I can’t really remember the other few sites where I’ve seen this, but Ma.gnolia’s newly added OpenID support is a good example on how not to implement OpenID.

So I go there to register an account, and sure enough, I find an OpenID form.

I click the button, allow Ma.gnolia to use my ID, and end up here:

Umm, yeah… but no. I used my OpenID so I do not have to think about new usernames. I believe that asking me to come up with an unique username completely defies the concept of OpenID. Using OpenID in this form is like having a story line in a porn movie. Sure, you can boast that your movie has a plot, but who cares? It’s still just a smutty flick.

Somehow I think that one of us two isn’t completely understanding the concept of OpenID. Is it me?

(Disclaimer: I am not discussing the overall quality of Ma.gnolia here. I don’t use it. Others do and seem to like it, so I have no opinion in that regard.)

Yeah, I’m in. Thanks to Hendrik for the invite. I guess.

It’s strange. After two days of more or less using it I am still unable to say if it’s cool or “just too much”. Hmm.

One thought that crossed my mind when signing up: “I wish it had OpenID support.” Now, to me, that says more about OpenID than Pownce. :P

So Robert notified me that his Gravatar didn’t show up in my comments. After some debugging I found and fixed the problem.

The Gravatars plugin works fine with the default comments, but not with the wpopenid / WP-OpenID+ plugin. Son of a Perl script!

Turns out in the gravatars2.php only checks for the known comment types: comment, comment_type trackback, comment_type pingback. Comments made using an OpenID account (on Wordpress installs with the aforementioned OpenID plugins enabled) are saved with comment_type openid. Aha!

So here’s the fix: in gravatars2.php (you know where to look for it), search for

bc. if ((’’ $comment->comment_type) || (‘comment’ $comment->comment_type)) {

and replace it with

bc. if ((’’ $comment->comment_type) || (‘comment’ $comment->comment_type) || (‘openid’ == $comment->comment_type)) {

There are two occurences. (The line breaks are usually not there, it’s all on one line.) Change, save, and that’s it.

Tip to the hat goes to Robert for pointing out the bug, and narrowing it down. Appreciated! :)

Oiy. Microsoft announces interoperability between CardSpace and OpenID:

On the heels of the Windows® CardSpace™ general availability launch in Windows Vista™, Microsoft demonstrated momentum with industry partners that are working to apply this technology to help consumers realize a more confident online experience. This includes the announcement of collaboration on use of Windows CardSpace with the OpenID 2.0 specification. Through the support of the WS-Trust-based Windows CardSpace experience, consumers can take advantage of increased security against phishing attacks without adding complexity to their identity management experience.

Some clarifications and what it all means by JanRain CEO Scott Kveton [via]:

JanRain will never require users of our libraries or services to use Windows CardSpace™. We offer support for this technology as another option for users much like using our Safe SignIn and Personal Icon technologies on MyOpenID.com. We’ll also continue to support the OpenID efforts going on with Mozilla and Firefox.

(For more meat, read Scott’s blog post.)

It’s still sinking in at this point, but damn, this is big.

Okay, so the subject is a bit misleading. The thing is, see, I made this claim about Penny Arcade over at Jyte, and it seems like nobody really agrees. Which makes me sad. Look:

Right now the score is 1 pro, 3 contra—I don’t like that. Go vote. If you have an OpenID. If not, get one (it’s free anyways), then vote.