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 will discuss what a Gravatar is 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 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 hub 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 the 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.
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.
This allows each commenter to have their identity throughout the interwebs.
Why Should I Add Gravatar?
If you are a blogger, non-profit, small business, or anyone wanting to build a brand, 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 visit your website.
Some website owners complain that Gravatar slows down their websites, and this is the most cited reason 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?
You can get a Gravatar by visiting the Gravatar website and signing up for a free account.
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.
You will now be taken to the signup 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions About Gravatars 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.
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.
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.
4. Can I disable my Gravatar account?
Yes, you can disable your Gravatar account at any time. Simply log in to your account on the Gravatar website and choose ‘Disable My Account’ under your profile photo.
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.
Syed Balkhi says
Hey WPBeginner readers,
Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
Every month, our top blog commenters will win HUGE rewards, including premium WordPress plugin licenses and cash prizes.
You can get more details about the contest from here.
Start sharing your thoughts below to stand a chance to win!
Vicky says
Thanks
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our article could help
Admin
Nnaemeka says
Very informative. Thank you.
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our article could be helpful
Admin
catherine orourke says
another test
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to have worked
Admin
catherine says
test
WPBeginner Support says
It looks like your Gravatar is set
Admin
cheryl says
This is very interesting. I never knew about a gravatar.
WPBeginner Support says
Glad we could bring it to your attention
Admin
Vunderlist says
Very cool. Thanks
Alex says
Thanks! Very useful!
Amalie says
Thanks. This helped to understand the concept.
Shikha says
Thanks for sharing the article, let’s see it works or not
chris appleby says
Testing Gravatar
Nikesh Sheth says
Thanks for sharing insights
Mitch says
Really helpful, thanks.
Matthew says
Was trying to figure out how to insert the avatar pic in the default wordpress theme and stumbled across this article.
Excellent and simple to read guide!
And now my readers will be able to see my replies to their questions/replies at a glance!
Valen pat says
I love this article, it’s really amazing thanks a lot
michele woody says
hmm, my first try at submitting a comment didn’t work. Trying again, would love to be able to make a custom default avatar for my comment section of a blog I’m starting.
louise says
Be great to see some suggestions on how to create a professional looking gravatar that isn’t necessarily a photo…
Meg says
I’m testing this out…it should be my photo. I’d love to find a small logo for this, but haven’t been able to find anyone who will just sell a small logo…still searching for that.
Kevin Ellwood says
Very interesting, thanks.
Ashrita says
This was really helpful!
Sukumar Thingom says
I have recently made my own Gravatar. Let’s see how it comes up here.
kerry says
Well I’ll be the naysayer, the arguments *against* gravatar as a site owner:
– having your Gravatar profile appear on the same sites with different logins is confusing,
– there is an unknown privacy factor about ‘will this cross post to other sites?’,
– a lot of people (at least me) make community sites to be SEPARATE from other social networks, not a part of them.
Dulci says
1 Can we use gravatar for any website except for word press is there any other services that can do the same if you don’t have word press please help
Nesh Pejak says
Thank you for educational guide.
Just finishing my website and trying my
very own Gravatar.
Nonce says
I used gravatar some time ago, but I still don’t understand how it work.
Is it pulling my avatar off Gravatar server whenever gravatar-supported-comment found my email in their database? Oh. make sense.
Vicky says
Cool!! Nicely described.
Heather says
Testing out Gravatar, thanks
Sheryl says
Interesting and apparently i’ve already in the past.. cool
Ediong adaka says
wow.its gonna work
Ashish Pradhan says
Is it working?
Sam says
Do most people use actually pictures of themselves or other icons for their gravatar?
Kyle Zahorodnyj says
Cheers very much guys!
Heather says
Still can’t get mine to show
Carlos says
Looks really cool
Marion says
test
vijay says
checking gravtar
vimal says
testing my gravatar
Rudy says
I have had trouble getting my Gravatar to show up on some sites. Hopefully this works. Thanks for letting me test it out.
Barbara Fisher says
My picture used to show, but now this image shows on my Facebook blog post memory.
Robert Fonock says
Just trying GRAVATAR out.
vikrant chaudhary says
I am commenting here just to check if it’s really helpful. Do people really like the gravatar pic or anything that have been described
Erin says
Pretty useful!
Davide Galizzi says
Thank you for the information!
CassandraD says
This is some good information. Thank you for sharing.
Nancy Beach says
When I click on my gravatar it doesn’t link to my blog. Is there a way for that to happen?
WPBeginner Support says
Hi Nancy,
It depends on where your Gravatar is appearing. For example, if you are commenting on your own WordPress site while signed in to your WordPress admin account, then your email, name, and URL fields will be automatically filled.
To add your blog URL linked to your gravatar, you will need to go to Users » Your Profile page and enter your URL in the website field.
In some WordPress themes, comment author name is linked instead of Gravatar image.
Admin
Alexis says
Thank you !
Maria Gabriela says
Interesting. I am starting a blog, Totally new on this. I want to understand all the new words I am encountering, and this “gravatar” was something new. Now, thanks to your explanation it is clear. One more thing I learned today! thank you, I will start using it.
WPBeginner Support says
You are welcome
Admin
Leslie Groves says
Thank you for the information.
Ania says
Thank you
malik umair says
really a very beautiful information dear
Joey Yan says
very helpful, thx
Deb Dutton says
Very helpful – thanks!