Textpattern CMS support forum
You are not logged in. Register | Login | Help
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
Pages: 1
[request] Local Avatars
With the recent debacle at Gravatar.com I was wondering if it was possible to create a simpler and more local plugin that doesn’t depend a third party site to display comment avatars.
My thoughts were that it might work in possibly two ways:
Method one:
1) user is allowed to submit an avatar upon posting a comment – if the user chooses not to the default local gravatar is used.
2) details are kept in a cookie, so the next time the user posts, it will load up the avatar – but it will link it to email address used and username (since these are two items required) so that even if the user erases their cookie, the serverside cookie will load up that local avatar stored in, say, the tmp or images directory,
Method two:
1) When a user submits their comment, the plugin first contacts gravatar.com and grabs the image for that email address/username combo and writes the details into the cookie.
2) it then caches the image locally and periodically checks gravatar.com for all images based on a setting iwthin the plugin which can be changed from, say, daily to 30 days
3) this means user x will make a comment, then gravtar.com is automatically contacted as the normal gravatar plugin would and grab the avatar, but it would keep a copy locally and user that based on the cookie info written.
Does anyone have time to do this, or is this too problematic a plugin? I really don’t want to depend on another site on whether feature x, y z will work or not on my site, if you see what I mean.
What a local submission would allow is basic control over what is posted, by whom, and will offer some speed incentive in terms of loading taking out the middle man as it were.
Thanks in advance
Last edited by sekhu (2005-07-21 06:55:55)
Offline
Re: [request] Local Avatars
I like the idea of method one. It would be cool to have users upload there own avatars.
Offline
Re: [request] Local Avatars
a gravatar-backup plugin that does what your method two is suggesting is a good idea.
method one — local submission — would be a worthwhile plugin for various uses, i would think.. maybe commenters could set up little profiles and such also… i don’t have a site in mind that would take advantage of such options, but i can think of several site formats that might appreciate these community-building features.
textpattern.org :: find and share Textpattern resources
docs.textpattern.io :: Textpattern user documentation
Offline
Re: [request] Local Avatars
After the latest Gravatar site disappearance I have taken them out and would much prefer something local like this so that I am not reliant on temperamental third-party sites. I think many blog-type sites would be better served with a plug-in like this.
Stuart
In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.
Offline
#5 2008-08-12 18:33:47
- Smirk
- New Member
- Registered: 2008-08-02
- Posts: 5
Re: [request] Local Avatars
So, basically, a plugin to allow users to upload their own avatars and store them locally to show in their profile page and comments is not so hard to do? I guess it takes only PHP knowledge to do that?
Offline
Pages: 1