I just updated the site to the latest version of Wordpress - which happens quite regularly without an noticeable changes. However, on this occasion the Gravatar Icons for people who haven't setup their own custom one for some reason changed their pattern and colour.
There appears no reason for this and couldn't find anything after googling - these gravatar icons are randomly generated from a users name and email address but have remained the same for many years.
Unfortunately, whether the algorithm changed I can't say but it proved quite confusing to see members now having different colours and patterns that were close to what previous users had been.
Anyway, given all the new gravatar icons are now unknown and confusing I have opted instead to install a plugin that instead creates a icon with the first letter of the username with a random background colour.
Hope that is OK for everyone as at least the initial letter gives some quick identification when scanning - anyone can also add their own custom image for their Gravatar icon if they want something more personal.
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Update: Just to add, I've given everyone a mixture of a Single letter, two uppercase letters, two lowercase letters or one uppercase and a lowercase letter - it was based on a number of reasons to do with differentiation, scale and something innate. I also created a custom colour palette from where the randomly selected background is chosen - mainly to avoid shocking pinks and pastel purples and several unwelcome shades of green 😉
Thanks for the update Grandfather Gravatar! 😎
does this mean that we don’t need to do anything if we already have a personal avatar?
I've looked further into the new Plugin and it can also display 2 letters - which also helps identify users more easily.
For example K P in Spain is now KP
But lenmasterman is still only L since it's a single word
as is gt - who only displays a G
However, MW in Darwin is MI - this is because unlike KP there is no space between the M & W so it uses the 'I' from 'in'
Likewise, Philip of Huddersfield is PO - the letters of Philip and 'of'
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This problem is easily fixed as the plugin follows a basic rule from your profile settings...
THE RULE
- The plugin will use the initials from First Name and Last Name
- If these are not filled in it will generate your initials from your Nickname - it will use the first two words in your nickname - btw most people haven't filled their First and Second Name, which is why the initials are not quite right.
THE FIX
I started to explain how each user can change their initials when I suddenly wondered whether I can do it from my end by editing the database - I can 🤣
So don't worry I'll sort it out and if anyone prefers alternative 2 initials or just a single one then let me know!
Yes, if you already have a personal Gravatar it will use that instead so nothing to worry about 🙂
Let's see what has happened (if anything) to my identifying tile/gravatar or whatever.....
Ah ha! Still the same. Better for the sake of simplicity..!