dragotown.com § nick drago's weblog

Creating an OpenID

April 25th, 2007 · 4 comments

OpenID is a decentralized authentication system that was created by LiveJournal and is now being developed as an open standard with the help of the Apache Foundation. Anyone can create an OpenID, and the number of sites that allow users to use their OpenID to log in is continually growing.

An OpenID is simply a URL. My OpenID is dragotown.com, the address of my weblog. I can use it to sign in to any site that supports OpenID, and because I’m the only person with control over my weblog’s homepage I’m the only person who can use that identity.

I followed the instructions in Simon Willison’s article, How to turn your blog in to an OpenID, and was able to create and begin using my OpenID very quickly.

There are really only two steps to designating the URL of your website as your OpenID. First, you sign up with an OpenID provider. A few popular providers are LiveJournal, Vox, VeriSign Labs, and MyOpenID. Note that since OpenID is decentralized, anyone can set up their own server, however these services offer to host your OpenID for you.

Next, you point your site to your chosen OpenID server by adding the appropriate code to the header of your site’s HTML. I chose claimID, so I added the following code:

<link rel="openid.server" href="http://openid.claimid.com/server"/>
<link rel="openid.delegate" href="http://openid.claimid.com/drago"/>

That’s it! Now, when you go to a site that allows you to log in using your OpenID, you simply enter your OpenID and you will be redirected to a page (on your OpenID server) where you enter your account’s password. Then, you are directed back to the page you were browsing.

There are many benefits of OpenID. A standardized login system means you don’t have to create an account at every site you want to log in to. Instead of remembering multiple usernames and passwords, each time you want to log into a site you are sent to your OpenID server. Also, the OpenID server can share information, such as your name, email, or address, with sites that support OpenID and which you have authorized to access the information.

Links for April 19

April 19th, 2007 · 0 comments

WordPress & Shared Hosting: analysis of the hosting needs of your blog given several factors

How to be an explorer of the world: inspiring thoughts on observation

Working with Shared Folders and Printers in a Subnetted Environment: I referred to this as I was troubleshooting my new home network setup

Designing for Content: tips and strategy to help you stay focused while designing

HTML Working Group

April 9th, 2007 · 0 comments

Last month, I read that the W3C rechartered the HTML Working Group. Then, a few days ago, I read Roger’s post announcing that he had joined the Working Group as an Invited Expert, per the new charter. The press release states that:

W3C has chartered the group to conduct its work in public and to solicit broad participation from W3C Members and non-Members alike.

I followed the instructions for joining the Working Group, and completed the application process. Yesterday, I was pleased to find that I was accepted as an Invited Expert. My name can now be found on the list of participants.

Within several minutes of joining, I had already received a handful of emails from the public-html mailing list, which I was automatically subscribed to. This mailing list is where the majority of the discussion related to the new recommendation takes place. The volume of messages on this list is something I will have to get used to. I created a filter in Gmail, which helps to separate the bulk of the list’s email. This way, I can read through the messages when I get a chance.

I feel that by participating in the Working Group I will be able to increase my knowledge of HTML concepts and will have an opportunity to offer my thoughts. However, as Roger noted, I would like to “get a feel for how things work” before I post. I am looking forward to participating.