On behalf of the team at Socrata, I’m pleased to announce that preparing a dataset for public consumption is faster than ever, with data editing improvements within the Social Data Platform.

Now editing datasets is seamless, without separate data viewing and editing modes, and keyboard navigation enhancements make data entry as simple as a spreadsheet. Furthermore, with the switch from the Flash platform to standards-compliant HTML and JavaScript, Socrata and the Social Data Platform are noticeably faster, including shorter load times, due to improved JavaScript virtual machine performance in modern Web browsers.

Today’s new features also include support for OpenID, an open standard for logging in to websites and maintaining a single identity across the web. Visitors with existing Facebook, Google, Microsoft Live ID, Yahoo, and other common Web site accounts now have a streamlined sign up process with Socrata, and no longer need to maintain a separate password from their primary account.

Government agencies are working to make it easier for constituents to comment on and socialize government data. With Socrata’s inclusion of popular Web site log-in integration, constituents can participate in the data transparency movement with fewer barriers.

Here’s a note from Paul, our lead developer on OpenID integration:

“I’m extremely excited that we are able to offer OpenID to our customers. For the most common identity providers (Google, Facebook, Windows Live ID, and Yahoo), we’ve added quick links to sign up or log in using these services – while it’s all OpenID under the covers, we’ve made it even simpler to get started without knowing anything about OpenID. We’ve also eliminated the need to maintain a separate Socrata password if you wish to always use your OpenID to log on; and existing accounts with a linked OpenID identifier, can remove their password on the My Account page. Also, as of today, we now support using OpenID Attribute Exchange and OpenID Simple Registration Extension to fill in your profile during the signup creation process. And for our customers with a Socrata login, we now offer a simple method to link a new OpenID to your existing account simply by signing in with the new OpenID.”

So enjoy! All of our customers’ accounts were automatically updated with these enhancements. No upgrades to purchase. No updates to install and roll out. And if you haven’t had an opportunity to socratize your first dataset, get started with Socrata Free.