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Free Plugin by pepe v2.7.0

Avatar Privacy

Enhances the privacy of your users and visitors with gravatar opt-in and local avatars.

Avatar Privacy

The facts

Rating
5★ from 25
Active installs
1k+
Price
Free
Last updated
1 May 2023
Added
Feb 2012
Requires WP
5.6
Tested up to
WP 6.2.11
Requires PHP
7.4
Downloads
41,828

Our analysis

AI-assisted

Avatar Privacy is a WordPress plugin designed to enhance the privacy of user avatars on your site. It allows users to upload their own avatars, opt-in to use Gravatars, and ensures that email addresses of commenters are not published in a weakly encrypted form. The plugin integrates with existing discussion settings and supports multisite installations.

The plugin includes various WP-CLI commands for database management and avatar settings, making it suitable for site administrators who want to improve privacy without altering theme files. It is particularly useful for sites that prioritise user privacy and want to provide more control over avatar display.

Best for: This plugin suits site administrators focused on enhancing user privacy.

What it does well

  • Allows self-uploaded avatars hosted on your server
  • Users must opt-in to use Gravatars
  • Caches Gravatars to protect visitor privacy
  • Does not publish weakly encrypted email addresses
  • Supports multisite installations

Where it falls short

  • No options page; integrates into existing discussion settings
  • Limited information available on specific features

Verdict

Avatar Privacy offers a straightforward solution for managing user avatars with an emphasis on privacy, though it may lack some user-friendly features like a dedicated options page.

From the developer

pepe's own description of Avatar Privacy, lightly tidied.

Avatars from Gravatar.com are great, but they come with certain privacy implications. You as site admin may already know this, but your visitors and users probably don’t. Avatar Privacy can help to improve the privacy situation by making some subtle changes to the way avatars are displayed on your site.

The plugin works without changing your theme files (for reasonably modern themes), and it does support multisite installations. Please note that the plugin does not provide an options page of its own, it rather adds to the existing discussion settings page.

Features

The plugin’s features summed up:

  • Self-uploaded avatars for users (and custom default images), hosted on your server.
  • Users and commenters explicitly opt-in before using gravatars.
  • Gravatar caching to ensure the privacy of your website visitors.
  • Don’t publish weakly encrypted e-mail addresses of comment authors.

A more detailed examination of the reasons for using Avatar Privacy can be found on the plugin homepage.

WP-CLI Commands

Avatar Privacy includes the following WP-CLI commands:

  • wp avatar-privacy db show: Show information about the custom database table(s).
  • wp avatar-privacy db list: List entries in the custom database table(s).
  • wp avatar-privacy db create: Create the custom database table.
  • wp avatar-privacy db upgrade: Upgrade the structure of the custom database table.
  • wp avatar-privacy default get-custom-default-avatar: Show information about the custom default avatar for the site.
  • wp avatar-privacy default set-custom-default-avatar: Set a custom default avatar for the site.
  • wp avatar-privacy default delete-custom-default-avatar: Delete the custom default avatar for the site.
  • wp avatar-privacy cron list: List active cron jobs created by the plugin.
  • wp avatar-privacy cron delete: Delete cron jobs created by the plugin.
  • wp avatar-privacy user set-local-avatar: Set a local avatar image for a user.
  • wp avatar-privacy user delete-local-avatar: Delete the local avatar image for a user.
  • wp avatar-privacy uninstall: Remove data added by Avatar Privacy.

Feedback

Please report any problems with the plugin, I’ll do my best to sort things out. You can use the contact form on my code site or create a topic in the support forum. You can contact me in German or English.

Credits

Avatar Privacy is based on the original plugin by Johannes Freudendahl. The new release also includes work by several other people:

Read the full description on the official page →

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