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ASk HN the case for going all OpenID Vs. local accounts Vs. Both

by wastedbrains on 2/4/10, 2:33 AM with 2 comments

We are implementing a user system and wanted to base it entirely off OpenID. We will store some account details, but use OpenID for all authentication and such. We were curious how much pushback we will get from people that don't have OpenID or like have separate accounts for various things. Who want to sign up and make a password on our system. Should we allow both? Anyone with experience with either case?

  • by charliepark on 2/4/10, 2:42 AM

    I think it depends on a number of things, among them being:

    • is your target audience geeky? (that is, will the people coming to your site already know what OpenID is, or will you have to educate them on it?)

    • how in-demand do you anticipate your service being? (that is, do you think it'll be so compelling that people will overcome the hurdle of having to sign up for an OpenID / figure out which of their OpenID providers to use?)

    • are there other services in the same vein that use OpenID? (that is, is there precedent?)

    • is there an alternate form of ID (Twitter? Facebook?) that would make more sense for your anticipated userbase?