Microsoft Updates CodePlex, Adds Support for Windows Live ID, Ads

By Barb Mosher (@barbmosher) Mar 26, 2010

Microsoft has deployed an updated version of their open source code repository CodePlex. The latest updates include support for Windows Live ID and page ads.

Signing in with Live ID

According to the CodePlex blog, support for Windows Live ID was the second most requested feature.

CodePlex login with LiveID

You do still need a CodePlex account, but once the two are connected through your first time logging in with Windows LiveID you don't have to use it again. Also, your Windows Live ID cannot be used to log into Mercurial or TFS (both need Active Directory credentials).

Serving Up Ads

You can also now place ads on your project pages using The Lounge, an advertising network for publishers focused on Microsoft technologies. If you choose to include ads on your project pages, all the ad revenue is yours (and they have set up some processes that will make the ads stand out) or you can donate the money to Habitat for Humanity.

CodePlex with Ads via The Lounge

Additional Changes

Live ID and Ads may have been the big changes to CodePlex, but there are a few additional changes as well, including:

Search Term Suggestion Pop up
Syntax Highlighting for PowerShell scripts
Updates to Mercurial hosting

What's Next?

There are a lot of other requests for improvements in the Issue Tracker including support for ClickOnce, adding a tab for screenshots and allowing co-ordinators the ability to delete wiki pages.

Not sure what will come next, but improvements are always a good thing, no matter what they are.