Can Hotmail or Gmail users Contribute or Author

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  educoireland · Member · Jan 19, 2008 at 5:17 pm

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  Can Hotmail or Gmail users Contribute or Author on my blog (without opening a wordpress a/c)? Or do they have to open a wordpress a/c?

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  chrislevinsonphotography · Member · Jan 19, 2008 at 5:21 pm

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  No, you need to have a WordPress username to write posts on blogs. They can use their Gmail or Hotmail address to create the account, though. This is how you would add them.

  How do I add more authors / users to my blog? [screencast]

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  educoireland · Member · Jan 19, 2008 at 5:50 pm

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  Good afternoon, CJWriter,
  Thank you for your reply. Are all blogs the same? I know Google’s Blogger also requires a visitor to have a ‘@gmail.com’ address, though they do allow ‘guests’ for 30 days. I suspect that many people will find the hassle of registering, forgetting passwords, etc rather off-putting.
  Is there any way around this problem?

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  chrislevinsonphotography · Member · Jan 19, 2008 at 5:58 pm

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  Not if you want them to write posts; you need to have some way of proving who you are otherwise you could damage or spam your host’s blog. I doubt you’ll find any blog provider that is any different for requiring you to register. WP actually makes it easier than others, IMO; they support OpenID which means if you have an account somewhere else (like LiveJournal), it should be recognised here too.
  http://faq.wordpress.com/2007/03/06/what-is-openid/

  If you want anyone to make comments, you can change the settings to allow that. You go to Dashboard > Options and uncheck users must be registered and logged in to comment; and then in Options > Discussion you uncheck comment author must fill out name and e-mail. Hope that helps.