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<TITLE>RE: [OpenID] OpenID Registration Scenario</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Hey John,<BR>
I think some sort of local display name is certainly desired in many cases. It should however be easy to then find their OpenID identifier from their profile page for example.<BR>
<BR>
As to a local password, I would instead just use email as an account retrieval mechanism if needed.<BR>
<BR>
--David<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
-----Original Message-----<BR>
From: John Wang [<A HREF="mailto:jwanggroups@gmail.com">mailto:jwanggroups@gmail.com</A>]<BR>
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 09:21 PM Pacific Standard Time<BR>
To: OpenID - General<BR>
Subject: [OpenID] OpenID Registration Scenario<BR>
<BR>
For a site that does not have sensitive information but does have an online<BR>
identity aspect where there will be a lot of information associated with<BR>
user's online identity on the site over time, does it make sense to have<BR>
OpenID users also create a local username/password?<BR>
<BR>
I think it makes some sense to have a username since a user can have<BR>
multiple OpenIDs associated with one online identity. Additionally a<BR>
username will be more user-friendly to see on various pages. The username is<BR>
associated with a unique online identity for the site while the OpenID is<BR>
just an authentication method.<BR>
<BR>
As for a local password, it seems to make for a better user experience to<BR>
have a fallback incase the user's OpenID OP auth server becomes unavailable<BR>
for whatever reason. This way the user can use OpenID when they want but if<BR>
it ever becomes unavailable, they still have access to their online<BR>
identity. From a community site perspective, it seems to make sense to give<BR>
the user a fallback auth mechanism controller by the site instead of forcing<BR>
the user to rectify the situation with their OP in case there's an issue<BR>
there.<BR>
<BR>
>From the above, I'm thinking that it would make sense to have the user<BR>
register an account by creating a username/password or<BR>
username/captiveOpenID controlled by the site and then let the user<BR>
attach/associate OpenIDs to those accounts. The other question here is<BR>
whether one OpenID can only be attached to a single site account or whether<BR>
the user should be allowed to use the same OpenID for multiple site<BR>
accounts. The latter seems more flexible and user-friendly.<BR>
<BR>
What do you think of the above and what are sites doing today with respect<BR>
to OpenID and local auth methods?<BR>
<BR>
John<BR>
<BR>
--<BR>
John Wang<BR>
<A HREF="http://www.dev411.com/blog/">http://www.dev411.com/blog/</A><BR>
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