is it possible to switch off Gravatar.com

[erich37]

I have used Gravatar.com at one of my websites and I did not like this thing as it had very long loading times and because of Gravatar.com my website took forever to load completely.

Is there any chance to turn off Gravatar.com when running a XF-website ?

Many thanks,

 

[Brandon_R]

How about instead of directly linking to images on gravatar, why not pull the avatar the store it here?

 

[Enigma]

Looks like caching would not comply with the gravatar ToS: (emphasis mine)

2. Use of the Services by Third Party Websites. Third party websites may enable the use of the Services on their respective websites as expressly authorized by Automattic (e.g., API calls into Gravatar: http://en.gravatar.com/site/implement); provided that they (i) do not copy, store or modify User Submissions; (ii) do not distribute, display, perform, use or otherwise exercise or exploit any User Submission or other user information for any purpose other than as necessary to perform the Services for the applicable user; (iii) have a privacy policy in effect and posted on such website that complies with all applicable laws and regulations and that notifies such user that it will only use personally identifiable information as set forth in (ii) above; and (iv) agree to be bound by and comply with all the terms, conditions, and limitations set forth in the Terms of Service (“Gravatar-enabled website”).

It probably needs an on/off switch though.

 

[Cory Booth]

+1 here

 

[erich37]

just to let you know:

Gravatar.com is a product of Automattic Inc. (WordPress).

Even the coders of BuddyPress.org (also a WordPress product) had to build a feature in order to be able to switch OFF Gravatar.com, because webmasters did request from BuddyPress.org to have the ability to disable Gravatar.com

Many webmasters did not like that Gravatar.com service and preferred to switch it off.

 

[Dean]

If I go to someones full profile and right click on an avatar, would it indicate it was a gravatar?

 

[erich37]

If I go to someones full profile and right click on an avatar, would it indicate it was a gravatar?

yes, most probably.
As the images of your users are being hosted on a gravatar.com website.

example:
http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/53eef9795e44677929035a08ab868fd4?d=wavatar&s=100

 

[Peter]

An option to turn it off is a big plus since not everyone needs gravatar when you can simply upload one that will be local and load much quicker.

 

[dutchbb]

Anything externally that may slow down the forums we need to be able to disable.

 

[DSF]

Anything externally that may slow down the forums we need to be able to disable.

+1

 

[Gravity]

The ideal solution is to cache the gravatar image locally, but that's probably going to require an addon to be developed.

 

[Mike]

The ideal solution is to cache the gravatar image locally, but that's probably going to require an addon to be developed.

And IIRC, against their terms of service.

 

[Chromaniac]

how about adding the code that loads the avatars as the user scrolls down? essentially only loading the images that are visible on the user's screen on load.

disqus has that!

 

[Gravity]

And IIRC, against their terms of service.

You're right, "can't copy or store it".

 

[tlsoft_tib]

Where could i switch it on?

 

[RickM]

Would be good to disable...dont do what I did....just spent half an hour waiting for the vB importer to find gravatars for 20k+ members Surprised they didn't block me for abusing the API! (Props for the great vB importer btw!)

 

[Dean]

This seems to be more of a detailed 'how can I' thread, as opposed to a simple 'can it be done' thread.

Since we have re-arranged the forums a bit, I think the general discussions forum might be a better fit than the presales forum.

presales -> general discussions.

 

[CFodder]

Yes, I would like to know how to turn off this s**t awful feature that probably 1% of our users will utilise. I must admit I'm puzzled why the XF developers haven't included, or as I saw mentioned don't plan to implement, a system for us to upload a selection of default avatars.

 

[soloarquitectura]

Anything externally that may slow down the forums we need to be able to disable.

Yes, something similar happens with Facebook.
For example, xenforo.com sometimes takes a long time to load because it is awaiting a response from Facebook.

 

[DSF]

For our forum gravatar.com is a BIG bulls....... We MUST disable it.
Please implement it in Beta 2