diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/login_controller.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/login_controller.js
index 5ea6a4c39dd..55c3c309886 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/login_controller.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/login_controller.js
@@ -16,19 +16,12 @@ Discourse.LoginController = Discourse.Controller.extend(Discourse.ModalFunctiona
     return Discourse.Site.instance();
   }.property(),
 
-
   /**
    Determines whether at least one login button is enabled
   **/
   hasAtLeastOneLoginButton: function() {
-    return Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_google_logins ||
-           Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_facebook_logins ||
-           Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_cas_logins ||
-           Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_twitter_logins ||
-           Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_yahoo_logins ||
-           Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_github_logins ||
-           Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_persona_logins;
-  }.property(),
+    return Em.get("Discourse.LoginMethod.all").length > 0;
+  }.property("Discourse.LoginMethod.all.@each"),
 
   loginButtonText: function() {
     return this.get('loggingIn') ? I18n.t('login.logging_in') : I18n.t('login.title');
@@ -78,54 +71,30 @@ Discourse.LoginController = Discourse.Controller.extend(Discourse.ModalFunctiona
 
   authMessage: (function() {
     if (this.blank('authenticate')) return "";
-    return I18n.t("login." + (this.get('authenticate')) + ".message");
+    var method = Discourse.get('LoginMethod.all').findProperty("name", this.get("authenticate"));
+    if(method){
+      return method.get('message');
+    }
   }).property('authenticate'),
 
-  twitterLogin: function() {
-    this.set('authenticate', 'twitter');
-    var left = this.get('lastX') - 400;
-    var top = this.get('lastY') - 200;
-    return window.open(Discourse.getURL("/auth/twitter"), "_blank", "menubar=no,status=no,height=400,width=800,left=" + left + ",top=" + top);
-  },
+  externalLogin: function(loginMethod){
+    var name = loginMethod.get("name");
+    var customLogin = loginMethod.get("customLogin");
 
-  facebookLogin: function() {
-    this.set('authenticate', 'facebook');
-    var left = this.get('lastX') - 400;
-    var top = this.get('lastY') - 200;
-    return window.open(Discourse.getURL("/auth/facebook"), "_blank", "menubar=no,status=no,height=400,width=800,left=" + left + ",top=" + top);
-  },
-
-  casLogin: function() {
-    var left, top;
-    this.set('authenticate', 'cas');
-    left = this.get('lastX') - 400;
-    top = this.get('lastY') - 200;
-    return window.open("/auth/cas", "_blank", "menubar=no,status=no,height=400,width=800,left=" + left + ",top=" + top);
-   },
-
-  openidLogin: function(provider) {
-    var left = this.get('lastX') - 400;
-    var top = this.get('lastY') - 200;
-    if (provider === "yahoo") {
-      this.set("authenticate", 'yahoo');
-      return window.open(Discourse.getURL("/auth/yahoo"), "_blank", "menubar=no,status=no,height=400,width=800,left=" + left + ",top=" + top);
+    if(customLogin){
+      customLogin();
     } else {
-      window.open(Discourse.getURL("/auth/google"), "_blank", "menubar=no,status=no,height=500,width=850,left=" + left + ",top=" + top);
-      return this.set("authenticate", 'google');
+      this.set('authenticate', name);
+      var left = this.get('lastX') - 400;
+      var top = this.get('lastY') - 200;
+
+      var height = loginMethod.get("frameHeight") || 400;
+      var width = loginMethod.get("frameWidth") || 800;
+      window.open(Discourse.getURL("/auth/" + name), "_blank",
+          "menubar=no,status=no,height=" + height + ",width=" + width +  ",left=" + left + ",top=" + top);
     }
   },
 
