Gravatar is short for “Globally Recognized Avatar”. You may notice a small image that appears next to people’s names after leaving a comment on a website. It may be a real photograph or a piece of clip art. This image appears when the users comment on blogs or publish their own posts. Formally, an avatar is an icon or image which represents the people in the virtual world. It allows identifying people among millions of people engaged on various websites and forums.

Gravatars are same as Avatars but they are hosted on a single server and called up using the email address assigned to it. It is a powerful brand tool by which the people can recognize you online. Once the Gravatar account is set up and designate the email address, it will reflect your Gravatar image on online. It will be supported automatically by all the websites which support Gravatars including blogs, forums, and commenting systems. Gravatar services allow one Gravatar image assignment per email address and also a single Gravatar image can associate with multiple email addresses. If any modifications are done to your Gravatar image, then it will be reflected instantly across all the websites.

Steps to set up a Gravatar in WordPress

Gravatar can be automatically included in every WordPress account. All you need to do is basically going to Gravatar’s website and signup with the email address and add an avatar of yourself or a brand. It can be your own picture or a brand logo. It is customizable and can be changed whenever needed. As all native versions of WordPress support Gravatars, just signup for a Gravatar account and tweak a few settings for it.

Step 1: Sign up for a Gravatar Account

If you already have a WordPress website, go to Gravatar website and sign in with the same credentials that you use for logging in WordPress dashboard.

Step 2: Manage Gravatars

After signing up into the Gravatar account, the email address associated with your WordPress website links your website to your Gravatar account. Add or delete any Gravatar image that you wish to represent in the online world. And also, add additional emails to reflect the uploaded Gravatar image.

Step 3: Create a Gravatar Profile

If people click your Gravatar image, a profile section appears for others to access it. It includes basic information like Your Full name, Gravatar display name, Your location and a small description about yourself. And also, several other profile sections are available for people who are looking for website’s traffic or promote your business.

Manage your Website’s Gravatars

As a website owner, you can have a complete control over which default avatar can be displayed on the website. To edit or control the Gravatars in WordPress, go to Settings > Discussion.

Then select the Avatars section. You can configure with several settings and also can set default avatar for your website.

 

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