OpenID Commenting Comes to Blogger.com

At first, people thought Blogger.com must have gone bonkers. Some even thought the "evilness" of Google PageRank slapfest has taken hold at Blogger.com.

I'm sure WordPress and other non-Blogger users would have noticed the sudden change when they wanted to leave a comment at a Blogger site.

"Hey, WTF, how come I can't leave my blog address here anymore?"

That would be the most likely reactions from readers to this new surprising experience at Blogger sites. I was initially disappointed, too, after reader BlueBeaverBeer brought it to my attention in his comment in my previous post on this blog.

It would be "doomsday for comments" at Blogger sites if that was for real. But after further investigations, it turned out that Blogger.com is using Blogger In Draft to implement this latest feature that's called OpenID Commenting. Blogger In Draft is Blogger.com's experimental version that does "test drives" of new features that are being added to the Blogger platform.

The new OpenID Commenting feature can be activated now and I've done that to this site. (See screen capture below)
















According to Blogger In Draft:

This feature is in Draft because we'd like to hear feedback about the implementation, and to test it further before moving it to Blogger's main site. We're also working on functionality to let Blogger's URLs (both Blog*Spot and custom domains) be used for commenting elsewhere on the web."

With OpenID services enabled, users such as those from WordPress and LiveJournal can now comment on Blogger blogs using their own accounts rather than having to register with Blogger/Google accounts.













To sign in, you use
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Of course, if you are a Blogger user, you have to activate the OpenID Commenting feature first. And for users of other platforms, they have to acquire their OpenIDs.

What does OpenID do for you? With it, you only have to authenticate yourself once and be able to post comments not only on Blogger sites but also on other platforms without having to show your credential all over again.

The powerful aspects of OpenID is that you can do away with multiple usernames across different websites. Your online experience is simplified. The technology is not proprietary and it's free.

To know more about OpenID, you can head over to OpenID.net for a more comprehensive explanation of this new technology that may well be an industry standard in the near future.

What's The Beef About Blogger Blogs?

Coming across remarks on blogs that say a Blogger blog is "amateurish and ugly" says a lot about the owner of those words.

No doubt, every blogger has the right to do what he/she thinks fit for his/her own blogging space. But to deride another party with caustic, dismissive statement without weighing the argument in a rational manner is certainly unwarranted.

Looking at the bigger picture in blogging, what impression would a newbie get when he/she reads this kind of crap? If not for free blogs, many would not be able to afford to blog at all. The blogosphere would be much poorer for it.

Thanks to Blogger, Wordpress and other blogging platforms for providing and encouraging free blogging. For some of us, we'll upgrade when we feel it's time to have a hosted blog. Not because some one tells you so.

If you go by looks alone, then there's no substance in the blog. We're talking about readable blogs. About editorial content that a visiting blogger would want to read.

Does it matter whether it's a Blogger blog, hosted or free? If the content is worth reading, then it's worth visiting. That's your prerogative.

What kind of criteria is it to conclude that a three-column blog is better in every way than a two-column one? Each has its own function, needs and virtue.

Given the view that blogs should have good if not unique content and be well-designed with the right use of typography and colors, there are many of them out there in blogosphere.

Well-designed blogs can be found on different platforms - Wordpress, Typepad, Blogger, etc. - you name it. And some have great content to boot.

In the same breath, there are just as many bad-looking blogs and crappy content on all the platforms.

So what's the beef about one blogging platform being better than the other one?

It's Just Like New Brooms Sweep Clean...

Wow! At last I got the greenlight to move house this morning. I mean moving my CommonSense with Markk blog from the old Blogger to the new one. The notice telling me to move assured me everything would be all right....and sure it was, plain sailing. Unlike the last time when I switched my other blog, WiredHoundBlog, over to Blogger Beta. It was quite scary then...like things that went AWOL or something to that effect. Read "Is the grass greener on the other side of Blogger?"

So have you made the switch yet?