More and more as I travel through cyberspace, I see the use of gravatars (globally recognized avatars) on comments or in social networks such as StumbleUpon.

This is the one I use used.

Today’s Lesson

With avatars, you can do one of two things.

1) You can make your own avatar by using a favorite photo. Crop or resize it to 80 px by 80 px. Save it. It’s now ready to use.

2) Find one online for free. Just search for “free avatars”. You’ll find thousands (maybe millions) of choices. Search through the sites, find one you like, and download it.

I found mine at www.allavatars.com . Photo credit goes to “Aerythes”. And, as a reminder, read the avatar user policy.

Here are a few samples of other avatars I found online:

After you have saved your avatar, go to “Gravatar.com” where you can register your avatar for free (linking it to your email address(s)). Once registered, your avatar will follow you throughout cyberspace.

I also activated Avatars in my comment section. Being technologically challenged, I opted for a plugin. The one I am using is named “Easy Gravatars” and was created by Dougal Campbell. Thank you Dougal!

This plugin is download as all others. Once activated, I changed the “Default Image URL”, (under options – Easy Avatar). My image URL now matches the default avatar. The default avatar will display in the event you have not registered an avatar with Gravatar.com.

Remember….your avatar becomes your “brand”, so choose wisely.

An added note: According to Web Tools Collection, avatars will be included (preloaded) in WordPress version 2.5 (which is currently being tested).

Today’s Assignment

What are your thoughts on avatars?

Are you using them in your social networks? Comments?

If not, do you have questions?