How to Create a Gravatar

Gravatar is an abbreviation for globally recognized avatar - an avatar being a picture or logo that you can use to brand you or your business such as the one you see here ------------------------------->

Then, whenever you comment on a Wordpress blog that has had a Gravatar plug-in activated, your gravatar will appear with your comment.The Gravatar image is stored on the Gravatar server and is triggered by filling in your email address when you leave a comment.

The main reason for wanting a gravatar is to increase brand awareness - a picture of you or your logo is going to be seen and, hopefully, remembered by everyone who reads your comments on Gravatar-enabled blogs.

Even if you don't have a business or a brand, it is still a fun way to get yourself notices in the blogosphere.

Luckily this is a very easy process.

Sign up for a free account at http://en.gravatar.com/

Verify your email address by clicking on the link in the email you are sent

Choose a nickname and password (only lowercase letters and numbers allowed)

Upload a picture to the site from your hard drive or use an online image

Crop your picture to suit (slide the slider to the left to shrink your picture)

Choose a rating

Click on the image to associate it with the email address

Your gravatar should now show up next to your email address. You can add one more email address on this account.

If you want to see how your Gravatar looks, leave a comment to this post http://passionprojectblog.com/test-your-gravatars-here

Trouble Shooting

The two main reasons for a gravatar not showing up is:
a) You used upper case letters somewhere in your email address.
b) Your gravatar is stuck in the cache - if you email me at coach@passionsthatpay.com I will clear the cache to see if this solves the problem. The blog's cache is periodically cleared automatically so you can also wait to see if it shows.

***Remember to back up your blog before you start.***

Download and unzip this plug-in .
Follow the instructionson how to install.

Automattic acquired Gravatar in October of last year and Wordpress 2.5 will be including Gravatar support so a plugin will no longer be required. Themes which are not Gravatar friendly will have to be edited by hand but it is an easy edit.

I will add how to do this once 2.5 is officially released in its final build.