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What is Gravatar and Why You Should Start Using it Right Away

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Have you ever wondered what is a Gravatar and whether you should be using it?

Gravatar allows users to display an avatar image next to their name on WordPress websites.

In this article, we’ll discuss what is a Gravatar and why you should start using it right away.

What is a Gravatar and why you should start using it right away

History: Avatar

The term Avatar was borrowed from online gaming communities in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Before that, online forums were mainly text-based communities where users were only identified by their user names.

As these communities grew, it was becoming harder to identify users only by their names.

To solve this, online forums allowed their users to upload an image as their profile photo. They called this an “Avatar” image instead of a profile photo.

The term Avatar basically means an image that represents a person or a user. This could be their own photo or any other image they want to use as their profile photo.

As the web and blogging evolved, WordPress blogs faced a similar problem. WordPress comments became the conversation hubs for many blogs, and it was harder to identify commenters with just names.

Unlike online forums, where users were required to create an account, WordPress commenters generally didn’t need to make an account to leave a comment.

This is when the Gravatar came in.

Related: See our guide on History of Blogging.

What is a Gravatar?

Gravatar stands for Globally Recognized Avatar. It is a popular web service that allows people to create a profile and associate avatar images with their email addresses.

Gravatar

Once you add a Gravatar, it is going to be recognized on all the platforms that come with built-in Gravatar support including WordPress, Slack, Github, Stack Overflow, Atlassian, and more.

This means, that when you leave a comment on one of the sites that support Gravatar, it will pull your Globally Recognized Avatar from their servers and showcase it next to your name in the comments and other areas.

For instance, when a user leaves a comment on a WordPress site, their Gravatar is automatically shown next to their comment.

WordPress comments showing gravatar images of users

This allows each commenter to have their identity throughout the world wide web.

Why Should I add Gravatar?

If you are a blogger, non-profit, small business, or anyone who wants to build a brand, then you need to start using Gravatar.

A Gravatar allows you to build your identity on the web and build an authoritative voice in your industry.

At first, when you comment on blogs, your Gravatar might not be noticeable immediately.

However, if the same person sees your comment on numerous sites they read, they will probably end up visiting your website.

Some website owners complain that Gravatar slows down their websites, and this is the most cited reasons why bloggers choose to disable gravatar.

Pro tip: See our ultimate guide to speed up WordPress for more performance optimization.

How Can I Get a Gravatar?

It is quite easy to create a Gravatar for your profile.

First, you need to visit the Gravatar website and click on the ‘Create your Gravatar’ button.

Sign in to create a Gravatar

You will now be taken to the sign up page.

Gravatar is owned by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com (not to be confused with WordPress.org, see our guide on the difference between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org). This is why they require users to sign up using a WordPress.com account.

Create a new WordPress account or sign in with an existing account

You can create a free WordPress.com account or sign in if you already have an account.

You will now be directed to the ‘Login’ page where you need to provide the email address and password of your WordPress website.

After that, simply click on the ‘Continue’ button.

Provide WordPress account details

Next, you will be asked if you would like to log into Gravatar using your WordPress.com account.

Simply click on the ‘Approve’ button to continue.

Click on the Approve button to integrate WordPress account with Gravatar

After that, Gravatar will send a confirmation email to your email account.

You’ll need to open the email and click on the ‘Confirm your email’ button to activate the Gravatar account.

Click Confirm your email button to activate account

Now you will be redirected to the WordPress.com website.

Next, you need to go back to the Gravatar website and sign in using your WordPress.com account.

This will take you to your Gravatar Account page.

Here, you simply need to click on the ‘Add a new image’ link below to add your Gravatar image.

Click on the Add new image link

Upon clicking on the link, you’ll be taken to the ‘Upload Image’ page.

You can now upload any image you want to use from your computer or by pasting a URL.

We recommend choosing a nice profile picture of yourself or your company logo for the Gravatar.

However, if you want to remain anonymous, you can use any other image that represents you.

Upload Gravatar image

After you have uploaded a Gravatar, you’ll be directed to a new page where you can crop, rotate, zoom, and preview your image.

