Why Does an Author Without an Email Behave Differently?

Authors without an email address may follow a different avatar fallback path because Gravatar relies on email addresses to identify avatars.

This is expected behavior.

Why does the email address matter?

Gravatar associates an avatar with an email address.

If an author has no valid email address, Molongui Authorship cannot check whether that author has a Gravatar.

Instead of making an unnecessary Gravatar request, the plugin skips Gravatar and moves directly to the next available avatar source.

Example with all avatar options enabled

For an author with an email address, the usual avatar priority is:

Local Avatar → Gravatar → Custom Default Avatar

For an author without an email address, Gravatar is skipped:

Local Avatar → Custom Default Avatar

What if the author has no Local Avatar?

If the author has no Local Avatar and no email address, Molongui Authorship moves directly to the next enabled fallback.

If the Custom Default Avatar is enabled:

Custom Default Avatar

If the Custom Default Avatar is also disabled, no avatar may be displayed.

Will the WordPress Default Avatar be used?

Normally, no.

The WordPress Default Avatar is part of the Gravatar fallback flow. If there is no valid email address, Molongui Authorship skips Gravatar entirely, so the WordPress Default Avatar is not requested through that flow.

If you want authors without an email address to always display an image, enable a Custom Default Avatar under Authors > Settings > General.

Does this apply to both WordPress Users and Guest Authors?

Yes.

The same logic applies to registered WordPress Users and Molongui Guest Authors.

If either type of author has no valid email address, Gravatar is skipped automatically.

How can I make avatar behavior more consistent?

If you want authors with and without email addresses to use the same fallback image, configure a Custom Default Avatar:

1. Go to Authors > Settings.
2. Open the General tab.
3. Enable Use a custom default avatar.
4. Select the image you want to use.
5. Save the settings.

This provides a consistent fallback even when Gravatar cannot be used.

Summary

• Gravatar requires a valid email address.
• Authors without an email address skip Gravatar automatically.
• A Local Avatar can still be used normally.
• The Custom Default Avatar can be used as the fallback.
• The WordPress Default Avatar is not used through the Gravatar flow when no email address is available.