Integrated on millions of sites, Gravatar is a free service for site owners, developers, and anyone else who wants a verified way to establish their identity online. One picture, rather than who knows how many scattered throughout the internet.

An Automattic project since 2007, Gravatar is built into every WordPress.com account and is widely implemented across the open web.

Use at Adafruit

An optional Gravatar email field is in an Adafruit account holder's profile. If that is filled out, Adafruit may use that picture where you interact with others, such as in the forums or for a user page (if you chose to do so). It's totally optional.

Gravatar Privacy

If you are wondering about the privacy of your data by the makers of Gravatar, see Automattic's privacy policy at https://automattic.com/privacy/.

If you find the idea of a Gravatar appealing (or if you did in the past and wish to change things), this is how you can get on to the Gravatar system.

Log into Gravatar

The site is en.gravatar.com. You're presented with an introductory screen:

To Create an Account

Follow the "Create your Gravatar" path with the blue button. You'll use your email address and provide a password. Yes, it creates a WordPress.com account, they're joined.

To Log In to an Existing Account

In the upper right corner is a Sign In button. Click that and enter your email that you signed up with and your password.

If you have lost your password, you can look to recover your account with the link towards the bottom.

Once you are logged in, you are presented with the screen above. It's rather sparse. You can add images by uploading them. You can delete pictures you don't like by clicking the corresponding X below the picture you wish deleted. And you can select the current picture you want to be your Gravatar, which will then have a blue border around it.

If you have an old picture you now despise, go ahead and upload a new one and delete the old one. It happens to everyone.

It's good data management policy to allow users to delete themselves and Gravatar provides this. In the upper right, click your avatar and select "Disable my Gravatar".

Read the instructions (above / on screen).

Unfortunately to permanently delete, you must go to WordPress.com to close the account. The extra step(s) seem bothersome.