Gravatars
Gravatar: Derived from 'avatar' - Globally Recognized Avatar, is basically an avatar image that follows you across the web when you comment on gravatar-enabled blogs using a unique e-mail address.
Interesting, because this would imply that anyone could use your gravatar if they knew the e-mail address you used to sign-up for the account. So if you're going to sign up for one, I'd suggest using an e-mail address not known to anyone else.
If you have a blog of your own, take a look at the full implementation guide.
If you already have a wordpress blog, the easiest is to upgrade your installation to the latest available version (Version 2.5 comes with the functionality built-in - this only means gravatars will get more popular). Blogger hasn't implemented it yet - although it should only be a matter of time before they do.
You might have to do some tweaking if you developed your own wordpress theme:
The syntax is:
function get_avatar( $id_or_email, $size = '64',$default = 'http://url-to-default-avatar' )
This example uses the user's e-mail address to retrieve the gravatar at 80x80 pixels (add to comments.php):
<?php echo get_avatar( get_comment_author_email(), '80' ); ?>;
Click here to sign-up and set up a gravatar of your own.
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March 30th, 2008 - 21:14
hmmmmm interesting. I like having a globally recognized name, but…not sure how I feel about pictures all over the place…what if someone’s gravatar is an inappropriate image, but their comment is a good one that you want to keep? Can you block specific gravatars on your blog?
March 30th, 2008 - 21:58
Good point – when you sign up for an account and upload a pic, you get to classify it as either:
* X rated gravatars may contain hardcore sexual imagery or extremely disturbing violence.
* R rated gravatars may contain such things as harsh profanity, intense violence, nudity, or hard drug use.
* PG rated gravatars contain may contain rude gestures, provocatively dressed individuals, the lesser swear words, or mild violence.
* G rated gravatar is suitable for display on all websites with any audience type.
It’s still in its early stages I guess. I’m sure you could block certain users based on e-mail address, effectively blocking the image.
March 30th, 2008 - 22:09
aaah ok. hmmm. I’m going to think about it…don’t know how I feel quite yet.
April 9th, 2008 - 08:46
I’d imagine that OpenID will develop something like this. What are your thoughts?
April 9th, 2008 - 09:21
I suppose it’s possible. Not sure if blogs will implement code to read their avatars anytime soon though.
Might just be a matter of what catches on quicker right now.