OpenID is a mechanism that allows you to use one single pass for all your OpenID compatible websites (which are more than you’d probably think – Google and WordPress are just a couple of them).

There are like a gazillion of OpenID providers out there (chances are that you already have an OpenID – it’s true if you have a Google or WordPress account). You can use one of those or you can even host your own if you so wish.

I would host my own provider but unfortunately, I’m on a shared server right now and so I’m not allowed to install the required libraries. In any case, it’s not very hard to install your own if you so wish. There’s libraries for almost every taste, from Apache2 to C#. However, as already said, I went with an external provider. I got mine from http://www.myopenid.com . You can visit them and grab your own. Notice that your username will form a URL that will finally be your full OpenID. For example, mine is http://phlegyas.myopenid.com and you can definitely witness what a handsome guy I am on that photo right there.

If you need more information, visit the official OpenID website at http://openid.net .