-  githubLogin: function() {
-    this.set('authenticate', 'github');
-    var left = this.get('lastX') - 400;
-    var top = this.get('lastY') - 200;
-    return window.open(Discourse.getURL("/auth/github"), "_blank", "menubar=no,status=no,height=400,width=800,left=" + left + ",top=" + top);
-  },
-
-  personaLogin: function() {
-    navigator.id.request();
-  },
-
   authenticationComplete: function(options) {
     if (options.awaiting_approval) {
       this.flash(I18n.t('login.awaiting_approval'), 'success');
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/login_method.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/login_method.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5d11e3c2101
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/models/login_method.js
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+Discourse.LoginMethod = Ember.Object.extend({
+  title: function(){
+    return this.get("titleOverride") || I18n.t("login." + this.get("name") + ".title");
+  }.property(),
+
+  message: function(){
+    return this.get("messageOverride") || I18n.t("login." + this.get("name") + ".message");
+  }.property()
+});
+
+// Note, you can add login methods by adding to the list
+//  just Em.get("Discourse.LoginMethod.all") and then
+//  pushObject for any new methods
+Discourse.LoginMethod.reopenClass({
+  register: function(method){
+    if(this.methods){
+      this.methods.pushObject(method);
+    } else {
+      this.preRegister = this.preRegister || [];
+      this.preRegister.push(method);
+    }
+  },
+
+  all: function(){
+    if (this.methods) { return this.methods; }
+
+    var methods = this.methods = Em.A();
+
+    /*
+     * enable_google_logins etc.
+     * */
+
+    [ "google",
+      "facebook",
+      "cas",
+      "twitter",
+      "yahoo",
+      "github",
+      "persona"
+    ].forEach(function(name){
+      if(Discourse.SiteSettings["enable_" + name + "_logins"]){
+
+        var params = {name: name};
+
+        if(name === "persona") {
+          params.customLogin = function(){
+            navigator.id.request();
+          };
+        }
+
+        if(name === "google") {
+          params.frameWidth = 850;
+          params.frameHeight = 500;
+        }
+
+        methods.pushObject(Discourse.LoginMethod.create(params));
+      }
+    });
+
+    if (this.preRegister){
+      this.preRegister.forEach(function(method){
+        methods.pushObject(method);
+      });
+      delete this.preRegister;
+    }
+    return methods;
+  }.property()
+});
+
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/modal/login.js.handlebars b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/modal/login.js.handlebars
index 53904f4c3f9..b0bf035c4cf 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/modal/login.js.handlebars
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/modal/login.js.handlebars
@@ -1,27 +1,9 @@
 <div class="modal-body">
   {{#if hasAtLeastOneLoginButton}}
     <div id="login-buttons">
-      {{#if Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_google_logins}}
-        <button class="btn btn-social google" title="{{i18n login.google.title}}" {{action openidLogin "google"}}>{{i18n login.google.title}}</button>
-      {{/if}}
-      {{#if Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_facebook_logins}}
-        <button class="btn btn-social facebook" title="{{i18n login.facebook.title}}" {{action "facebookLogin"}}>{{i18n login.facebook.title}}</button>
-      {{/if}}
-      {{#if Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_cas_logins}}
-        <button class="btn btn-social cas" title="{{i18n login.cas.title}}" {{action "casLogin"}}>{{i18n login.cas.title}}</button>
-      {{/if}}
-      {{#if Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_twitter_logins}}
-        <button class="btn btn-social twitter" title="{{i18n login.twitter.title}}" {{action "twitterLogin"}}>{{i18n login.twitter.title}}</button>
-      {{/if}}
-      {{#if Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_yahoo_logins}}
-        <button class="btn btn-social yahoo" title="{{i18n login.yahoo.title}}" {{action openidLogin "yahoo"}}>{{i18n login.yahoo.title}}</button>
-      {{/if}}
-      {{#if Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_github_logins}}
-        <button class="btn btn-social github" title="{{i18n login.github.title}}" {{action "githubLogin"}}>{{i18n login.github.title}}</button>
-      {{/if}}
-      {{#if Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_persona_logins}}
-        <button class="btn btn-social persona" title="{{i18n login.persona.title}}" {{action "personaLogin"}}>{{i18n login.persona.title}}</button>
-      {{/if}}
+      {{#each Discourse.LoginMethod.all}}
+        <button class="btn btn-social {{unbound name}}" {{action externalLogin this}}>{{title}}</button>
+      {{/each}}
     </div>
   {{/if}}
   {{#if Discourse.SiteSettings.enable_local_logins}}
diff --git a/app/controllers/users/omniauth_callbacks_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users/omniauth_callbacks_controller.rb
index 168e1bc95ef..a76cbd9ece4 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users/omniauth_callbacks_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users/omniauth_callbacks_controller.rb
@@ -20,15 +20,28 @@ class Users::OmniauthCallbacksController < ApplicationController
   skip_before_filter :verify_authenticity_token, only: :complete
 
   def complete
-    # Make sure we support that provider
     provider = params[:provider]
-    raise Discourse::InvalidAccess.new unless self.class.types.keys.map(&:to_s).include?(provider)
 
