Whether you blog under your real name or under a pseudonym you may not be able to register the same username on every site you join. You can make it easy for others to locate you and your connections by using a specific graphic icon to identify yourself and your branding on all sites across the internet. So why not register your own Gravatar? Continue reading
I have a single image that I use as my Gravatar/Avatar, and Blavatar (favicon) on this blog, but I could use a different image for my Blavatar, if I wanted to. I’m considering which image to use and I’m accepting reader suggestions.
The definitions of gravatar/ avatar and blavatar maybe confusing to some as they certainly were to me, so let’s clear that up by going to the source. Let’s also find the instructions, and best practices for creating a gravatar/avatar and blavatar.
“A Gravatar is an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog. Avatars help identify your posts on blogs and web forums, so why not on any site?”
“On WordPress.com, an Avatar is associated with the email address in your user profile. We use the Gravatar service on WordPress.com to power your user avatar and because Automattic owns both companies, we are able to link your accounts automatically between the two sites.
If you have set an Avatar, it will be displayed when you post to the forums, when you comment on blogs, and if one of your posts is displayed in any of the WordPress.com community features.”
“A Blavatar is a term we came up with by combining Blog + Avatar. A Blavatar is an image associated with a blog. It will be displayed as the favicon for your blog, which shows up in a browser’s address bar and on browser tabs. It will show up in the comments section of a blog if you send out any pingbacks. If anyone create a shortcut to your blog on their iPhone it will also be used as the icon there.”
Below are the best practices for successfully uploading your Gravatar, Avatar and/or Blavatar images:
(1) Choose an image that does not have any transparency in it and scales both up and down in size without losing definition. Prepare the image prior to uploading it and make sure it’s 512 x 512 pixels or larger so it will look the best in the widest range of uses.
(2) The image filetype has to be either PNG, GIF or JPG. Make sure the file name contains only letters and numbers – no special characters – and make sure all letters are in lowercase.
(3) Also make sure the image file name has an extension (Example – image.jpg)
(4) Note that there is a time delay while your gravatar image propagates. If you are experiencing problems then go to the gravatar site and read the FAQs as it contains common questions and answers to them
Related posts found in this blog:
How to get your gravatar
Gravatars included in upcoming WordPress release
Got your gravatar yet?
MyWord or FacePress?
Automattic Inc. is the company that has wordpress.com as a project and it also owns Gravatar. A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an avatar image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites (for example, on wordpress sites and sites with Haloscan).
I registered mine long ago and it appears on the comments in make in this blogging tips blog and in my personal development blog, and in comments I make on other gravatar enabled blogs.
Registering a gravatar costs nothing. It’s connected with the email address you use to register. You will receive a confirmation email including a link that will activate your account and allow you to set your password. To register a gravatar the image submitted must be 128 pixels by 128 pixels in size. When displayed it will be 80 x 80 pixels in size. Then when you input your email address and username on a gravatar enabled blog your little gravatar appears along with your comment.
Plugins are available from Gravatar for leading weblog software and there are tutorials as well. If you are comfortable editing theme files take note of Connor Wilson’s tutorial on how to setup Gravatars on your WordPress blog without the use of a plugin.
To request a gravatar from the servers, you simply add an image to your comments area with an “src” attribute that points to our gravatar image generator and includes an MD5 hash of the commenter’s email address. Since all gravatars are rated with an MPAA style rating, you can restrict your site to show only gravatars whose content you are comfortable with.
So what’s stopping you? Get your gravatar now.
Related posts found in this blog:
Gravatars included in upcoming WordPress release
Got your gravatar yet?
MyWord or FacePress?
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WordPress 2.5 which has yet to be released, will come with support for Gravatars (aka, Avatars) in the WordPress admin panel, which will also be revamped (test drive new WordPress admin panel).
Ryan Boren blogs:
…”Gravatar is the service used by default. get_avatar() is completely pluggable, however, so any service can be used. get_avatar() is built-in so that themes will have some fixed API on which they can rely, regardless of whatever avatar service is being used behind-the-scenes.” Read the full post
In this post Ronald Huereca demonstrates how Gravatars will be used with WordPress 2.5. If you are comfortable editing theme files take note of Connor Wilson’s tutorial on how to setup Gravatars on your WordPress blog without the use of a plugin.
Related posts:
WordPress Avatars
Got your gravatar yet?
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By now you have read the Announcement.
What is a gravatar?
A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an 80×80 pixel avatar image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts on web forums, so why not on weblogs?Stay up to date with The Gravatar Weblog
How do I get a gravatar?
Signing up for a gravatar.com account is FREE, and all that’s required is your email address. Once you’ve signed up you can upload your avatar image and soon after you’ll start seeing it on gravatar enabled weblogs! Sign up now!How do I get gravatars on my weblog?
Setting up gravatars on your weblog is easy, you don’t even need an account! Plugins are available for leading weblog software, and our tutorials will have you running gravatars in no time. To request a gravatar from our servers, you simply add an image to your comments area with an “src” attribute that points to our gravatar image generator and includes an MD5 hash of the commenter’s email address. Since all gravatars are rated with an MPAA style rating, you can restrict your site to show only gravatars whose content you are comfortable with.Learn more at this link.
