Does this happen to you? You leave a comment on a blog but your picture doesn't show up? Like this?
Your picture, called an avatar, helps people connect with you and makes you more approachable. Approachability is good in social media.
What you need is a Gravatar (globabally recognized avatar). A Gravatar attaches the image of your choice to your email address. So, anytime you use your email address on a gravatar-enabled site, your avatar pops up automatically. Handy.
Before I tell you how, my tips about avatars…
- Use a high-quality photo. Your avatar is part of your personal brand. Just like big brands with recognizable logos, your avatar serves the same purpose — something that people associate with you and your online presence. Take some time to make sure your avatar is well done. You might even consider hiring a professional.
- Don't change your avatar willy-nilly. Consistency is key when it comes to establishing a solid brand. Can you imagine how confused we'd all be if Coke changed its logo every few months? So it is with your avatar. Pick a good one and stick with it.
- Use the same avatar across the internet. Anytime you are asked to upload an avatar or profile pic, use the same one. Again, consistency is key.
Here's how to get a Gravatar:
- Go to Gravatar.com.
- Click "Get your Gravatar today".
- Enter your email address. (In the comment below, Sandra from The Sensible Mom makes a great point: if you use multiple email address, attach them all.)
- Activate your account by clicking on the link in the email you receive.
- Choose a username and password.
- Add your image.
- Crop it and finish.
- If you use more than one email address and you want it/them to be attached to this gravatar as well, go to the "My Account" dropdown menu and click "Add an Email Address".
Once you're done, your comments will look like this:
Hi Amy,
Thanks for another great post. I love how easy these are to follow!
I think I am suffereing from a severe case of "paralysis by analysis." I noticed on Gravatar that the username needs to be chosen wisely since it is permanent. I see that you use your first name. Do you think that is best? Or does it matter? As long as it is used consistently.
I'm having the same trouble with Twitter. My real name is taken, however, my blog name can be shortened to fit the limit (although I am still wondering about my blog name.) What do you think about names for twitter?
I want to move on in all these areas. The name thing is holding me back. Which seems so silly!
Thanks again for all the work you are putting into this blog. I am really enjoying it.
Paralysis of analysis? Oh I *never* have that problem.
{{shifty eyes}}
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Certainly don't worry about it so much that it hinders you from moving forward! Most things in life are fixable — even less-than-ideal usernames.
For Twitter, I use my real name. My preferred name was taken (AmyAndrews) so I opted to include my middle name (AmyLynnAndrews). It's not ideal because (a) I never use my middle name in real life and (b) I'd much prefer my Twitter name to be short so as not to consume so many of the available 140 characters in a tweet. But, oh well, life goes on.
I prefer using my real name, as opposed to my blog name for Twitter, because (as has happened), I have branched out and started this 2nd blog (BloggingWithAmy.com) in addition to my 1st blog (WithPurpose.com). So using my real name is part of my "personal branding" campaign.
Well, thank you for the walk through! I've been trying to figure out how people do this for a long time! Do you know how to add your most recent blog post to your signature in comments? I've seen it on a few blogs, but I'm not sure how to work that out for myself…
Glad it was helpful!
Your most recent blog post link gets put into a comment when the owner of the blog you're visiting has the Comment Luv plugin installed. So, you'll only see your last blog post if they've chosen to install that plugin on their blog.
Thanks for the help with my avatar!
I feel so goofy, but I have to ask…
when you leave a comment like I did in the first comment above: stacy @delighting inthedays is that considered spammy? Should it be my name only? I do not want to ever be considered spammy!
No, I think it's totally fine.
Sorry about leaving the above question here. I was under the impression that your Gravatar user name was the one that would also show up in comments along with the photo.
Since the gravatar user name is permanent, I was stressing out about whether to use "name@ site name" or not! Now I finally took the plunge and signed up for gravatar, I see it isn't the case. And that means my question here is totally irrelevant to your post! How embarrassing. Sorry
Ah! Now I see what you were asking.
No worries at all…I completely understand. If we're talkin' about taking a while to understand how things work, I'd be at the top of the list! This stuff can be confusing!!
Thank you Amy. You are very gracious
and helpful!
wow, i hope it worked, thanks for the infor….:-)
Looks like it worked here!
Thank you so much for the info! I have been wondering how to get my pic with my comments! I will definitely be checking back often for more great posts!
Sharon
Thanks for stopping by Sharon.
Thanks, as always, for your helpful tips, Amy! I *finally* had time to get my gravatar set up (how silly of me to wait, it only took 2 minutes!) and can now mentally un-bookmark this post from my brain.
Fantastic post! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I've been looking all over for how to do this.
Thanks
No problem. Glad it helped!
Once again, Amy, you're wonderful! I've completed so many other great things for my site, thanks to you! This was one of those simple, little things that I'm glad to have finished.
Thanks Amy for the good information. I am going to get me a new picture and try gravatar.
Thank you Amy! I can't tell you how much time I spend on your site.
I just googled "how do I get my photo to show up in comments on other blogs" and I was so happy to see Blogging with Amy in the third spot! Yay!
Oh wow, I like the Growmap Plugin, too!
I'm so glad it has been helpful!
Seeing if mine works here. I can't find out how to get it to work on a friends blog that she has through blogger
Your photo with Blogger comes from your Blogger profile instead of Gravatar. So, if you have a Blogger profile, you can comment as that. Unfortunately, you can't link directly to your blog with your URL and have your photo come up in Blogger.
Hi, I'm just seeing if my gravatar works…
Thanks, Amy! You are my go-to-girl for simplified blogging information!
Thanks, it started working! YEAH!!!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you SO much! As usual, another very helpful post, and it is much appreicated!
hye amy. Thanks for the info. Your entry was very useful. But, I wondering why my pic still didn't show up at the comment form even after I followed all your tips? It is something wrong with my blog?
ok2 amy. Im sorry. I think now I know how it works. The pic only appear if the comment is post with the email address… I see…haha. Thanks again for the info. ^_^
Thanks Amy!
I wish this was enabled on all websites. If a blog doesn't use this particular posting feature, I usually post with my LiveJournal account, even though I don't normally use it for anything except that. Do you think that's a good option since it does post an avatar?
I think whatever works although I'd make sure you LiveJournal account points directly back to your blog.
Thanks for this info Amy. I was wondering how that worked. I am not adding anything at all to this conversation, like you say we should do, I am merely testing out the system. {sorry}
No apology necessary! This is a place of learning so it's all good.
Hi Amy!
I am wondering if you could help w/ something. I am trying to change my gravatar once prior to getting my professional one done and well, the new one is showing up in my dashboard, but when I reply to a comment on my site, the old one shows up.
Any ideas as to why?
I'll be interested to see what shows up when I leave this comment
.
Thanks!
The correct one showed up on your site. Must be for some reason it isn't tying the proper one though for when I reply to comments. Hmmmmm..
Sorry to clutter up your site w/ comments…..I just replied to someone from my dashboard and the correct one showed up and now it appears that they all are. It must have taken time to clear the cache or something. (Hope I'm using correct terminology….I am starting to sound like a techy
.
Woohoo!! (You are crackin' me up.)
(These things to take a while to propagate.)
I tried to leave you a comment the other night on a different question, twice, and the post did not show up. Now, I've followed the steps for adding an avatar, and it seemed like it all went fine, but I don't see it on my site (will it add to past comments–I'm guessing?). Anyway, thought I'd take a shot at leaving you another comment and see if BOTH work this time. Otherwise, I'm concerned something is not connected somewhere. I may be in over my head! Thanks for all your help!
I think your other comments were held for moderation but I found 'em and accepted them.
It worked!!! Well, not right away. Because of the order in which I completed your steps (it may not have been in the order you gave them), I created my gmail account AFTER I set up the blog, so I had different email address, and, for some unknown reason, I even had a THIRD email address tucked away on my blog. Anyway, once I made all the email addresses match up, IT WORKED!!! I can go to bed satisfied. THANKS!
Woot!
