Can I Use a Custom Avatar Without Creating a Gravatar Account?

Yes. You do not need a Gravatar account to use a custom avatar with Molongui Authorship.

You can upload a Local Avatar directly to the author’s profile and store the image on your own WordPress site.

Use a Local Avatar instead of Gravatar

For a registered WordPress User:

1. Go to Users > All Users.
2. Edit the user.
3. Open the Author Profile tab.
4. Locate the Profile Picture panel in the right-hand sidebar.
5. Upload or select the image you want to use.
6. Save the user profile.

For a Guest Author:

1. Open the Guest Authors screen.
2. Edit the Guest Author.
3. Locate the Profile Picture panel in the sidebar.
4. Upload or select the image you want to use.
5. Save the Guest Author.

Make sure Local Avatars are enabled

1. Go to Authors > Settings.
2. Open the General tab.
3. Find the Author Avatar Settings section.
4. Make sure Use local author avatars is enabled.
5. Save the settings.

Can I disable Gravatar completely?

Yes.

If you do not want Molongui Authorship to use Gravatar at all, disable Use Gravatar for author avatars under Authors > Settings > General.

You can then use:

Local Avatar → Custom Default Avatar

if both Local Avatars and the Custom Default Avatar are enabled.

What happens if an author has no Local Avatar?

If the author has no Local Avatar, Molongui Authorship moves to the next available avatar source according to your settings.

If Gravatar is disabled and a Custom Default Avatar is configured, the Custom Default Avatar can be displayed instead.

If no fallback is available, no avatar will be shown.

Do Local Avatars depend on the author’s email address?

No.

Local Avatars are stored directly on your WordPress site and do not depend on an email address or any external avatar service.

This makes them a good option when you want full control over author profile pictures.