An "avatar" is an image that represents you online—a little picture that appears next to your name when you interact with websites. A Gravatar is a Globally Recognized Avatar. You upload it and create your profile just once, and then when you participate in any Gravatar-enabled site, your Gravatar image will automatically follow you there.
Here are step-by-step instructions for creating your own Gravatar which will display on any WordPress page next to your name. When you toggle over the Gravatar a hovercard will display with your user name and a link to your Gravatar.com profile. To create a Gravatar you first need to have a WordPress.com account. Once that account is created, Gravatar pulls the information from WordPress. The steps are as follows:
- Create an account with WordPress.com by clicking ‘Get Started’ in the top right corner. Enter your email address and create a username and password. If you successfully move to the next page your account has been created. You can enter a domain name at this time or bypass this step.
- Check your inbox for an email confirmation with a ‘Confirm Now’ button to click which will open WordPress.com again, this time with you logged in.
- Next, fill-in your personal information by clicking on the profile button (circle icon) in the top right corner. Fill in your first and last name and upload a photo of yourself. Be sure to click the red button ‘Change My Photo’ once the photo has uploaded. You can also add a brief bio for yourself in the ‘About Me’ section. This description will display under your photo on the hovercard.
- Once your information is entered click ‘Save Profile Details’ before leaving this page.
- The next step is to set-up Gravatar.com by opening the site and clicking the blue ‘Sign In’ button in the top right corner next to WordPress.com.
- Use the email address or username and password you created for WordPress to log-in.
- You should see your photo and email address display, confirming you have created your own Gravatar.
