New feature on OldInsuranceMaps.net: authentication via OpenStreetMap! A special thank you to OpenHistoricalMap for helping to fund this development :).
As a new user to OIM, you can connect through OpenStreetMap right when you first sign up, or, if you are already logged into your OIM account, you can easily make a connection to your OSM account. You can read more detailed instructions in the documentation.
And for more detailed information about the change to the code, checkout the pull request.
I know it’s a very common feature nowadays to be able to login through an external sites like Google or Facebook when creating new accounts, but I hadn’t yet waded into figuring it out on OIM… frankly all of those login through other accounts buttons have always confused me. On the other hand, creating a new password for every website you visit is really really annoying (and leads to a slippery use-the-same-password-everywhere slope), so I knew that 3rd-party authentication was something I would eventually need to add to the site.
As the user base of OpenStreetMap, and more specifically, OpenHistoricalMap, has been increasingly overlapping with OldInsuranceMaps.net, I’m very happy to be able to add something that further eases user connections between the platforms. I’ll be doing a 5-minute lightning talk about this at State of the Map US (Friday afternoon) in under two weeks, so be sure to say hello if you are there!
