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I've been logging in to SE using openid, provided by MyOpenID.com. Now MyOpenID says they're going to stop hosting openid in February. I only use openid for SE. I don't do social media. What is my most hassle-free option for keeping my SE accounts open and continuing to log in to them? Can I switch to Stackexchange as my openid provider, and if so, how do I do that?

The following info, which I don't actually understand, may be relevant:

http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4167495&cid=44762189

http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4167495&cid=44761869

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Yes, you can. To do this, go to your profile page on the main site and click on "my logins" at the top right. It will bring up a dialog showing the OpenIDs currently associated with your Stack Exchange account. Click the link at the bottom that says "add more logins." Then, at the bottom of that page, it says

To create a new Stack Exchange account

click here

Click on the link, then fill in your email address and chosen password (and your name if you like), and click the button to submit and that should be it.

Note that this process is separate from any accounts you have on SE sites. To put it another way, Stack Exchange the OpenID provider ("SE-OpenID") is separate from Stack Exchange the Q&A site ("SE-Q&A"). When the page says "To create a new Stack Exchange account" it's talking about creating a new SE-OpenID account. Your SE-Q&A account (which holds your reputation and whatever information you've entered on your profile page on this site) will not be affected, except to have the new SE-OpenID account associated with it. In particular, the name and email address you enter in the form while creating your SE-OpenID account will not be copied to your profile on Physics SE or any other SE site.

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for the answer, David, but I'm a little unclear on what you're saying. I would prefer to keep my current username and not throw away all my rep. Are you talking about just creating a whole new account with a new username and zero rep? $\endgroup$
    – user4552
    Sep 5, 2013 at 15:17
  • $\begingroup$ Think of SE the OpenID provider as being separate from SE the Q&A network. The procedure I gave creates a new SE-OpenID account and attaches it to your existing SE-Q&A account. It doesn't affect your SE-Q&A account (which is what has your reputation and username) I just went through it myself to be sure. Note that even if this weren't the case, your SE-Q&A account with its associated rep and username etc. is never deleted unless you explicitly request it, so the worst that would happen is you get logged out. (But that won't happen.) $\endgroup$
    – David Z
    Sep 5, 2013 at 19:53
  • $\begingroup$ That worked, thanks! (Some of your description of the GUI seems to be a little out of date.) $\endgroup$
    – user4552
    Sep 7, 2013 at 16:52
  • $\begingroup$ Huh, how so? I got my description from going through the process myself, so if it's out of date, it would be due to changes made in the past 2 days. $\endgroup$
    – David Z
    Sep 7, 2013 at 18:31
  • $\begingroup$ Actually I think you just skipped a step. Clicking on "my logins" brings up a dialog box. Inside the dialog box is a link "add more logins..." Only then do you get "To create a new Stack Exchange account..." $\endgroup$
    – user4552
    Sep 7, 2013 at 19:02
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    $\begingroup$ Oh, right, I just forgot to include that part. I'll edit. $\endgroup$
    – David Z
    Sep 7, 2013 at 19:04

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