Often new WordPress users ask us about how the grey icon that shows up next to their name. Sometimes we get emails from users asking us how can they turn this grey thing off. Well this grey icon is known as “mystery man” gravatar. In this article we will discuss what is a gravatar and why you should start using it right away.
History: Avatar
Before we dive into what is a Gravatar, we should first cover what is an avatar. An avatar is a graphical representation of a user. It could be the person’s picture, or a random icon they want to associate with. Back in the days when web was sort of anonymous, people would use icons for identification purposes. Largely it is still the case in the gamer community. One of the coolest part about discussion boards, forums, is that you can recognize active users fairly easily because of their avatar. While it is hard to remember names, it is very easy to identify a specific image. If you were part of numerous discussion boards, you would start to recognize a same group of people everywhere. As the web evolved and blogging started to become more mainstream, it was fairly hard to have an identity as a commenter. With forums and other services, users were required to register. Each user had their own profile, so they could easily add an “avatar” to their profile. However, blog commenting doesn’t require registration in most cases. So how do we identify users? Well that is when Gravatar comes in.
What is a Gravatar?
Gravatar stands for Globally Recognized Avatar. It is globally recognized because millions of people and websites use them. Most popular applications like WordPress have built-in support for Gravatar. When a user leaves a comment (with email) on a site that supports Gravatar, it pulls their Globally Recognized Avatar from Gravatar servers. Then that picture is shown next to the comment. This allows each commenter to have their identity through out the world wide web.
Why Should I add Gravatar?
If you want to be identified on the web, then you should use a 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. Chances are that you read and comment on blogs. At first your gravatar might not get as much attention. But if the same person sees your comment at numerous sites they read, they will probably end up visiting your website. We as publishers find it really easy to identify our loyal users by their gravatar.
In our opinion, gravatar makes your comment stand out.
How can I get a Gravatar?
It’s simple and it’s free. Simply go to Gravatar’s website. Signup with the email that you use the most often to comment. Add an avatar of yourself. This could be a picture of yourself, your company’s logo, or something unique. You really have to do it one time. Chances are you won’t be changing your avatar a lot. So it’s more like set it and forget it.
Most WordPress themes already come with gravatar integration with comments. If your theme doesn’t, then you should seriously consider adding it. For further branding purposes, you can change the default mystery man gravatar on your site and put something else. Here is a tutorial on how to change the default gravatar in WordPress.
To see the live demo of gravatar in action simply comment below. Hope to see new faces in our comments. If you have a gravatar, then make a comment below. So we can recognize you.
Marcelino Rensburg says
`Very concise and informative artical! Thanks!
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome
Admin
Ugbe Shulamite Anyin says
Awesome! I love Gravatar!
Ron says
Great Article, very helpful, now let’s see if mine loads
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our article was helpful, don’t forget to use the same email that you used to create your gravatar account.
Admin
Andrei says
Thank you for this article.
It was really helpful.
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome
Admin
nancy says
Commenting to check if its working
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like it is working
Admin
james shaw says
just testing my gravatar setting out. i hope this is working
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to be working
Admin
Julia says
Thank you for the article, also testing if it worked.
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you set it up
Admin
PVT says
Testing 123, Gravat is cool and will help a lot
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you may have not set your Gravitar for that email address
Admin
Paul McCafferty says
Testing to see if this works!
WPBeginner Support says
It looks like you set it up correctly
Admin
Muhammad says
Testing Gravatar, this is cool
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to be set
Admin
Karthick says
This is quite interesting!
WPBeginner Support says
Glad you liked our article
Admin
Hedgehog says
checking my gravatar works or not
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to be working
Admin
Lemuel says
Thanks for this post. This was very helpful. I am just learning about this.
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome, glad our guide was helpful
Admin
Iain says
Thanks for this and enjoy my gravatar!
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome, glad we could be helpful in setting it up
Admin
A Mueed says
Checking my gravatar. Thanks by the way
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to be working, you’re welcome
Admin
Greg says
Tried to sign up with gravatar but it keeps forcing me to build a website. All I want to to is upload a photo..
WPBeginner Support says
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.
Admin
jack dowie says
Checking gravatar for gravitas! thanks
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome, your Gravitar appears to be set
Admin
Amanda says
Nice read, great concept.
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you, glad you like our content
Admin
Delseta says
Checking to see if my gravatar works. Good info!
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like your Gravatar is working correctly
Admin
Henry Ayoroh says
Thanks. Allow me check to see if my avatar is set…
WPBeginner Support says
It appears your Gravatar is set
Admin
tor says
Just checking my Gravatar
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to be set
Admin
Zohaib Mjeed says
Wow Very useful content. Keep it up
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you for your kind words
Admin
Hasieishere says
Thanks for the info!!
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome
Admin
David Lee says
Does mine work?
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to be set up
Admin
Ciara Janay says
test testing my gravatar I dont think its working
WPBeginner Support says
From taking a look it appears that your gravatar is set
Admin
Huraira says
Found it to be a cool concept, especially from the point of view of building a brand. Really useful for such lot!
WPBeginner Support says
Thanks for sharing your opinion of Gravatar
Admin
Sigourney Humus says
This is great thanks!
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome
Admin
Apoorva says
Checking gravatar
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to be set
Admin
danish arafat says
very nice this is really useful
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you, glad you found our content useful
Admin
RAHASIA says
aloha ! Does it work ?
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you set it up correctly
Admin
Bill Helmken says
Thanks for the information
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome
Admin
Gail Fernandes says
Thanks for sharing. Just checking to see if my Gravatar works.
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you set it up correctly
Admin
Jennye Guy says
Thanks for this tutorial. This is also a test as this is my very first comment!
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome, looks like you set up your Gravatar correctly
Admin
Campinghood says
Testing my Gravatar
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like it is set up correctly
Admin
ricky lovenuts says
hi just a test gravatar!
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you set it up
Admin
John says
Test avatar
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you set it up correctly
Admin
dd says
Gravatar test
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you set it up correctly
Admin
Michelle Thomas says
Gravatar Test
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you set it up correctly
Admin
tawnyfeatherstone says
Gravatar test
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you set it up correctly
Admin
razvan says
Gravatar test
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you set it up correctly
Admin
Sophia Sanchez says
Interesting article!
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you
Admin
Acha Mercy says
I’ve been trying to charge my own; think i’m making some mistakes. thanks for this
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our article could help
Admin
Stephen Cabral says
Testing Gravatar
WPBeginner Support says
Looks like you set it up correctly
Admin
cheryl says
I don’t understand the difference between avatar (an image) and gravatar (an image, probably the same image).
WPBeginner Support says
They are essentially the same thing, Gravatar is a website that works with WordPress so if you post a comment on a site, it will include your avatar image that is linked to your email address without the need for you to have a user on that site.
Admin
Aleksander says
Here’s my Gravatar
WPBeginner Support says
Nice, it looks like you set it correctly
Admin
Rishi trivedi says
Thanks for clarifying
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome
Admin
Alexander Lewis says
Testing my gravatar
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to be set
Admin
Mike says
Seeing is my gravatar works
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to be set
Admin
JEMIMAH says
hey i have recently signed to Gravatar
WPBeginner Support says
It appears to be set up correctly
Admin
Jacques Lebec says
I’m new to Gravatar and figuring it out.