Once you’re satisfied, simply click on the ‘Crop Image’ button below.

Edit Gravatar image

Next, you’ll be asked to rate your Gravatar according to its maturity level.

Simply check the box next to a preferred option and click on the ‘Set Rating’ button.

Your Gravatar has now been set up.

Choose a rating for your Gravatar

Next, you need to visit the ‘Websites’ page from the sidebar on your Gravatar dashboard.

From here, you need to simply copy and paste your WordPress website’s URL and title.

Finally, click on the ‘Save Website’ button to store your settings.

Paste your WordPress website URL and title

Now, you can try out your Gravatar by leaving a comment on a website or by checking the author profile on your WordPress blog.

This is how our Gravatar looked in the author bio section on a demo site.

Preview of author profile with Gravatar

Frequently Asked Questions About Gravatar in WordPress

Users often ask us questions about using Gravatar for their own avatar image as well as using Gravatar on their websites.

Following are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about using Gravatar.

1. How do I turn off Gravatar on my WordPress website?

You can turn off Gravatar on your WordPress website by simply visiting the Settings » Discussion page and unchecking the box next to the Avatar Display option. For more details, see our tutorial on how to disable Gravatar images in WordPress.

Disable Gravatar on your website

2. What happens when a user does not have a Gravatar image?

By default, WordPress will show the mystery man image next to the comments where the comment author does not have a Gravatar image associated with their email address. This is called the default Gravatar image.

You can change this image by visiting the Settings » Discussion page and scrolling down to the Default Avatar section.

Set a default Gravatar

From here, you will see a bunch of options to choose from. Some of them will automatically attempt to generate a unique image by using an algorithm based on the user’s name or email address.

3. Can I add more than one image or email address to my Gravatar account?

Yes, you can add multiple images and email addresses to your Gravatar account. However, you can only use one image as your Gravatar for each email address.

Add an extra image or email address to Gravatar account

4. Can I disable my Gravatar account?

Yes, you can disable your Gravatar account at any time. Simply login to your account on the Gravatar website and choose ‘Disable My Account’ under your profile photo.

Disable Gravatar account

Disabling your Gravatar image will stop processing your images and any websites where you left comments will stop showing your Gravatar image.

We hope this article helped you learn about what is Gravatar and why you should start using it. You may also want to see our tutorial on how to change the default Gravatar in WordPress and our top picks for the best team communication tools for small businesses.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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Reader Interactions

427 CommentsLeave a Reply

    • You do not need to be logged in, you would need to use the same email as your account on Gravatar and any site that uses gravatar would pull in your image for you :)

      Reply

      Admin

      • Nice! Thanks for answering my question.

        Now I just have to go check which email address I registered with Gravatar, it’s been a while since I looked at it.

        Reply

    • We’ve disabled Gravatars on the front-end at the moment but your Gravatar appears to be set. :)

      Reply

      Admin

    • It’s an easy way to test if your Gravatar is updated without needing to set something else up :)

      Reply

      Admin

  17. Thanks for the interesting post – One Question, if I have multiple websites should I have Multiple Gravitars and manage them accordingly?

    Reply

  19. I am a regular reader of your site. it’s very impressive. Now I am Testing my gravatar.

    Reply

  21. As you suggested – checking out if my gravatar works. I am enjoying your site and helpful courses :)

    Reply

    • Glad our site is helpful, you may want to ensure you’re using the same email as your Gravatar account :)

      Reply

      Admin

    • Glad our article was helpful, don’t forget to use the same email that you used to create your gravatar account.

      Reply

      Admin

  38. Tried to sign up with gravatar but it keeps forcing me to build a website. All I want to to is upload a photo..

    Reply

    • Gravatar currently requires you to have a WordPress.com account, you should be able to skip creating a site and go back to Gravatar’s site if you created an account on WordPress.com.

      Reply

      Admin

  48. Found it to be a cool concept, especially from the point of view of building a brand. Really useful for such lot!

    Reply

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