-    # Check if the provider is enabled
-    raise Discourse::InvalidAccess.new("provider is not enabled") unless SiteSetting.send("enable_#{provider}_logins?")
+    # If we are a plugin, then try to login with it
+    found = false
+    Discourse.auth_providers.each do |p|
+      if p.name == provider && p.type == :open_id
+        create_or_sign_on_user_using_openid request.env["omniauth.auth"]
+        found = true
+        break
+      end
+    end
 
-    # Call the appropriate logic
-    send("create_or_sign_on_user_using_#{provider}", request.env["omniauth.auth"])
+    unless found
+      # Make sure we support that provider
+      raise Discourse::InvalidAccess.new unless self.class.types.keys.map(&:to_s).include?(provider)
+
+      # Check if the provider is enabled
+      raise Discourse::InvalidAccess.new("provider is not enabled") unless SiteSetting.send("enable_#{provider}_logins?")
+
+      # Call the appropriate logic
+      send("create_or_sign_on_user_using_#{provider}", request.env["omniauth.auth"])
+    end
 
     @data[:awaiting_approval] = true if invite_only?
 
diff --git a/config/application.rb b/config/application.rb
index 4aa0a2f1b21..311174a58cc 100644
--- a/config/application.rb
+++ b/config/application.rb
@@ -119,6 +119,11 @@ module Discourse
     # attr_accessible.
     config.active_record.whitelist_attributes = false
 
+    unless Rails.env.test?
+      require 'plugin'
+      Discourse.activate_plugins!
+    end
+
     # So open id logs somewhere sane
     config.after_initialize do
       OpenID::Util.logger = Rails.logger
@@ -131,9 +136,6 @@ module Discourse
           Clockwork.run
         end
       end
-
     end
-
-
   end
 end
diff --git a/config/initializers/omniauth.rb b/config/initializers/omniauth.rb
index 18c4a8d1891..1300c64f915 100644
--- a/config/initializers/omniauth.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/omniauth.rb
@@ -18,8 +18,18 @@ Rails.application.config.middleware.use OmniAuth::Builder do
            :identifier => 'https://me.yahoo.com',
            :require => 'omniauth-openid'
 
-  # lambda is required for proper multisite support, 
-  #  without it subdomains will not function correctly 
+  Discourse.auth_providers.each do |p|
+    if p.type == :open_id
+      provider :open_id, {
+        :name => p.name,
+        :store => OpenID::Store::Redis.new($redis),
+        :require => 'omniauth-openid'
+      }.merge(p.options)
+    end
+  end
+
+  # lambda is required for proper multisite support,
+  #  without it subdomains will not function correctly
   provider :facebook,
            :setup => lambda { |env|
               strategy = env['omniauth.strategy']
diff --git a/lib/auth_provider.rb b/lib/auth_provider.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dc8c9524006
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/auth_provider.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+class AuthProvider
+  attr_accessor :type, :glyph, :background_color, :name, :title,
+                :message, :frame_width, :frame_height, :options
+end
diff --git a/lib/discourse.rb b/lib/discourse.rb
index f8fe64be856..b9829e5111b 100644
--- a/lib/discourse.rb
+++ b/lib/discourse.rb
@@ -23,6 +23,31 @@ module Discourse
   # Cross site request forgery
   class CSRF < Exception; end
 
+  def self.activate_plugins!
+    @plugins = Plugin.find_all("#{Rails.root}/plugins")
+    @plugins.each do |plugin|
+      plugin.activate!
+    end
+  end
+
+  def self.plugins
+    @plugins
+  end
+
+  def self.auth_providers
+    providers = nil
+    if plugins
+      plugins.each do |p|
+        next unless p.auth_providers
+        p.auth_providers.each do |prov|
+          providers ||= []
+          providers << prov
+        end
+      end
+    end
+    providers
+  end
+
   def self.cache
     @cache ||= Cache.new
   end
diff --git a/lib/discourse_plugin_registry.rb b/lib/discourse_plugin_registry.rb
index bf5fa95fa88..11d12d18b28 100644
--- a/lib/discourse_plugin_registry.rb
+++ b/lib/discourse_plugin_registry.rb
@@ -7,21 +7,22 @@ class DiscoursePluginRegistry
     attr_accessor :javascripts
     attr_accessor :server_side_javascripts
     attr_accessor :stylesheets
+
+    # Default accessor values
+    #
+    def stylesheets
+      @stylesheets ||= Set.new
+    end
+
+    def javascripts
+      @javascripts ||= Set.new
+    end
+
+    def server_side_javascripts
+      @server_side_javascripts ||= Set.new
+    end
   end
 
