For clarity, an identity account is an account that validates they user's identity through another service such as Google, Facebook, Mail.ru, and Twitter, as well as sites that support the OpenID protocol.
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Proposed FAQ Merge: 283 and 318
New Name:
How can I log in to LiveJournal with OpenID, Facebook, Twitter, or Google? What is an identity account?
LiveJournal offers the ability to log into LiveJournal with your credentials from a number of other external sites. You can log into LiveJournal using your other site's account in one of two ways:
- From the Home Page, click the Google icon (), Facebook icon (), or the Twitter icon (). You can also log in from other supported sites, as well as sites that support OpenID, by clicking the select more button () and choosing the appropriate service. From the next page, click the "Login" button for the site you wish to use. You may be directed to that site to authorize logging into LiveJournal with your username and password.
- When posting a comment to a journal, click the drop-down menu with the LiveJournal userhead to select the site you wish to use to comment. Type your comment and click "Submit", then follow the prompts to log into your other account.
All accounts that use your identity from another service to allow you to comment on LiveJournal are known as identity accounts. Identity accounts use a trust relationship between LiveJournal and the identity service to allow you to comment on LiveJournal using an identity others will recognize without having to create a LiveJournal account. LiveJournal does not gain access to your password for the identity service and the identity service does not gain access to your LiveJournal password if you have one.
You cannot use an identity account to log in to an existing LiveJournal account. If you choose to upgrade your identity account to a full account, you can log in to that specific account using your identity account.
An OpenID account has a username of the form ext_number. Its profile is accessible through http://ext-number.livejournal.com/profile, and its Friends page is located at http://ext-number.livejournal.com/friends/, replacing number with the number associated with the account. An <lj user> tag for an identity account will link to its profile on LiveJournal when the alternative userhead is clicked. Clicking on the username will take you an appropriate page such as a profile page on an external site, since the account does not have a journal on LiveJournal.
Because identity accounts are not full LiveJournal accounts, they are subject to limitations on LiveJournal. An identity account can:
[bulleted list goes here. Suggest using list from from whichever FAQ has the correct limits and be sure to include the the email validation commentary from 283. Need to determine if OpenID accounts and other identity accounts use the same limits - they should.]
In addition, HTML placed in the bio of an identity account's profile will display as text.
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FAQ 314
New Name: How do I convert my identity account into a LiveJournal account?
If you are currently using an identity account*, you can upgrade it to a full LiveJournal account while you are logged in using the following steps:
- From the Home Page, click the Upgrade to Full Account link at the top of the page.
- Select a username and password for your account.
- Fill in required fields. Some may be be pre-filled for you depending on your identity service.
- Lastly, fill out the human test, and click Convert Account.
At this point, you'll be taken to a page to fill in your profile. Again, depending on your identity service, some of this information may be pre-filled for you. You can edit anything that has been pre-filled if you desire. If you'd like to upgrade your account to a Paid Account, you can also do so during this process.
Once you have completed these steps, you'll receive an email confirming this process, and you can get started using your new LiveJournal! If you have not already validated your email address, this email will also contain a link asking you to validate your email address.
If you need some tips to help you get started, <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=207>this FAQ</a> contains some common questions and ideas for learning how to use the site.