Gravatars
I’ve enabled the comments sections of this blog to make use of Gravatars, or Globally Recognized Avatars. Avatars, in this case, are small images, as those of you who use message boards are familliar with, that get associated with your name.
The difference with Gravatars is that they are stored on an external server with an ID that is a hash (a one-way encription) of your e-mail address. As such, any web application that ‘knows’ your e-mail, such as web forums (or, in this case, blog comments), can automatically pull your avatar from the gravatar server to be shown next to your name.
When you upload a avatar to Gravatar, it’s automatically resized to fit within 80×80px and then is put on a list to be rated (as in G, PG, etc). Once rated it’s visable to the world, and can be used by Gravatar-enabled programs.
As one who somewhat frequently uses message boards I find this a highly interesting service, if it continues to be adopted it will allow a person a universal online ‘face’.
- Gravatar Website: Here you can sign up for a Gravatar account.
- WordPress Codex – Using Gravatars: How to enable Gravatars on a WordPress blog.
- Gravatar Forum/Cool wordpress hack: How to make a Gravatar appear next next to blog posts, not just comments. (used on wp-DWMRP).