Bloggers can now entice their readers to register — and start commenting on posts — using the familiar Facebook iconography and log-in capability.

Add this to your blog, and people with Facebook accounts will see a form pre-populated with their username, instead of the old WordPress sign-up window that lacked personalization.

The plugin works with WordPress version 3.0 or higher and you can download it for free online.

The plugin downloads in a zipped file that unzips in your plugins directory. To activate it, go to the blog administrator control panel and select “plugins” from the menu. That will make a Facebook registration option become available within your settings.

Then you’ll see a window like the one above. Input your Facebook application ID and secret, save the changes and you’re good to go. Then you can try out the new registration window and see whether it suits your blog.

I’m finding these new registration windows have more personalization than I’d expected. It’s one thing to see your name, but another thing to also see a photo, network affiliation and friend tally. No one’s looking over my shoulder here, and I’m not complaining — I just wonder whether someone else will.

Would this new Facebook log-in make your more inclined to register on a WordPress blog? Have you had a chance to test drive the new plugin, and if so, what do you think of it?