Turn Your Tumblr Into an OpenID

I’m both a supporter and implementor of OpenID (as well as a card carrying member of the OpenID Foundation) — but one thing I’ve always struggled with is that many OpenID providers force you to use cryptic, hard to remember URLs as your primary identifier.

Wouldn’t it be great if the one URL you never forgot (your Tumblr), also served as your OpenID? Making that happen is easier than you’d imagine. So, in the spirit of independence day, set your OpenID free!

Here’s what you need to do:

1. If you don’t have one already, get yourself an OpenID account (any provider will do: myOpenID, claimID, Chi.mp). Make sure you keep your new OpenID URL handy.
2. Next, paste this code before the </head> tag of your Tumblr theme. You’ll need to make sure that the URL for the server corresponds to that of your OpenID Provider, and that the delegate is your OpenID URL:

   <link rel=”openid.server” href=”http://openid.com/server” />

   <link rel=”openid.delegate” href=”http://openid.com/user” />

3. Voila. Apply the changes to your theme and you’re all set. You can now use your Tumblr URL as your OpenID!

Obviously, you can also use this method for any website — so don’t be shy, why not configure all of your sites to function as an OpenID?