The herd believes that comment spam should be more colorful — are you not bored by the Mystery Man?
Do you like your default avatars Blank? Wish to promote the Gravatar logo? Do you get wild with user icons as foolish as the very names: Identicon, Wavatar, MonsterID?
Surely not.
Perhaps an avatar named… Bite the Human?
Now that is a custom default avatar the herd would like to see. We may enable comments to titter at Gravatar laggards.
Oh, but you’re in a hot lather now… eager as spring colts to make your very own default avatar. It’s time to smack those cheeky monkeys without a proper face! Let’s build you a custom avatar right now, yes?
Thesis Theme custom_functions.php code filter… How to make a unique default avatar image.
/* Custom Default Mule Herd Avatar */
if (!function_exists('mule_avatar')) { function mule_avatar($avatar_defaults) { $new_default_icon = get_bloginfo('template_directory') .
'/custom/images/just-a-human.png';
$avatar_defaults[$new_default_icon] = 'Bite The Human';
return $avatar_defaults;
}
add_filter( 'avatar_defaults' , 'mule_avatar' ); }
There’s little more to say than that… the first part in bold is the file path to the image.
The herd used a 96×96 pixe avatar saved as a PNG… JPG or GIF formats can work just as well… photo-style images look best as PNGs, but can run twice the file size of an optimized JPG, given this resolution. The venerable GIF can be very light for line art or other simplified avatars. Please don’t animate them.
The second bold bit names the Gravatar or avatar or icon or whatever the dickens you think of it as, and will appear described as such in your WordPress administration panels.
At right is the herd’s choice. It’s you. A human. Being bitten. We like it a great deal.
Your image’s file path, if you run the Thesis theme — which you bloody well should — is in the /custom folder, where the herd in its wisdom placed the PNG in the /images sub-directory of /custom. Clever mules!
Now you may enter WordPress, skitter on down to Settings, Discussion, select your shiny new avatar, and save.
If you did anything right, which we doubt, you may now overtly taunt those reckless commentators (those without a Gravatar associated with their email address) with an insulting avatar… this should cause them to abandon any thought of joining your community, freeing you to work on more important things… your spoon collection?
We’ve no desire to hear your blathering here. If you simply must talk at your screen… pester the SEO and Marketing Experts at Outspoken Media.
While human, they’re a decent lot — and Miss Hoffman’s earlier take on custom WP avatars deserves a head bob.
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