[1e2] Gravatar as Default Avatar - plugin for Vbulletn 4

With this very sipmple plugin you can display a Gravatar icon as default avatar for users that don't have any avatar saved or selected. But if an user has its own avatar, this one will be used instead of Gravatar.

The Gravatar is unique and automatically genereted based on registration email address choosen by the user. And the avatar created is used in every other website that use this method, like Wordpress blogs.

Users that are registered to gravatar.com can upload their avatar image so that every website that uses Gravatar will display the uploaded personal image! So you can save your personal avatar one time and have it spreaded everywhere Gravatar system is used.

Images are hosted on gravatar.com website, so you don't have any increase to your server load or bandwidth.

In this way every user (old users and new users) will have an avatar image, and to recognize the author of a post will be simplier for all because unique images are assigned to each one.
Your forum will be more userfriendly and nice looking!

How To

1- Go to Plugins & Products -> Manage Products -> [Add/Import Product], then select the xml file downloaded, click Yes for Allow Overwrite and click Import button

2- Go to Settings->Options->User Picture Options and you will find three new option at the end of the page (see screenshot) where you can:

* Choose the Gravatar Type (choose between different Gravatar icon):

404: do not load any image if none is associated with the email hash, instead return an HTTP 404 (File Not Found) response
http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/00000...000000000?d=mmmm: (mystery-man) a simple, cartoon-style silhouetted outline of a person (does not vary by email hash)
http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/00000...00?d=identiconidenticon: a geometric pattern based on an email hash
http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/00000...00?d=monsteridmonsterid: a generated 'monster' with different colors, faces, etc
http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/00000...0000?d=wavatarwavatar: generated faces with differing features and backgrounds
http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/00000...000000?d=retroretro: awesome generated, 8-bit arcade-style pixelated faces

* Choose the Gravatar Dimension from 1 to 512 pixel square (default is 80) accordingly to your theme. You must write only numbers without characters or punctuation (so for example 120 and not 120px nor 120,5).

* Choose the Gravatar Dimension for your Sidebar from 1 to 512 pixel square (default is 30) accordingly to your theme. You must write only numbers without characters or punctuation (so for example 120 and not 120px nor 120,5).

*- Choose the Gravatar Ratings. All images are rated default as "g":

g: suitable for display on all websites with any audience type.
pg: may contain rude gestures, provocatively dressed individuals, the lesser swear words, or mild violence.
r: may contain such things as harsh profanity, intense violence, nudity, or hard drug use.
x: may contain hardcore sexual imagery or extremely disturbing violence.

Note: uninstall Geekydesigns default avatar hack to make work.

A manual edit for 4 files is needed if you want gravatar also in Blog and in ForumHome Sidebar. It's a simple search and replace, you can do it in 1 minute.

As soon as I have time, I will make automaic the manual edit and I will add gravatar support also for CMS.

Remember to Marsk as Installed
and to Nominate as Mod Of Month

Changelog:
v 1.0 Initial release
v 1.0.1 corrected a bug that makes the gravatar all the same in user profile
v 1.1.0 Added a rudimental menu option to choose gravatar type, dimension and ratings
v 1.1.1 Improvements in option menu to prevent errors and make it easier
v 1.1.2:

Added option to choose dimensio for gravatar in sidebar.
Added a file called "gravatar in sidebar and blog.txt" with instruction to manual edit 4 file in order to have gravatar also in Sidebar blocks and in Blog.

v 1.1.2p updated manual edits for VB 4.1.4 and 4.1.5