Recently I received a query from a reader asking how to add an avatar to WordPress so that it would appear in her blog posts and comments. In actuality when you learn how to add an avatar to WordPress, you’ll also know how to use that same avatar across the web, in your blog comments, forum posts, and across other web services such as Facebook and Twitter.
What Is An Avatar?
An avatar is a small image, either a photograph or other image of your choice, that you wish to associate with your online profile. It will then appear next to your name or online handle when you post to blogs, forums, and other websites. Most people select an image for their avatar that in some way represents or characterizes their persona – a photo of themselves, an animal or flower, a company logo, and the like.
Until somewhat recently, if you wanted to add an avatar to different websites, blogs, or forums, you had to create your avatar and then upload it individually to each website – a bit of a hassle. What has since become very popular is the use of gravatars, or ‘globally recognized avatars’. The gravatar is an avatar that will follow you from site to site across the web.
Creating an Avatar
The standard size for an avatar is a small square, 80 x 80 pixels. However, there may be some websites that utilize a 128 x 128 pixel square, so it may be better to begin with an image that size, and let the system scale it down for you. That way, the resolution of your image will be retained. If you start with a small image and the system scales it up, you are likely to lose resolution and the image will appear fuzzy.
The other consideration is to select an image that will provide adequate contrast when reduced to 80 x 80. Avatars are small, so when you add an avatar, you’ll want to use an image that looks good at that size. At that small size, you still want to be able to clearly see what it is.
How to Add an Avatar to Blog Comments and Forum Posts
Here’s how to easily add an avatar that you can use across the web.
1. Go to Gravatar.com and create an account.
2. Upload the image you want to use for your avatar.
3. Link the image to the email address you used upon signup.
Then, whenever you submit a blog post or comment using the address stored in your Gravatar account, the image associated with that email address will automatically appear in your post! No further uploading is necessary.
If you have multiple email addresses you can utilize the same or different gravatar simply by adding the email address to your Gravatar account, uploading another image, and linking that image to the new email address.
For instance, some people may want to use one image for ‘personal’ posts, perhaps a photo of themselves, and use a different image, like a company logo, for more business-related posts. Once uploaded, all you need to do when posting is use the email address that is linked to the image you want to appear in that post.
With respect to older versions of WordPress, there are plugins that can be used to assist you in creating your Gravatar. You can download one such plugin here: WP-Gravatar. However, as of WordPress version 2.5, plugins are no longer needed (at least for basic avatar management), since gravatar functionality is now built-in. See the WordPress Codex for more information on using gravatars.
As you can see, it’s easy to add an avatar that can be used in blogs, forums, and other sites across the web. However, as a webmaster or WordPress blog administrator, there may be some downsides to the use of gravatars on your site. Look for that in an upcoming article.
