Thats interesting. We (Clickpass) are looking at making it easier to choose alternative IDPs. Will see if BHS fits in, although its name suggests privacy violation which it clearly is not :)
Yeah, I was wondering if this competes with Clickpass? I want to add OpenID to my app and was contemplating using Clickpass. Does anyone smarter than me have an assessment of the relative strengths or weaknesses?
I've gone through the process of implementing OpenID and integrating with Clickpass. I have a clear understanding of what idselector does now, and I have reasonable guesses as to how it and Clickpass will compete going forward. However, I don't have a reliable way of determining if I'm smarter than you. Would you settle for simply more informed than you on this particular issue?
Clickpass and idselector both allow a "one click" login experience for return users. Both let you type in usernames for large OpenID providers to make things friendlier for people who don't want to type URLs.
Clickpass also provides a uniform registration interface. This helps new users tie their OpenIDs to existing accounts, and/or register a new account reusing profile information from previous registrations. This is especially handy if you collect square profile photos.
Idselector most likely does not do anything registration-related, although it potentially could using SREG. As a result it's much easier to implement. If you already support OpenID, just add some code to your login page and you're set. Clickpass requires some real development work.
If the Clickpass login button doesn't already work on sites that haven't done full integration, look for Clickpass to come out with a "lite" version that just works like idselector.
Look for JanRain to do more with registration in the future. I expect sites that use idselector will soon feel that that piece is sorely missing.
My goal is to allow the use of OpenID, to minimize as much as possible the DRY violation that is profiles (e.g. keep the minimum amount on my system, make whatever I use the most re-usable and source images, etc. from an already established and reusable location).
So, it sounds like the best path is to either add Clickpass now or wait and see what someone like JanRain does. Making it, ultimately, a matter of style and timing? I use Disqus, so maybe Clickpass gets one extra vote.
