If you are a frequent user of WordPress, you may have heard of the term Gravatar. You may have spotted it on your user profile page in the admin section. It is a popular online service that allows people to use the same avatar on many different websites. In addition to being integrated into WordPress, Gravatar is used by thousands of discussion forums, websites, and content management systems.
If you’re a bit curious about Gravatars and want to know why people use them – this article is for you! We’ll delve into the world of Gravatar and explain how it works, why users love it, how you can use it to help your business, and more.
What is Gravatar?
To understand what a Gravatar is, you must first understand what an avatar is. An avatar is a graphical representation of a person in a virtual environment. This can be a photo, cartoon, illustration, or 3D model. Avatars are a way for users to customize their online profiles and set themselves apart.
Avatars are everywhere on the web. Most people who use Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and other social media sites have an avatar associated with their account. They are commonly used in content management systems, forums, and blogs like WordPress.
Here are some examples of avatars:
Barack Obama on Instagram
Barack Obama on Twitter
Barack Obama on Facebook
Unfortunately, using an avatar online is often difficult. The main reasons include:
1. Managing your avatar on multiple websites is difficult (unless you are the former President of the United States):
Most internet users are registered on dozens of forums, blogs, and social media platforms. Adding an avatar to all of these different sites can be time-consuming. Users often use different avatars on different sites.
Some websites do not allow avatars larger than a certain size, so users have to create multiple avatars of different sizes. When users want to change their avatars, they have to visit each website and change their avatars multiple times.
2. Not all websites allow users to upload avatars
Some websites don't want to store users' avatars on their servers, so they remove the ability to add an avatar. This means that all user accounts will look the same, which can degrade the user experience of the website.
3. It’s difficult to identify users across websites
If a user uses a different avatar on each website, it may be difficult for others to know their true identity. Using the same avatar on all websites helps confirm a person's identity and leads to better user interaction. For businesses looking to build brand awareness, it is especially important to maintain an identity across different websites.
So, Gravatar was created to solve these problems!
Gravatar is an abbreviation for Globally Recognized Avatar . It is a web service that allows users to upload a personal online avatar and associate it with an email address. An avatar uploaded to the Gravatar website is called a Gravatar.
The way it works is very simple:
- Users register Gravatar and upload their own avatar
- They then visit the site as normal and create an account or leave a comment
- If the website has Gravatar integrated, it will call the Gravatar service to ask if there is a Gravatar user with that email address.
- If the user is found, Gravatar sends a copy of the user's Gravatar back to the website
- Websites place Gravatars in users' profiles, forum posts, or comments
Users don't have to upload their avatar to the site to create a new account or post, it's all done for them. Site owners don't have to deal with their users' avatar either — it's downloaded directly from Gravatar!
Gravatar can be used for profile pages, comments, social media accounts, forum posts, and more.
[]()Why use Gravatar?
The main reasons why you should use Gravatar include:
- More convenient: Using avatars on your site is much easier with Gravatar. You don't have to find and upload your avatar every time you join a new site or leave a comment. Gravatar handles all that for you. It's also easier to change your avatar because you can make the change in one place.
- Businesses can ensure a unified brand image: Business owners can use the same Gravatar across all social media accounts, forum posts, and comments. This allows users to easily recognize the corporate brand across multiple platforms.
- You can interact with others on multiple platforms: Using the same Gravatar on multiple platforms makes users more identifiable. Others can easily identify them and have conversations on different platforms.
- Reputation and trust are transferable between platforms: Maintaining your identity on multiple platforms allows you to transfer the trust and authority you’ve built elsewhere. For example, you might frequently post on a web forum that discusses cars. You may have built a reputation as knowledgeable and friendly. When people see your Gravatar on another platform, they’ll recognize it’s you and trust your tweets, comments, or articles more.
- People are more likely to trust comments or posts with a Gravatar: When people read comments left by a user with a blank avatar, they are less likely to trust what that user wrote. The credibility of your opinion increases if it has an identifiable Gravatar attached to it.
- You can increase website traffic: If you post regularly on social media and forums, users will start clicking on your Gravatar to learn more about you. This can increase traffic to your website.
How to get your own Gravatar?
Getting a Gravatar is easy!
1. Register an account
Visit the Gravatar website and click the Sign In button.
2. Login
Log in using your WordPress.com credentials or sign up for a new WordPress.com account (free).
Once logged in, you must approve Gravatar for use with your WordPress.com account.
3. Upload your first Gravatar
After you approve Gravatar to use your WordPress credentials, you can upload your Gravatar. Begin by clicking on the highlighted link in the image below.
You will see four options:
- Upload New: Create a new Gravatar using an image from your computer.
- From URL: Add a new Gravatar by pasting a URL
- Past uploads: View your previously uploaded Gravatars
- Via webcam: Take a picture of yourself using your webcam to use as your Gravatar.
Click "Upload New File" to add your first new Gravatar. You can upload a jpeg, gif, png, bmp or svg file.
On the next page, click Choose File and locate the image you want to use as your Gravatar. Once selected, click Next .
On the following page, you can crop the image and set the image classification.
After cropping the image, select an appropriate rating.
4. Manage your Gravatar
You will be redirected to the Manage Gravatar page. You can use this page to add more Gravatars, change the category of your Gravatar, and delete your Gravatar.
5. Try out your Gravatar!
Now, when you leave a comment or create an account on any site that supports Gravatar, your new Gravatar will appear. ** ** All you have to do is register on the site using the email address associated with your Gravatar account.
How to integrate Gravatar into your website?
If you are using WordPress.com , you will be happy to know that your website already includes Gravatar functionality. When a user signs up using the email they registered with Gravatar, their Gravatar will automatically display. Where user Gravatars are displayed on your website will depend on your theme. Typically, they will be displayed in user and author profiles, comments, and blog posts.
If you have a website on another platform, a programmer may need to integrate Gravatar functionality for you. Gravatar provides many code samples and plugins on its website . Other popular content management systems, such as Drupal and Joomla, also have some easy-to-install Gravatar plugins .
Create a free Gravatar account
In summary, Gravatar makes it easy to set your user avatar image:
- If you are a user, you can create your own Gravatar account and upload a custom avatar. When you register on a Gravatar-enabled website using the email address associated with your Gravatar account, that avatar will automatically be used.
- If you are a website owner, you can use Gravatar to display users' avatars on your website.
If you created your website using WordPress , WordPress will use Gravatar images for comments and user profiles by default. However, you can find many Gravatar WordPress plugins to adjust this using different strategies, such as:
- Cache Gravatar images locally.
- Disable Gravatar.
- Let users upload their own profile pictures.
Do you have any questions about what Gravatar is or how to use it? Let us know in the comments!
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