Heroes of Telemark (turn)Three small Wainwrights
Mar 08 01

Avatars Plugin

Technology Comments
Admin

WordPress (from version 2.5) includes native support for global avatars. Great! :-) But, what about adding local (private) avatars for your users? Maybe your users don’t want a global avatar, aren’t IT savvy enough to set a gravatar up, simply want a private avatar for your blog, or any other reason too…

This plug-in does exactly that. Adds the ability to have local avatars in WordPress. I’m quite pleased with it. :oops:
So, I think it is worth shouting about, and sharing…

The plug-in is available as a free download here.

All I ask is that you credit the widget (i.e. include a link to this page, enable the author credit option or maybe add a link on your blogroll).

Plus there is now a new sidebar widget extension to the plug-in that provides a feature allowing users to manage their avatar from the sidebar without having to use WordPress’ profile administration page. It provides the same capability as the profile page. This new feature provides yet more support for users who may not, for example, be savvy enough to use the WordPress administration interface. I’m asking for a super-small fee (just £3.50) for this extension.


This small fee does not allow for any customisation of the widget, extra features etc. So, please let me know if you want those and we can talk about options – who knows it might be such a killer idea that I’ll add it to the widget anyhow! However, the fee does include bug fixes; find something wrong with the plug-in, and I’ll fix it as quickly as possible.

Instructions to get the extension:

  • Click on the Buy Now button above and buy the extension securely via PayPal.
  • Then be patient, PayPal will e-mail me and I will get straight back to you via e-mail with the extension and simple installation instructions.

:star: Why not check out my other WordPress plug-ins too! :star:

Thanks!

The plug-in now delivers the much requested feature of allowing users to upload their own local avatar. This feature can be turned on and off by Administrators.

Features:

  • Have global or local avatars for your users.
  • Allow avatars to be included, securely, in your posts.
  • Detailed control over the default avatar to use for those users who have no global or local avatar. Allows a choice of a custom image, ‘mystery’ blank image, blank, Wavatar, Monster ID, or Identicon.
  • Wraps avatars in code to support SnapShots (www.snap.com), should your site use these.
  • Permits users to upload their own local avatars.

Example screens:



Fig 1. An example of the main avatars page. Manage users global and local avatars etc.


Fig 2. The avatars options configuration section of the main avatars page


Fig 3. From the WordPress profile page, the new section allows users to upload their own local avatar

Instructions:

  • Just put the plug-in into your plug-in directory (if this doesn’t make sense it probably isn’t something you should be trying :-) ) and activate it.
  • Use the form, Users » Avatars, to define any local avatars for your users. Specify the URI for an avatar image, something like http://your.domain/avatars/image.jpg, where avatars is a directory containing your local images.
  • Also you may set a default size (in pixels) for avatars and define a default image (e.g. http://your.domain/avatars/default.jpg) to use when no local or global avatar is available.
  • The code to include in your template files is documented on the Users » Avatars page too. To start with try:
    • Put get_avatars($comment); inside the comments loop of your comments.php template file to show the comment author’s avatar.
    • Put get_avatar($post->post_author); in your single.php template file to show the post author’s avatar. You’ll need to declare global $post; in the file too.
  • Make use of this feature to generate a unqiue Wavatar (other options exist).
With regret I have closed comments on this post as I’m being deluged with queries that often boil down to “how to” requests and not issues with the plug-in, which works perfectly! So, if you want support, even advice, use the Feedback link and ask away…
But please note I will have to ask for a donation before I’ll look at “how to” questions…

Version History:

  • 7.0 – Support for user profile widget plug-in.
  • 6.8 – Option for nickname / first name & surname.
  • 6.7 – Fix for uppercase extensions.
  • 6.6 – Fix to scaling when upgrading from old version of plug-in without scaling option.
  • 6.5 – Upload file type check (thanks to SumoSulsi) and internationalisation preparation.
  • 6.4 – Error in file naming fixed, with some help from “noyz319″.
  • 6.3 – Oops, a bug (mistake) with the scaling size fixed.
  • 6.2 – Improved unique file name creation, optional avatar upload resizing/cropping, and PHP 4 fix. Thanks to Gioele Agostinelli.
  • 6.1 – Explanation of directory structure and ‘chmod’ fix, thanks to Tobias Schwarz.
  • 6.0 – Added feature to allow users to upload their own avatar.
  • 5.2 – Cope with WP 2.6 avatar default.
  • 5.1 – Minor fix to repetition of show avatars WordPress setting.
  • 5.0 – Avatar options should only be managed by Administrators.
  • 4.2 – Fix for credit option un-setting.
  • 4.1 – Author credit.
  • 4.0 – Wavatar, Monster ID and Identicon can be used.
  • 3.3 – Spelling fixes!
  • 3.2 – Added check for administration pages to stop user URL wrapping breaking comment editing.
  • 3.1 – Minor tweaks to usage text and options.
  • 3.0 – Added ability to place avatars in written post content (plus other tweaks).
  • 2.1 – Added example formatting information.
  • 2.0 – Added pagination of the commenters list too.
  • 1.0 – Added pagination of users list.
  • 0.1 – Initial release.

Article Series - WordPress Plug-ins

  1. Image Link WordPress Plug-in
  2. Last Year WordPress Sidebar Widget Plugin
  3. Simple Archive Plugin
  4. Avatars Plugin
  5. Post Country Plug-in
  6. Notices Ticker Plugin
  7. Comments with Avatars
  8. Simple WordPress Twitter Plugin
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Entry for Saturday, 1st March 2008 by Admin, filed under Technology.
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