We now support OpenID, a technology that makes signing into websites less annoying. On the front page, you can sign into OpenHatch with your username on another network such as Google, Flickr, LiveJournal or a website you control.

With OpenID, you have just one account, on a trusted network, that works all over the Web. This means you spend less brain on shepherding lots of different accounts (one for every single bloomin’ website you visit!) and have more time for actually useful things (or genuinely useless things, if you enjoy those).

Here’s how to sign into OpenHatch with, say, a Google account. From the front page, follow Google’s cutesy logo into Googlevania. Sign in (maybe you already did that). Allow Google to tell us your email address. You’ll arrive at your OpenHatch profile. We’ll use this address to uniquely identify you around our site.

About those logo buttons. Some will ask you to enter a username first. And you can always use an OpenID from a site whose logo isn’t listed; just click the orange OpenID logo and type in your identifier.

Want to sign using the time-honored, lock-stock-and-two-smoking-text-fields method? Click “Sign in with a password“, just below the OpenID logos. A path will open through the thicket.

We invite your comments, questions and criticisms below.

But first, a Frequently Anticipated Question:

Q: Does OpenID allow OpenHatch to access my accounts on other networks, i.e., read my Gmail, post naked photos of me to Flickr, etc.?

A: No, and I would be very unhappy if that were even possible. Luckily, OpenID involves passing around just an identifier (an email address or URL that is yours and no one else’s). No passwords, ever. You can read more about OpenID security at openidexplained.com. Check out the section entitled “Is OpenID secure?”