-  # Default accessor values
-  #
-  def self.stylesheets
-    @stylesheets ||= Set.new
-  end
-
-  def self.javascripts
-    @javascripts ||= Set.new
-  end
-
-  def self.server_side_javascripts
-    @server_side_javascripts ||= Set.new
-  end
 
   def register_js(filename, options={})
     # If we have a server side option, add that too.
diff --git a/lib/plugin.rb b/lib/plugin.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..faef47cafe8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/plugin.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+require_dependency 'auth_provider'
+require 'digest/sha1'
+require 'fileutils'
+
+class Plugin
+
+  METADATA = [:name, :about, :version, :authors]
+
+  attr_accessor :path
+  attr_accessor *METADATA
+  attr_reader :auth_providers
+  attr_reader :assets
+
+  def self.find_all(parent_path)
+    plugins = []
+    Dir["#{parent_path}/**/plugin.rb"].each do |path|
+      plugin = parse(File.read(path))
+      plugin.path = path
+      plugins << plugin
+    end
+
+    plugins
+  end
+
+  def self.parse(text)
+    plugin = self.new
+
+    text.each_line do |line|
+      break unless plugin.parse_line(line)
+    end
+
+    plugin
+  end
+
+  def initialize
+    @assets = []
+  end
+
+  def parse_line(line)
+    line = line.strip
+
+    unless line.empty?
+      return false unless line[0] == "#"
+      attribute, *description = line[1..-1].split(":")
+
+      description = description.join(":")
+      attribute = attribute.strip.to_sym
+
+      if METADATA.include?(attribute)
+        self.send("#{attribute}=", description.strip)
+      end
+    end
+
+    true
+  end
+
+  # will make sure all the assets this plugin needs are registered
+  def generate_automatic_assets!
+    paths = []
+    automatic_assets.each do |path, contents|
+      unless File.exists? path
+        ensure_directory path
+        File.open(path,"w") do |f|
+          f.write(contents)
+        end
+      end
+      paths << path
+    end
+
+    delete_extra_automatic_assets(paths)
+
+    paths
+  end
+
+  def delete_extra_automatic_assets(good_paths)
+    filenames = good_paths.map{|f| File.basename(f)}
+    # nuke old files
+    Dir.foreach(auto_generated_path) do |p|
+      next if [".", ".."].include?(p)
+      next if filenames.include?(p)
+      File.delete(auto_generated_path + "/#{p}")
+    end
+  end
+
+  def ensure_directory(path)
+    dirname = File.dirname(path)
+    unless File.directory?(dirname)
+      FileUtils.mkdir_p(dirname)
+    end
+  end
+
+  def auto_generated_path
+    File.dirname(path) << "/auto_generated"
+  end
+
+  def register_css(style)
+    @styles ||= []
+    @styles << style
+  end
+
+  def register_javascript(js)
+    @javascripts ||= []
+    @javascripts << js
+  end
+
+  def automatic_assets
+    css = ""
+    js = "(function(){"
+
+    css = @styles.join("\n") if @styles
+    js = @javascripts.join("\n") if @javascripts
+
+    unless auth_providers.blank?
+      auth_providers.each do |auth|
+        overrides = ""
+        overrides = ", titleOverride: '#{auth.title}'" if auth.title
+        overrides << ", messageOverride: '#{auth.message}'" if auth.message
+        overrides << ", frameWidth: '#{auth.frame_width}'" if auth.frame_width
+        overrides << ", frameHeight: '#{auth.frame_height}'" if auth.frame_height
+
+        js << "Discourse.LoginMethod.register(Discourse.LoginMethod.create({name: '#{auth.name}'#{overrides}}));\n"
+
+        if auth.glyph
+          css << ".btn-social.#{auth.name}:before{ content: '#{auth.glyph}'; }\n"
+        end
+
+        if auth.background_color
+          css << ".btn-social.#{auth.name}{ background: #{auth.background_color}; }\n"
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    js << "})();"
+
+    # TODO don't serve blank assets
+    [[css,"css"],[js,"js"]].map do |asset, extension|
+      hash = Digest::SHA1.hexdigest asset
+      ["#{auto_generated_path}/plugin_#{hash}.#{extension}", asset]
+    end
+
+  end
+
+  # note, we need to be able to parse seperately to activation.
+  # this allows us to present information about a plugin in the UI
+  # prior to activations
+  def activate!
+    self.instance_eval File.read(path)
+    if auto_assets = generate_automatic_assets!
+      assets.concat auto_assets
+    end
+    unless assets.blank?
+      paths = []
+      assets.each do |asset|
+        if asset =~ /\.js$/
+          DiscoursePluginRegistry.javascripts << asset
+        elsif asset =~ /\.css$|\.scss$/
+          DiscoursePluginRegistry.stylesheets << asset
+        end
+        paths << File.dirname(asset)
+      end
+      # TODO possibly amend this to a rails engine
+      Rails.configuration.assets.paths << auto_generated_path
+      Rails.configuration.assets.paths << File.dirname(path) + "/assets"
+    end
+  end
+
+  def auth_provider(type, opts)
+    @auth_providers ||= []
+    provider = AuthProvider.new
+    provider.type = type
+    [:name, :glyph, :background_color, :title, :message, :frame_width, :frame_height].each do |sym|
+      provider.send "#{sym}=", opts.delete(sym)
+    end
+    provider.options = opts
+    @auth_providers << provider
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/components/plugin_spec.rb b/spec/components/plugin_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4d683636712
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/components/plugin_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+require_dependency 'plugin'
+
+describe Plugin do
+  context "parse" do
+    it "correctly parses plugin info" do
+      plugin = Plugin.parse <<TEXT
+# name: plugin-name
+# about: about: my plugin
+# version: 0.1
+# authors: Frank Zappa
+
+some_ruby
+TEXT
+
+      plugin.name.should == "plugin-name"
+      plugin.about.should == "about: my plugin"
+      plugin.version.should == "0.1"
+      plugin.authors.should == "Frank Zappa"
+    end
+  end
+
+  context "find_all" do
+    it "can find plugins correctly" do
+      plugins = Plugin.find_all("#{Rails.root}/spec/fixtures/plugins")
+      plugins.count.should == 1
+      plugin = plugins[0]
+
+      plugin.name.should == "plugin-name"
+      plugin.path.should == "#{Rails.root}/spec/fixtures/plugins/my_plugin/plugin.rb"
+    end
+
+    it "does not blow up on missing directory" do
+      plugins = Plugin.find_all("#{Rails.root}/frank_zappa")
+      plugins.count.should == 0
+    end
+  end
+
+  context "activate!" do
+    it "can activate plugins correctly" do
+      plugin = Plugin.new
+      plugin.path = "#{Rails.root}/spec/fixtures/plugins/my_plugin/plugin.rb"
+      plugin.ensure_directory(plugin.auto_generated_path)
+
+      junk_file = "#{plugin.auto_generated_path}/junk"
+      File.open("#{plugin.auto_generated_path}/junk", "w") {|f| f.write("junk")}
+      plugin.activate!
+
+      plugin.auth_providers.count.should == 1
+      auth_provider = plugin.auth_providers[0]
+      auth_provider.options.should == {:identifier => 'https://zappa.com'}
+      auth_provider.type.should == :open_id
+
+      # calls ensure_assets! make sure they are there
+      plugin.assets.count.should == 2
+      plugin.assets.each do |a|
+        File.exists?(a).should be_true
+      end
+
+      # ensure it cleans up all crap in autogenerated directory
+      File.exists?(junk_file).should be_false
+    end
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/plugins/my_plugin/plugin.rb b/spec/fixtures/plugins/my_plugin/plugin.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..718f236499c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/plugins/my_plugin/plugin.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# name: plugin-name
+# about: about: my plugin
+# version: 0.1
+# authors: Frank Zappa
+
+auth_provider :open_id,
+                  :name => 'zappa',
+                  :identifier => 'https://zappa.com',
+                  :background_color => '#dd4814',
+                  :glyph => 'B'