Starting today, WordPress.com supports OAuth 2, an open authentication protocol that basically makes it easier for third party apps to connect with WordPress.com blogs through secure API authorization. That means developers can configure their applications to be able to access a WordPress.com blog without ever asking for personal details such as a password or username.

In a blog post on the WordPress.com blog, Automattic‘s Justin Shreve this morning acknowledged his employer’s aspirations to turn WordPress.com into more of a platform than a mere Web-based blogging software service.

The company has added support for authentication protocol OAuth 2 to WordPress.com and is debuting a brand new developer portal.

However, somewhat hidden on the contact page of the new developer portal you’ll find that OAuth2 client access will be granted only on a limited basis for the time being.

The only app using it today appears to be Memolane.

The developer portal contains documents and resources aimed to help developers use WordPress.com technologies to build applications. The portal is fairly sparse t this point, but Automattic says it will be adding more resources and tools as its developer ecosystem grows.