Key highlights
- Personalize your online identity with a unique Gravatar image.
- Enjoy consistent branding as your Gravatar appears on all supported sites.
- Enhance credibility and trust with a custom digital signature.
- Easily update your image to match your evolving style or brand.
- Securely represent yourself online without compromising privacy.
Introduction
Ever feel like your online presence is a bit too cookie-cutter? A custom Gravatar is your chance to break free from the default mold and add a subtle nod to your unique style. It’s the tiny image that accompanies your name on blogs, forums and comments—yet it can say so much more about who you are.
Well! There’s a lot more to know! In this guide, we’ll walk you through creating Gravatar images that stand out in all the right ways. Consider it your passport to a more personalized online identity, where each interaction carries a hint of your individuality.
Ready to turn a small tweak into a big statement? Let’s dive in!
What is Gravatar?
A Gravatar (Globally Recognized Avatar) is an online profile picture linked to your email address, automatically appearing on supported websites, forums and WordPress blogs to maintain a consistent online identity. Having a Gravatar can help build a lot more personality, customization and recognition into what would otherwise be just another name online.
Gravatar is actually a free service through which you upload a photo, referred to as an avatar image, that is attached to your profile and shown whenever you comment on a WordPress blog or make a WordPress post. The Gravatar feature works seamlessly with WordPress since the same company, Automattic, owns both services.
Gravatar images help identify your posts on web forums and other sites, if the platforms in use support the use of Gravatars. Not only is it easy for website owners to create an account and set up a Gravatar, but it also helps to establish themselves when using blog commenting functions.
Where is Gravatar used?
Gravatar is used across a wide range of websites and platforms, including GitHub and PHP-based systems, that let you add a personal touch to your online presence. Your Gravatar profile picture appears on forums and blogs, especially those powered by WordPress.
It’s also a favorite for community forums, discussion boards and other sites that support user-generated content. It is especially common among those employing a method that uses your email for identification combined with a MD5 hash.
In short, whenever you’re interacting on a site that uses your email for identification, there’s a good chance Gravatar is quietly working behind the scenes to display your chosen image and give you a consistent online identity.
What are the benefits of using Gravatar images?
1. Consistent online identity
Your Gravatar image automatically appears across all Gravatar-enabled websites, ensuring that no matter where you interact online, your chosen image remains the same. This consistency makes you easily recognizable and reinforces your digital identity.
2. Builds trust and credibility
When people see a familiar, well-chosen Gravatar profile picture accompanying your comments or posts, it fosters a sense of familiarity. Over time, this steady presence can boost your credibility and trustworthiness among peers and potential followers.
3. Enhances personal branding
Your Gravatar isn’t just an image—it’s a subtle extension of your personal brand. It reflects your personality, style or professional identity, offering a quick visual cue about who you are and what you represent.
4. Saves time and effort
Instead of uploading a new profile picture every time you join a different website, your Gravatar does the work for you. Once it’s set up, it’s automatically used on all Gravatar-supported sites, freeing up your time for more important tasks.
5. Widely recognized across platforms
Gravatar is integrated into a multitude of platforms—from blogs and forums to comment sections on news sites. This wide acceptance means your Gravatar image is a trusted marker of your online interactions, making your presence instantly recognizable across the web.
Step-by-step guide to create Gravatar images
Creating a Gravatar profile picture is pretty straightforward. Here is what you need to do:
- Set up a WordPress account
- Register with Gravatar
- Complete your registration
- Set an image
- Choose a personality
- Complete your profile
With the basics in mind, let’s delve deeper into each step:
1. Set up a WordPress account
Go to WordPress.com and create an account. After opening an account, WordPress will ask you to authorize it to connect to the Gravatar service.
2. Register with Gravatar
Next, head over to the Gravatar website homepage and click on the “Sign In” button. You will be redirected to the Gravatar login page. There, you will see the “Need an account?” button. Click on it to register a new Gravatar account.
When prompted, provide your email address. Make sure that the email address you use is the one you would use when commenting on websites and forum posts. Choose whatever username you like—if it’s available—and set a strong password.
Remember: You will likely be using the Gravatar service across multiple websites and platforms. Security is a top priority, so make sure to set a strong, unique password for your Gravatar account.
3. Complete your registration
Once you are done, click “Sign Up” to submit your application. Complete your registration by clicking on the “Activate Account” button that you receive in a confirmation email from WordPress.com.
4. Set an image
Once your account is set up and your registration is complete, you will receive a welcome message and will be redirected to your WordPress account. Head back to Gravatar once again and sign in. When you log in, Gravatar will display a notification message saying that you don’t have an image for your account yet.
