If an author does not have a Gravatar, Molongui Authorship can automatically display a fallback avatar instead.
This is expected behavior and depends on the avatar settings configured on your site.
How the fallback works
When Gravatar is enabled, Molongui Authorship checks whether the author has a Gravatar associated with their email address.
If no Gravatar is available, the plugin continues to the next available fallback.
With the Custom Default Avatar enabled, the usual flow is:
Gravatar → Custom Default Avatar
If the Custom Default Avatar is disabled, WordPress can use its own Default Avatar instead:
Gravatar → WordPress Default Avatar
Why am I seeing the Custom Default Avatar?
If Use a custom default avatar is enabled under Authors > Settings > General, Molongui Authorship uses that image when no higher-priority avatar is available.
This is useful if you want all authors without an avatar to display the same branded or custom image.
Why am I seeing the WordPress Default Avatar?
If Gravatar is enabled but the Molongui Custom Default Avatar is disabled, WordPress can fall back to the Default Avatar configured under Settings > Discussion.
This may be a Mystery Person, Identicon, Retro, Blank, or another option selected in WordPress.
What if the author has no email address?
Gravatar requires an email address.
If the author has no valid email address, Molongui Authorship skips Gravatar entirely.
In that case, the next available source is used directly. For example:
Local Avatar → Custom Default Avatar
If neither source is available, no avatar may be displayed.
What if the author has a Local Avatar?
If Local Avatars are enabled and the author has one configured, the Local Avatar normally takes priority over Gravatar and default avatars.
The standard priority is:
Local Avatar → Gravatar → Custom Default Avatar
How to change which default avatar is displayed
To use a custom fallback image:
- Go to Authors > Settings.
- Open the General tab.
- Enable Use a custom default avatar.
- Select the image you want to use.
- Save the settings.
To use WordPress’ Default Avatar instead:
- Disable Use a custom default avatar under Authors > Settings > General.
- Make sure Gravatar remains enabled.
- Go to Settings > Discussion.
- Select the desired Default Avatar.
- Save the changes.
Can I show no fallback avatar at all?
Yes. Depending on where the avatar is being displayed, you can disable the available fallback sources or explicitly use a None fallback.
For example, with Molongui Authorship Pro:
[molongui_author_avatar source="gravatar" default="none"]This displays the Gravatar when available and nothing otherwise.
