All you need to do is setup your Gravatar Account, which is free. In this article, we will share a guide with everything you need to do to setup and enable a Gravatar user on your WordPress website.
An avatar is an icon or image that represents you in the virtual world. They allow you to identify yourself amongst the millions of people engaging on various websites and forums. Okay, so you have heard of avatars before. But have you ever heard of a Gravatar? Maybe not. That’s why today we will look at what a Gravatar is and how to setup one up on your WordPress website.
Reasons To Use Gravatar In WordPress
Gravatar is more than just an avatar system for WordPress. It is also used on platforms like GitHub, Disqus, Hootsuite, Techdirt, Mesmira, etc. If you have a picture of yourself when you comment on other people’s blogs, people will remember you when they see your social media profiles or see you on other blogs. Pictures are easier to remember. This makes it easier for your audience to remember you.
For our readers who follow and comment on different blogs on different platforms, uploading images once is a great convenience for everyone. If you want to change your profile picture, you can do it in one place, and every site you comment on will be changed instantly.
So not only will people remember you and your brand, but from the image in the comments, people will click on that image and visit your website, especially when they quickly view it. This means more traffic with less effort on your part. Just make sure to keep your image intact.
Keeping the same image for a long time makes it easier for people to remember your face and brand. And, of course, remember to choose high-quality images, possibly similar to your social media profiles, to make your brand more consistent. With all this in mind, let’s dive deeper and look at how to set up your Gravatar profile.
Gravatar WordPress Setup Tutorial
Another good news: setting up your avatar is very easy. First, go to the Gravatar homepage and click the “Create Your Own Gravatar” button. If you already have an account, please register indirectly. Your WordPress account information is the same as your Gravatar credentials.
If you don’t already have a WordPress.com account, create yours now. Enter your email address, username, and password, and now click “Next”. A confirmation link will arrive in your email. Just click the “Activate Account” button to start using Gravatar. After activating your WordPress.com account, click the “Sign in to Gravatar” button.
Since you don’t have an avatar, you will be prompted to add an avatar after you sign in. You can upload images from your computer, webcam, previously uploaded images, or URLs. After clicking “Upload a new file,” you will be asked to select a file from your computer. Then, crop the image. Make sure it looks good in a small preview, as most places will be shown in that size.
Usage Restrictions
You then need to set a rating for your avatar to determine if it should be displayed on all websites. If you’re a blogger, you should (obviously) display a “G” rating on all sites. That’s it. Now you’ve set up your first avatar image, you still need to do some settings, and that’s it. You need to set up your Gravatar profile. It’s simple information, so people who click on your picture will see your profile information.
This is a great way for people to learn more about you, which can lead them to your website later. Finally, when entering the data, click “Save Profile”. Now, you have finally created your avatar and are ready to use it. You can set multiple avatars with different email addresses to display your favorite avatar on other websites. However, I do not recommend this. Follow this guide and use one Gravatar for all WordPress websites to keep it simple:
Gravatar in WordPress Usage Guide
Most people create a Gravatar account to enable their images in WordPress website comments. If you are a reviewer, there is no further overhead. All you have to do is use the same email address you used to create your Gravatar account. Your photo will appear next to the comment. However, if you have a WordPress site/blog, you have more options to manage your avatars.
You can choose whether to show this content or not. Most themes show them by default. Alternatively, navigate to WordPress Dashboard > Settings > Discussion and scroll down to the Avatars section. You can also choose the maximum scoring power for Gravatar. Remember your “Movie Style” rating when you created your avatar? The same goes for management. By default, G means visible to the public, and I recommend choosing this option.
You can choose other ratings, but keep in mind that “R” and “X” ratings may contain offensive imagery that may alienate your readers. You can also choose default avatar settings to choose the type of avatar that appears when users leave comments without Gravatar setup with their email. There are several options for the default image:
Image Display Options
- Firstly, a mystery person: the grey image which can appear for any gender. You’ve probably seen this one on Facebook.
- Blank: No avatar will appear.
- Gravatar Logo: This will be the company’s inverted G logo.
- Identification and Wavatar: These are two options that will appear automatically.
- Monster ID: Another animated image in the shape of a monster, automatically generated by WordPress, that the user has no control over.
- Finally, retro: A low-res pixelated image created by WordPress with a “retro” style; again, the user can’t handle it.
Gravatar Rating System WordPress Setup
I prefer to use “Mystery Man” or leave it blank. Do not use Identicaon, Wavatar, MonsterID, Retro. These look rubbish. If you want to add a picture, there is another option. You must install an “Add New Default Avatar” plugin from the WordPress directory.
This feature allows you to upload specific images to be displayed to users who do not have a Gravatar account. Remember, adding plugins is only available on the self-hosted version of WordPress.org. You will not be able to install it if you are using the free edition of WordPress.com.
This can improve your website’s branding but is an option if you’re starting a new blog and still want to learn about the different elements of blogging.
Final Words
We hope this guide, where we share everything you need to do to setup and enable the Gravatar user on your WordPress website, has helped you!
