02 Jul 5+ Free WordPress Avatar Plugins
In this article, I will round up a few amazing alternative to the default WordPress options which pulls users avatars via their email address using Gravatar. We do not knock their default option that works well for most people, but there are others who would like something else. And this was the prompt to create this compilation. If you have no ideas what Gravatar is, then have a look at this article: What is Gravatar and why should you be using it?
Without further ado, let’s have a look at some of the best free avatars plugins compatible with WordPress version 5.0+:
WP User Avatar
With WP User Avatar, your site members can now upload their own avatar image in their user profile section. If that was cool enough the plugin author as also included a shortcode to give your users to upload and remove their avatar. This plugin is especially useful if your user are not familiar with Gravatar the default system WordPress uses to pull in their avatar image.
Key Features:
- Disable Gravatar avatars and use only local avatars.
- Use the shortcode
[avatar_upload]to allow users to upload their avatar. - Limit upload file size and image dimensions.
WP Social Avatar
WP Social Avatar is an interesting option to consider, in short it allows you to use your social profile picture as your avatar. At present writing, this the author as noted that the Facebook option is not working as Facebook recently changed their API. The huge advantage of this plugin is it saves users the trouble of downloading their profile picture and cropping to the right size to then reupload it.
Key Features:
- Pulls profile image from Facebook and Google+.
- Options to limit who can use this plugin.
- Cache functionality for Google Plus avatar.
Easy Author Image
This plugin is another alternative to WP User Avatar, although they are quite similar they come with different features. Out the box, this one is much more easily to use in the sense that theirs not a million option to confuse you. On the other hand, you do not get the option to limit who can use this plugin. And also the frontend profile uploader feature is not included with this plugin.
Key Features:
- Beginner friendly
- Works out the box
Author Avatars List
Now that you have your avatar upload process sorted you might want to display a few of your latest/popular users. If that’s the case, then this plugin will help you to achieve that in fact we use this very same plugin to display some of our most active authors. Until now I hadn’t noticed you can use the shortcodes to customize further and display your user in the sidebar or on post or pages.
Key Features:
- Highly Customizable and simple enough to use.
- Adjust the size of the user avatar.
- You get to use the widget or shortcodes
- Supports users from co-authors, BBpress and BudyPress
- Limit the number of users shown
Avatar Manager
Avatar Manager is quite different to the other plugins mentioned here. In regards to the fact it allows you to use both the default avatar is taken from Gravatar, or you can use the local profile image chosen by the user.
What’s great about Avatar manager is that you can also set the image size you want all avatar image to resize to.
Key Features:
- Adjust the size of the user avatar.
- Use both Gravatar and Local image (you can choose via tick box which to display).
Wrapping up
A few years back when I made my first attempt at creating a community for bloggers on bbPress I was faced with the issue having to find an alternative so that my users can upload their own avatars. So if you are having a similar issue, I hope you were able to find a suitable solution through this article. Let me know your thoughts on how you are using these plugins and if we have missed any out? As always if you found any value in this I urge you to share and rate it below, so we know how we’re doing.
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