Over time you may have noticed that when commenting on a website, some people have a picture of themselves show up next to the comments, while others have a grey circle. Those pictures are the result of the user having a gravatar. What is a gravatar? Read on to find out everything you need to know about this handy little identifier and how you can make your own.
What is a Gravatar?
Before delving into what a gravatar is, let’s take a moment to define an avatar. An avatar is a graphic representation of someone. It was how people identified themselves online in the early days of the internet. A gravatar, then, is a term for a globally recognized avatar. These images are recognized across the web and allow users to use one image to identify themselves across the internet. WP Beginner explains:
Most popular applications like WordPress have built-in support for Gravatar. When a user leaves a comment (with email) on a site that supports Gravatar, it pulls their Globally Recognized Avatar from Gravatar servers. Then that picture is shown next to the comment. This allows each commenter to have their identity through out the world wide web.
Why Should I Have a Gravatar?
For anyone building a business or brand online, having a gravatar is an easy way to make your comments stand out across the web and possibly garner new visitors to your website. It is a marketing and branding tool to keep your identity consistent across the web.
How Do I Get or Change My Gravatar?
It is very simple to get a gravatar or change your current gravatar. Simply visit Gravatar.com and either sign in with your current WordPress.com account or enter your email address to register.
Then, select the “Add a New Image” option and upload your desired photo or image.
You can use your photo, your company logo, whatever you please. You will be prompted to crop or resize your image to fit the space provided.
Next, you will choose a rating for your gravatar.
The process is the same to change your current gravatar, simply log in and either upload a new image or select an image that you have already uploaded.
Finally, fill out the field in your gravatar profile so that your gravatar is associated with your website and social channels across the web as well as a brief bio.
That’s it, so easy! Now you have a gravatar that can identify you around the web! For more about building your identity online, read about Branding: What Is It and Why Is It Important?