• June 29, 2009

Widget network Gigya announced its new Socialize software for adding social features to sites is now available as a plug-in for popular blog-hosting service WordPress. It will let anyone with a WordPress site to provide users access to the site via Facebook Connect, MySpaceID and Sign In With Twitter as well as OpenID.

Users can then update their status and share content or invite friends to participate in specific events on WordPress sites. The plug-in also let users post comments on blog posts directly to their Facebook newsfeed. WordPress sites had a total audience of nearly 28 million in May, up 40% from a year ago, according to comScore.

Gigya says its network reaches an online audience of 250 million worldwide. Its Wildfire and Socialize tools allow publishers to syndicate and track their content across more than 70 social platforms. Publishers and advertisers that work with the Gigya include Coca-Cola, DoubleClick, Electronic Arts and Hyundai. --Mark Walsh