Thanks for this! I have been looking all over for how to make one of these!
You're welcome!
done! you have allowed me to feel like a pro! thanks once again!!
Great post! Can you please tell me how to do this for wordpress.org for a self hosted site. Thanks
There's no difference for self-hosted since it's connected to your email address.
Just go to Gravatar and enter the same email address you use when commenting on other blogs. I see your image here so I'm thinking you figured it out, yes? Woot!
Yes, I did. Thanks a bunch!
Thanks so much! I FINALLY added a Gravatar to my blog. It's not a photo yet, but my "button" will work just fine for now.
I sooo appreciate this how-to.
Woot! You're welcome.
Fun! Thanks so much!
Thanks so much! Just went and did it for all my email addresses! Whoohoo! Thanks a bunch! So easy!
Thanks for reposting this recently on Facebook. I finally got around to getting one set up. So, this is my first test! I hope it's a success
Worked. Way to go!
Thanks so much for this info, Amy! So, just to clarify, for the oh-so-important permanent gravatar username, it is best to use our FULL real name, and not just our first name, blog name, or business name?
Now I just want to comment to test this out and see if it worked. For some reason my gmail account already was signed up with Gravatar. Either I signed myself up for a Gravatar and forgot about it or all gmail accounts already have Gravatar accounts.
Looks like it worked!
Testing to see if my avatar now appears. Thanks for the information!
Thanks for this information. I was searching for a solution for showing my profile pic on others blog and finally found the solution here
Glad it worked!
Amy – I followed your advice and made a gravatar weeks ago. I noticed my last comment on your blog still had the cute blue head. My email is linked up correct, any thoughts as to what the trouble is?
I'd go back and make sure your email is correct in your Gravatar account.
Can you help me figure out who to get my image to show up on a blogger blog? I have a wordpress.org blog. When commenting I pick the option OpenID, but it just shows their symbol. Is there some way to do this?
You have to sign in with your Blogger profile to show up. I never do, though. I always use the Name/URL option as I like people to be able to click on my name and go directly to my site.
I set up a Gravatar and want to make sure it works. I am so thankful for your blog Amy, you have really inspired me.
wanted to see what mine would look like – seems to have a red streak through it . . .
it did . . .
sorry to keep adding comments, but does anyone know how to get that red streak off from across the bottom? Is that from cropping it? It is not there in my original photo.
Hooray – I fixed it through picnik – thanks for you tips Amy
Hey! I am learning SO much!! Thank you for setting up this info. i know it must have taken you a long time. I am going to try out my gravatar!
Hi Amy.
Funny thing is happening right now. My gravatar stopped showing up on my blog. Maybe here too? And some comments on my blog show just my name and no link to anywhere, whereas others have a link to my blog built in.
Any thoughts? I've checked my gravatar and it's linked to my email that's on my main dashboard page.
Thanks in advance!
Thank you so much for showing this!!
Urgh…fail!
Ok so apparently, Im just impatient;)….again thank you!!!
Just checking out if I did it correctly. Thanks Amy, for the babystep tutorials…You are saving me
My pleasure!
Thank you thank you thank you! I'm so glad I found this one. Hope it works!
Aaaaahhhhh!!!! It workded!!!! wooohooo!! I have been trying to figure this out for months when suddenly I found this post today and now I've got my pic up! I'm so excited!!!! Thank you so much Amy for all that you do!
Woot! Glad it worked!
I have spent the last 3 days doing NOTHING at work but digging through all your blog posts and adding to my blog! You are AMAZING!! I launched my blog on the 5th and have had almost 1700 hits… I am so excited to get it looking as professional as possible and getting started on my ebook.
THANK YOU!
Great post–thanks for the tip!
test!
I had a very hard time getting my photo to upload from my computer it just kept clearing it out. I finally had to upload it to another site and then use the url to put it in. Do you know why this is?
It's hard to say from a distance. Be sure to resize and make sure WordPress is all up to date.
Thank you Amy for this. I've wondered how pics of people would show up and mine wouldn't. Now let's see if I did it right…lol
Woohoo!
