How To Add Gravatar To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial you are going to learn about Gravatars and how to add one to your WordPress site.
Most internet users are familiar with avatars. An avatar is an icon, or representation of a user in a shared virtual reality, such as a forum, chat, website, or any other form of online community where the user(s) wish to distinguish themselves from other users.
What Are Gravatars?
Short for “Globally Recognized Avatar”, gravatars make it possible for a person to have one avatar across the entire web. Avatars are usually an image that the user will create themselves.
It’s essentially the same thing as an avatar, but they are all hosted on a single server and are called up by encrypting the users’ email address using a special algorithm.
Instead of having one avatar display on a forum that you often frequent, and another avatar display on a blog you visit, you could have the same avatar display on both sites.
Watch the short video below and then complete the step-by-step tutorial to learn more about adding one to your WordPress site …
How To Add Gravatars To Your WordPress Site – Video
Why Use Gravatars
Providing users with avatars has become a convention in web-publishing. Enabling Gravatars on your WordPress site simplifies the process for everyone involved.
Benefits for Site Administrators
- Adding user Gravatars requires very little effort
- There is no need to maintain additional Plugins
- You don’t have to manage user accounts, or their images, to allow blog commenters to use Gravatars on your site
Benefits for WordPress Users
- Users don’t need to register for every site they visit just to use one
- Users can update them across multiple sites by uploading a single image in a central location.
How To Add Gravatars To Your WordPress Site – Tutorial
If you browse different web sites you have probably noticed that many users have a picture displayed above or next to their name…
These pictures are called “avatars.” WordPress uses a specific type of avatar called “Gravatars” — short for “Globally Recognized Avatar”.
By default, WordPress displays Gravatars at 32px x 32px. To change the default WordPress Gravatars size on your site, you will need to edit the code in a template file.
Unlike standard avatars, Gravatars follow you around the web and automatically appear whenever you post a comment on a WordPress site. WordPress integrates Gravatars into every WordPress site.
Once registered with Gravatars, the service matches your WordPress profile information to the email address registered with one and displays your custom image next to comments and (optional) elsewhere on the WordPress site…
If a visitor chooses not to sign up with one, the default icon set by the site’s Administrator will appear next to their name (this is explained further below).
To use Gravatars, first create an account here (it’s FREE):
Once you have an account set up, you will need to complete your profile, and select the email address and the image you want to associate with your yours
Yours will then be integrated with your WordPress account and follow you around the web…
How To Control Gravatars On Your WordPress Site
Although WordPress sites now automatically integrate using Gravatars, you can change the following settings:
- Whether Avatars (aka, Gravatars) are displayed on your site or not.
- Which rating of Avatars are shown.
To control how yours is used, log in as an administrator and go to the Settings > Discussion Administration Panel …
Scroll down to the “Avatars” Section …
The “Avatars” section presents you with several options:
- Avatar Display: This section lets you toggle Gravatar on and off for your site.
- Maximum Rating: When users create a profile on one, they are given the opportunity to rate their image as G, PG, R, X based on its appropriateness. Select the radio button for the maximum rating you would like displayed on your site.
- Default Avatar: WordPress allows for you to select what type of image you would like to display when a commenter does not have an account. Selecting one of the “generated” icons give you and your users some of the benefits of a Gravatar without requiring them to have an account. The icons that say “generated” next to them take the email of the commenter and link it to an auto-generated image. Now, every time that commenter posts to your site, they will have the same unique image next to their name.
Remember to click the Save Changes button when finished to save your new settings …
WordPress is huge and can sometimes be overwhelming about where to start. As you move on to the next Page, you will have a clearer picture of where to start and progress to building a professional WordPress Site.