If you choose not to attach an image, Gravatar will automatically assign one to you. However, it makes sense to use a picture of yourself that you like and is comfortable displaying.
Click on the “Add a New Image” button and insert the link to your chosen image or upload the image itself. You can upload a new photo using your webcam by clicking on the “Choose File” button. Select a picture from your computer and upload it.
Gravatars usually display as images that are 80×80 pixels in size. You might need to crop the image you uploaded so that it falls within the limits of Gravatar’s allowed image sizes. Once you have set your image, you have to set a rating for your photo. There are four ratings: G, PG, R and X.
- G – Suitable for all audiences and websites (recommended for maximum visibility).
- PG – May include mild violence, provocative imagery, or strong language.
- R – Can contain intense violence, profanity, nudity, or drug use.
- X – Includes extreme violence or explicit adult content.
Having a G rating is better for you in terms of reach, since it will enable your Gravatar to be shown on websites and forums without any restrictions.
5. Choose a personality
You can choose a “personality” for your Gravatar. WordPress has several Gravatar personalities you can choose from, including:
- Mystery person
- Blank
- Gravatar Logo
- Identicon
- Wavatar
- Monster ID
- Retro
Monster ID, Identicon, Wavatar and Retro Gravatars are often used by hobby or personal websites. Mystery Person, Blank or no Gravatar works best with business or professional websites.
6. Complete your profile
Once you complete your Gravatar profile picture setup, fill out the rest of your Gravatar details. Add your name, write a little about yourself in the “About Me” section, choose your display name, provide a link to your personal or company website, add a blog link and finish off adding any other relevant details that you’d like to add to your account.
Providing relevant details makes it easier for you to engage and interact with other people and grow your business or your online presence. This also includes sharing your social media profiles.
People who read your posts or comments and are interested in getting to know more about you can click your Gravatar and learn more about you and your business from your profile.
Start using your Gravatar
After setting up your Gravatar account and uploading an image, you are ready to start using commenting on a blog post or linking it with your social media and website. Website owners need to make sure that they use the same email they used with Gravatar when they register on other platforms and comment on blogging platforms.
Doing so will automatically display your Gravatar profile image (which is your Gravatar for the world!) when you drop a comment or upload a post to any supported site.
Which sites uses Gravatar images?
It is easy to determine whether or not a website uses the Gravatar service because, once you insert your email address while registering with a new service or on a new platform, your Gravatar will automatically export to the site, and your image will appear next to your name or comment.
Remember that your Gravatar will only be displayed if you use the same email address you used to register with Gravatar on the other platforms you want your Gravatar to appear on. If you use a different email address with other sites, your original Gravatar will not appear when you comment or post.
Final thoughts
Why blend in when you were born to stand out? Embracing a custom Gravatar is like adding a dash of personality to every corner of your digital life. It saves you time, builds credibility and ensures your online presence is both memorable and unmistakably you.
Gravatar images are a simple yet powerful way to add consistency and personality to your online presence. By choosing an image that reflects who you are, you make your digital footprint more recognizable and trustworthy.
For WordPress website owners, a personalized Gravatar does more than just enhance your profile—it elevates your entire site. It ties your content together and reinforces your brand identity, making your website instantly familiar to visitors.
Since Gravatar integrates seamlessly with WordPress, having a reliable hosting provider is crucial for maintaining a smooth website experience. Bluehost, an officially recommended hosting provider by WordPress.org, ensures high performance, security and seamless integration with WordPress-based websites.
Go ahead, make that subtle yet powerful change—your online identity deserves a little flair! Get reliable hosting services with Bluehost today!
FAQs
Your Gravatar profile picture appears on any website that supports it—from WordPress blogs and news sites to community forums and comment sections. This widespread integration ensures that wherever you engage online, your personalized image is visible.
Yes, it’s designed with security in mind. Your Gravatar links only the image to your email address without exposing any personal details, giving you a unified look without compromising your privacy.
If you skip setting up a Gravatar, most sites will default to a generic, one-size-fits-all image. This means your online interactions might lack that personal touch that sets you apart from the crowd.
Yes, each Gravatar profile picture is tied to a specific email address. If you use multiple emails across different platforms, you’ll need to attach a custom image to each one if you want consistent branding everywhere.
4 Comments
Can using Global Recognized Avataar Provide some SEO Benefits to my Word Press Blog Visibility? its a ver comprehensive Post.
Greetings,
Having an avatar is great for brand recognition and promoting your business, it doesn’t affect your SEO. Have a wonderful day!
Such a nice and informative post about gravtar for wordpress. great post.
Thanks for sharing this information it help me lot!