Testing this – thank you for this info!
Thanks for the great information!
Thanks, Amy! I had a gravatar, but I wondered why it didn't show up all the time. I went back in and added more email addresses that I use to comment with and then chose my gravatar image to use with those email addresses. And so now when I comment, when I use one of my 3 main email addresses, it'll show up.
Great point! I think the same thing happened to me when I first signed up too.
Good tip! I wish gravatar linked up with Twitter and Facebook to make it easier to change profile pictures across the net.
When I changed mine this time, because I'm sporting a shorter hairstyle, I started a list in Evernote of every place where I changed my profile picture in case I need to change it again.
Great idea! I love Evernote.
Thanks for this helpful tip! I uploaded a picture, but it doesn't show up on my own website. Do I have to install a plugin or anything? Also, will it only show up on comments I leave from here on out or will it update those I have already left (like on my own blog)?
Never mind! It is showing up now
Thank you!
Yay!
Amy, your post was SO incredibly helpful. I've been struggling to determine if the Gravatar was associated with an email or a user name and HOW that worked across all URLs. It was extremely helpful that you posted above that a Gravatar is associated with one or more emails.
Thanks much!
You're welcome, Kim!
Thanks for the tips…trying out my new Gravatar with this comment…hope it works!
Hmmm, wonder if this works. I signed up for Gravatar, so here goes nothing! Thanks for the opportunity to test out my Gravatar here! =)
Yay, it does! {super happy dance}
Thanks so much! I can't wait to get my gravatar.
Yay, it worked!
I'm in the process of starting a blog and just wanted to say thanks for all the help. I am not techy at all but your step-by-step tutorial has been my saving grace! My grown kids are so impressed that I did it "by myself." Thanks!
I love the part about your grown kids, Alli. That's awesome!
It is my pleasure and I'm glad it's helpful.
Amy,
A great post and your site is very helpful. I just found by clicking on a comment you made on another site!
I am trying out my new gravatar here. Thank You.
Lisa
Hi Lisa, glad you stopped by…and your gravatar worked!
Thanks for the info, Amy! I recently found your blog and I have to say that I admire you so much. I love the streamlined look and cleanliness of your blog, and your advice is brilliant. I'm so glad to have found someone I can consider to be a mentor, even if I don't really know you. I look forward to reading many more of your already-posted posts as well as your future posts! Great to e-meet you!
So glad you stopped by, Lori! Thank you. Nice to meet you too.
Thanks for all the info…testing this out now!
Hi Amy! I am your new follower. I have a question with regards this Gravatar profile photo. What are the pros and cons of choosing a personal photograph as my Gravatar profile compare to using my website logo?
Well, I don't think it's a black and white issue (i.e. you see both), but I think overall, people like to interact with people instead of brands. I have no scientific evidence to prove it, but I think in general it makes engagement more likely.
Thanks again, Amy! I've learned so much from your site. I made my gravatar in a snap! (I actually already had an account and didn't realize it, since I had a wordpress account – I just needed to add my other email address and upload an image. However, when I then left a reply to a comment on my own blog, my image didn't show up. I wonder if it takes a little time (like the favicon) to show up?
Oh, hm. It showed up here – I wonder why it doesn't on my own blog. Funny.
Make sure the email address in your user profile (Dashboard–>Users) matches your Gravatar email address.
Thank you. I love reading your blog, so much useful information.
Hi Amy! Question…so I have a Gravatar & it shows on my blog & on other blogs that I think have a wordpress platform like I do. But how can I comment on those on Blogger using a name/URL combo or other means. My platform is wordpress but it's not a wordpress blog.
You can only leave your Name/URL on a Blogger blog if the owner of that blog allows it. One of the bummers about Blogger blogs.
Seeing if this worked…
Yay!
My Aunt turned me on to your site. I am a newish blogger and am just starting your course and am learning so much! Thank you for putting this together and sharing your knowledge!!
Glad you stopped by, Stacey!
I just stumbled upon your site and I am so happy that I did! Thank you for all of this great information. You have really helped me.
