Last updated December 6th, 2023 00:27
Gravatar is a third-party service that allows WordPress to display small profile images, for example, in comments. However, because it is a third-party service that is not loaded locally from the website server, this service can slow down system responses. This is particularly noticeable on a website with a large number of comments under articles. If you do not find Gravatars beneficial on your website, we can show you how to disable Gravatars natively in WordPress through the administration and system settings.
What is Gravatar?
Gravatar is a web service that allows users to easily link their photograph with their email address. When you sign up for other websites that support Gravatar, your profile image is automatically displayed. This tool facilitates profile image management and allows users to easily identify themselves on various websites.
Gravatars are often used in discussions and communities where users want to be easily recognizable among themselves and have their own identity. Gravatar is currently available to all users and is easy to use. You just need to register on the official website (gravatar.com) and upload your photo. This will link the photo to your email address. Then you don’t have to worry about what image to use on different websites because Gravatar will automatically find and display it. You just need to enter the correct email address in your profile, which is linked to Gravatar.
How to Disable Gravatars in WordPress
You can easily disable Gravatars in WordPress. For WordPress, this service is native, and you can disable it in the comment settings directly in the administration. Follow these steps:
- Click on “Settings” in the left menu
- Go to “Discussion” settings”
- Uncheck the “Show Avatars” option
- Don’t forget to save the new settings
Once you save the settings, the icon of the logged-in user will change to the default icon, which is the default one for all system users. You can easily recognize this in the upper right corner of the administration area where the currently logged-in user is displayed.
I’ve turned off Gravatars, but I want to keep profile pictures for article authors.
If you deactivate Gravatars on WordPress, all profile pictures associated with email addresses will disappear for everyone. Not only for users who leave comments, but also for article authors. If you want to keep the pictures for authors, you can upload them locally to the FTP of the web where WordPress runs. This can be done, for example, with a plugin Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors.
After activating this plugin, you can subsequently set a local user or author profile picture by navigating to the “Author Profile” menu and selecting the “Avatar” tab. This way, you can upload profile pictures from your own FTP web, instead of remotely from third-party servers.
How to Disable Gravatars in WordPress
Conclusion
As you can see, disabling Gravatars is not really complicated. Setting up local photos is also easy if you are interested in it. However, if there are numerous comments on your website, disabling Gravatars can significantly speed up the loading of article content.
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