentication systems is a very good idea. I'd like a simple plugin
to make OpenID work, to make Facebook Connect work, to make Google
Auth work, etc, etc. Currently, all the plugins to do this are
incredibly overcomplicated and annoying. Particularly so in the case
of OpenID, the implementations I've seen are, frankly, crap. No
offense to the authors intended, WordPress just makes it difficult to
change the authentication system.

There's changes in 2.8 to help this out, but I think a serious look at
it would find a good deal more stuff that could be easily abstracted
out.

On the other hand, any blog that requires me to register in order to
comment (using *any* means of authentication) is not only not getting
my comment, but not getting my readership either. So that's something
to keep in mind as well. It's the main reason I don't see this as a
pressing problem. I don't want to have to "join" a blog in order to
participate in the discussion there. That's a major benefit to a blog:
Discussion without the need for authentication. That's why many blogs
get readers in the first place.

-Otto
Sent from: Memphis Tennessee United States.