I have to test this out… maybe I won't be a grey person this time!
Woohoo!
I've just followed the instructions to get an Avatar and it didn't work on a books discussion forum. Let's see if it works here,
No it didn't. What could be going wrong?
Oh, so sorry – it suddenly showed up afterwards. Thanks very much for the most helpful advice I've yet found on all these mysteries!
Thanks Amy! This is a really helpful post!
Great article Amy! I'm new to the blogging arena and this post taught me just what I needed to know. There isn't much better than actionable content. Thanks!
Glad it helped!
Hi! I am LOVING your site and learning SO MUCH! I am clueless about quite a bit when it comes to websites and anything "techy"…until today, I thought avatar was just a movie title and I've certainly never heard of a "gravatar". Now, I'm proud to say that I'm stepping into the 21st century by now having a gravatar. Thanks for the help! I'm excited to see what else I'm going to learn.
Hey thans for the tip
Let's see…. this time..
thanks
Thank you Amy! This is really helpful! I really enjoy your blog! It's been an incredible help to me! I'm working towards making my blog a sustainable income so I can quite my day job and stay home with my kids!
Awesome goal, Tabitha! So glad you're hanging out with me.
Thanks! I've been wondering how to get this done -
Hi Amy, I just signed up for a gravator and want to check to see if it worked. I decided this is the year to jump right in to the online community. I am so glad I found you. Well, let's see if this works.
Woohoo!
Back at you! When I saw that it worked I ran upstairs to my husband, laughing, hollering, crying, you name it. One step closer to my own blog. Love it!
I'm trying to use gravatar but for some reason my username is used. However, I have searched all over online for another identity using my username and do not find any. Do you have any ideas as to why or what I can do about this?
Hi Jessica, I'm not sure I'm following. I'm sorry, maybe you could help me understand better? Do you just need to choose a different username to login? Or do you think you registered at some point without realizing it and you aren't sure how to get into your account? It's your email address that's attached to your photo, so your Gravatar username should be flexible.
Wanting to see if my gravatar works!
I just set up my gravatar. It seems to be working when I comment on blog sites, and if I comment on my own Facebook. What I am having a problem with is when I try to comment on someone else's Facebook? I get the no image. Can you advise me what I am missing?
Hmm, strange. Not sure. I would poke around FB Help for answers.
hey, this is cool thanks.
Giving it a try to see if it worked! Thanks for all of the great tips.
Just seeing if mine is working again. After deleting my admin account on my wordpress site, I made sure my email account on the correct wordpress user name matched my Gravatar, but the picture is not showing up.
I see it!
Very helpful information provided! Thanks Amy.
WOW! Thank you so much for all the information! I have learnt more in 2 hours on here than I have in the past 2 months! THANK YOU!
Thank you, Kathy! I'm so glad to hear it's been helpful.
Thank you so much as I find your how to's easy to understand. I will slowly cover all of your informative tips. I never knew the importance behind all of this. PS I will highly recommend your information as it is so helpful.
Blessings,
Cherie
Thanks again, Cherie!
I must say say Amy Lynn Andrews .. as a ' Manly Man' as they say, I find myself ready your blog and newsletter more often than I would the sports stats. That's a good thing right? Anyway, the info you provide helps with the marketing and publishing direction I want to take my first of three Novels ( Trilogy ) in. You scored big time with me … I'm truly a fan.
Thanks, Stewart. So glad it's helpful!
Hi Amy,
I think you can ignore my email! I finally figure Gravatar out after hours of failure! So this is my test…thanks so much for your awesome site:)
Thanks, Amy! Once again, I have turned to your blog for info. I read this post about the Gravatar a few weeks ago as I was setting up my blog. I have it up and running, having 'launched' on 1 June. So I decided it was time to tackle the Gravatar. It was really easy! I have learned more in the past month than I thought possible, and mostly from your blog and tutorials!
I'm still such a novice, with many 'bugs' to work out… still haven't mastered the child theme. I tried to do it, but couldn't get it to work.
Hope to see you over at Sondra Lyn at Home sometime!