Title: User Authentication Last modified: October 2, 2020 --- # User Authentication * Resolved [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/) * (@hurf0rd) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/) * Hi, * I’m just looking for some information to aid my understanding of WordPress. * I have several friends who already use WordPress. I’m not sure who all of their hosts are. I myself already have a WordPress site hosted by wordpress.com. * I am thinking about self-hosting instead. * My question is: if I start to self-host, will my friends need to create accounts on my server before they are able to like and comment? * Ideally, I am looking to gain an understanding of this whole area, so if anybody has seen a URL I would be grateful if they could share it with me. * TIA, Pete Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total) * Moderator [Steven Stern (sterndata)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sterndata/) * (@sterndata) * Volunteer Forum Moderator * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/#post-13485323) * >> My question is: if I start to self-host, will my friends need to create accounts on my server before they are able to like and comment? << * It would depend on how you set the discussion settings for comments and whatever plugin you use for likes. * Thread Starter [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/) * (@hurf0rd) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/#post-13485761) * Sorry, I should have said. A user is required to be authenticated before they are permitted to comment/like. No interaction is anonymous except for “read”. * I guess the question boils down to what they are authenticated against. A table on my server of some common service? * I was wondering whether gravatar might play some part here. - This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/). * Moderator [Steven Stern (sterndata)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sterndata/) * (@sterndata) * Volunteer Forum Moderator * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/#post-13485803) * >> I guess the question boils down to what they are authenticated against. << * Again, it depends. If you use Jetpack comments, then wp.com. Natively, your own user database. If you use discuz, then their database. * Thread Starter [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/) * (@hurf0rd) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/#post-13486754) * Okay, thanks, Steven. I have never heard the word “discuz” before, so I think I need to research that. It sounds exactly like the third-party authentication system which I thought must be involved. * Thank very much you for your help. * Moderator [Steven Stern (sterndata)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sterndata/) * (@sterndata) * Volunteer Forum Moderator * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/#post-13487652) * I spelled it wrong. [https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/disqus/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/disqus/) * Thread Starter [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/) * (@hurf0rd) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/#post-13488220) * Ah, that would explain it. The other *does* exist but is a Chinese forum engine! 🤣 * I think I might have heard of disqus, although I didn’t previously register the significance. But that is a useful lead, thanks. * Thread Starter [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/) * (@hurf0rd) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/#post-13489175) * I went ahead and, on some other space I rent, configured a standalone WordPress installation (installing the Disqus plugin). * So now I am running my wp.com and wp.org sites side-by-side. It’s kinda interesting to see both the similarities and the differences. Something like Akismet is standard( and mandatory) on wp.com but is an optional plugin on wp.org. Like Disqus, Akismet is a standalone service which requires registration. * While Disqus is the cross-site mechanism I thought *must* exist, it appears not to be the mechanism used by wp.com. * It was a useful experiment, just because it highlighted exactly what I am paying for on the .com site. I don’t find the differences between .org and .com to be very widely known. - This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/). * Moderator [Steven Stern (sterndata)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sterndata/) * (@sterndata) * Volunteer Forum Moderator * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/#post-13489814) * Use Jetpack’s discussion module to get the same commenting as used on wp.com * Thread Starter [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/) * (@hurf0rd) * [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/#post-13490078) * yup, found that, thanks. * Did not need disqus at all to connect just wp.com. * Had an initial glitch when first configuring Jetpack – I connected as my existing wp.com account. Setup succeeded but thereafter I couldn’t swap identities on the self-host. So neewed to create a fresh account on wp.com, set up JetPack on this account, was then able to log in with my original wp account and comment as a different user. * I realise that description could be better – if anybody reads this thread in the future please just respond and I will try to explain further. * Thanks, Steve. Setting things up hands-on has given me a far better understanding. - This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/). - This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/). Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total) The topic ‘User Authentication’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [authentication](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/authentication/) * In: [Everything else WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/miscellaneous/) * 9 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [hurf0rd](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hurf0rd/) * Last activity: [5 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/user-authentication-4/#post-13490078) * Status: resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics