WP-Gravatar is probably one of the more advanced Gravatar plugins build for WordPress. This little package will ensure your commenters will have little fuss adding their pictures to your blog. Clicking on their Gravatars will lead to their sites. Other avatar sources supported include:

• Gravatar
• MyBlogLog
• OpenAvatar
• Wavatar
• Identicon
• monsterID
• Favico.ico

What sets this neat little plugin apart from the rest is the use and integration of OpenID technology via OpenAvatar.

OpenID refers to the new web digital identity standards developed just slightly more than a year and a half ago. With the new standard, a web user is able to login to multiple websites using the same ID. When I first saw this last year, something in me asked what the hell took them so long.

OpenIDs are free and all you really need to do is register for an account. So far, Yahoo seems to be the main catalyst behind OpenID standards. Flickr, MyBlogLog and other Yahoo sites are already OpenID ready. If you have an account at either MyBlogLog, Flickr WordPress, Blogger, LiveJournal, AOL or Technorati, your member profile URL is good enough to use as an OpenID.

As for me, I decided to sign-up for a new and dedicated OpenID through VeriSign Labs’ Personal Identity Provider (PIP). It’s free anyway so what the heck. This one is good for multi-factor authentication. Meaning, if you have a Security Key (Two-Factor Authentication Key) link to your PayPal account, the VeriSign Labs PIP solution is the way to go.

Besides, logging into a OpenID enabled site like Ebay is made much easier with SeatBelt for FireFox. SeatBelt is a Firefox plug-in that assists you when signing in to OpenID sites with your PIP URL. Typically, if you are not signed into your PIP account when you access a sign in page using OpenID, you need to access your PIP account and sign in. Since you must do this within the same browser window, you have to navigate away from the page you wish to sign in to.

SeatBelt detects that you have clicked on an OpenID sign in field while not signed into your PIP account and prompts you to sign in. Once you have signed in, SeatBelt automatically returns you to the OpenID sign in page with your PIP URL filled in. The sign in session continues as normal.