<p>Locally mirrors commenters’ Gravatar, Libravatar and Mastodon avatars and serves them from your site, rather than loading them from a third-party web site upon each page load.</p>
<p>This has several effects:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>If most of the comments on a post have no avatar, those turn into <em>one</em> load of a shared image, instead of one for each comment, that happens to return the same “mystery” image.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>You will be serving more (small) images.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>If a commenter’s URL looks like a link to a Mastodon / ActivityPub profile, their Mastodon account’s avatar will be displayed.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>When commenting, a live preview of the avatar tracks the contents of the “Email” field.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.gravatar.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">gravatar.com</a> and <a href="https://www.libravatar.org/" rel="nofollow ugc">libravatar.org</a> no longer have a web-bug on your blog that is loaded by each viewer.  Instead of being loaded at every page view, the avatar is loaded just once, on the server-side, at the time each new comment is posted.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>If someone changes or deletes their avatar, your site continues displaying the image that was their avatar at the time that they last posted.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Likewise, the user’s Gravatar or Mastodon profile is saved along with their comment, viewable by admins even if they later change or delete it.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Security and Privacy</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.libravatar.org/" rel="nofollow ugc">Libravatar</a> is open source. Gravatar is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravatar" rel="nofollow ugc">owned by WordPress</a>, and their <a href="https://automattic.com/privacy/" rel="nofollow ugc">privacy policy</a> says that they don’t monetize that info.  But hey, corporate policies change, subpoenas exist, and domain names get sold.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Should you trust Gravatar with user data? Well, in 2024, Gravatar announced that they are <a href="https://jwz.org/b/ykXF" rel="nofollow ugc">pivoting to blockchain</a>, whatever that means, so that’s fairly disqualifying. See also <a href="https://jwz.org/b/ykPk" rel="nofollow ugc">WordPress “growth hacking”</a> and <a href="https://jwz.org/b/ykNg" rel="nofollow ugc">WordPress sells users’ data to train AI tools</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>There used to be a potential issue due to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravatar#Security_concerns_and_data_breaches" rel="nofollow ugc">Gravatars using MD5 hashes</a>, but these days they use SHA256, so I assume that’s no longer a problem.</p>
</li>
</ul>


Mirror Gravatar


The plugin does just what it says and it's a great way to improve WordPress just a little bit.


Great plugin to make WordPress a bit better

Locally mirror commenters' Gravatar or Mastodon profile images.

Automattic

John Godley

Mohammad Jangda

Aarón

Welly Shen

<p>Elevate your WordPress site with Gravatar Enhanced – the plugin that simplifies digital identity and improves user engagement.</p>
<p>Seven Ways Gravatar Enhanced Improves WordPress:</p>
<p>✓ Privacy Protection – Automatic referrer blocking and optional IP address proxy<br />
✓ Accessibility Improvements – Alt-text for all avatars to support screen readers<br />
✓ One-Click Profile Updates – Edit Gravatar directly from the WordPress dashboard<br />
✓ Versatile Profile Block & Patterns – Showcase authors and team members anywhere<br />
✓ Comment Engagement Tools – Remind users to create avatars for better discussions<br />
✓ Comment Form Integration – Show Gravatar directly in the comment form<br />
✓ WooCommerce Integration – Personalized account pages for customers</p>
<h3>Privacy Protection</h3>
<p>Just by enabling the plugin, the plugin ensures that no referrer information is sent to Gravatar. The opt-in proxy service also keeps IP addresses from being exposed or logged.</p>
<h3>Accessibility Improvements</h3>
<p>All avatars now include alt-text, enhancing the experience for users with screen readers. Alt-text can be edited in the Gravatar Profile editor.</p>
<h3>One-Click Profile Updates</h3>
<p>Visit Users > Your Profile to edit your Gravatar profile directly from WordPress. Preview your hovercard and make updates with ease.</p>
<h3>Gravatar Profile Block & Patterns</h3>
<p>Enhance your website with our custom Gravatar profile block and patterns. Seamlessly integrate Gravatar profiles into posts, pages, or biographies to elegantly showcase team members, guest contributors, speakers, event attendees, authors, and more.</p>
<h3>Comment Engagement Tools</h3>
<p>Automatically remind commenters without avatars to create a Gravatar, increasing visual engagement on your blog.</p>
<h3>Comment Form Integration</h3>
<p>When the plugin is enabled we will show a Gravatar profile directly in the comment form, and allow the profile to be updated, so users can feel confident their details are correct, and the site shows richer comments.</p>
<h3>WooCommerce Integration</h3>
<p>Enhance your WooCommerce store by displaying user Gravatar avatars on the My Account page. Customers can view and update their avatars directly from their account dashboard, improving personalization and user engagement.</p>
<ul>
<li>Seamless Integration: Automatically works if WooCommerce is installed and activated.</li>
<li>Direct Avatar Management: Users can change their Gravatar avatars without leaving your site.</li>
<li>Improved Personalization: Adds a personal touch to the shopping experience, fostering customer loyalty.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Automatic Installation</h3>
<ol>
<li>Click ‘Add New Plugin’ from your WordPress plugins page and search for ‘Gravatar Enhanced’</li>
<li>Press the ‘Install Now’ button</li>
<li>Activate the plugin</li>
<li>Go to the “Discussion” Settings page to enable the new features.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Manual Installation</h3>
<ol>
<li>Download the plugin from https://wordpress.org/plugins/gravatar-enhanced/</li>
<li>Upload and extract the plugin to your <code>/wp-content/plugins/</code> directory</li>
<li>Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress</li>
<li>Go to the “Discussion” Settings page to enable the new features.</li>
</ol>


Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy


This plugin handily extends WordPress's built-in Gravatar support with some frequently asked for enhancements.



Besides the handy new Gravatar Profile block, the plugin adds both privacy and accessibility enhancements.



It's easy to use and well-documented.


Finally, more Gravatar Options!


It's great to have a straightforward way to enhance the existing Gravatar abilities. I hope some of these work their way into core too (such as the alt-text).


Fantastic additions to Gravatar

The official Gravatar plugin, featuring privacy-focused settings, easy profile updates, and customizable Gravatar Profile blocks.

Mirror Gravatar vs Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy