Let’s face it, Gravatar should have been a pluginSoftware that adds specific features or functionality to a W... More from the start, but Automattic chose to shove it down our throat from the very start in 2007. If you use WordPress as a blog, you may want to keep it to get the commenters’ profile picture in a simple way, if you use WordPress as a CMS or don’t allow commentUser feedback or discussion attached to a post or page, mana... More, you have no use for gravatars.
Gravatar’s impact on speed and space usage a your WordPress site is not negligeable. Every single commentUser feedback or discussion attached to a post or page, mana... More that includes a Gravatar requires a separate call to the Gravatar servers, which means about 100ms spent per call. If you have many comments, make the calculation for yourself.
In terms of storage space, Gravatar images can take some substantial space if you have a large WordPress site. However, space usually isn’t an issue for most websites.
If you want to keep Gravatar, you can mitigate the issues caused by its usage, you can employ strategies such as caching Gravatar images to reduce HTTP requests or use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to speed up image delivery.
Removing Gravatars from your WordPress site is extremely straightforward and simple. In your WordPress adminThe admin (administrator) is the highest user role with full... More, just navigate to Settings > Discussion, then scroll down this adminThe admin (administrator) is the highest user role with full... More pageStatic content (e.g., "About Us," "Contact") not part of chr... More until you see the “Avatars” section. There, uncheck the “Show Avatars” checkbox.
If you dislike Gravatars, but still want to use avatars on your website, the easiest way to do it is to use the WordPress pluginSoftware that adds specific features or functionality to a W... More Simple Local Avatars. Installing this pluginSoftware that adds specific features or functionality to a W... More on your website will allow you to turn off Gravatars and replace this function with local avatars. It also gives you useful customization options to decide who can upload his/her own avatarAvatarA graphical representation of a user, often a photo or... More and the avatarAvatarA graphical representation of a user, often a photo or... More image size, among other things.
