Sunset Gravatar as the default option for profile image

[mor10]

To add a user profile photo to a WordPress site without adding a plugin, the user has to create a Gravatar. Creating a Gravatar requires a WordPress.com account. This requires the user of a self-hosted WordPress site to have a WordPress.com account to use a core feature.

Gravatar is a great idea and a great service. However, having a WordPress.com account should not be a prerequisite to use a core feature, especially something as central and expected as a user profile photo. In my opinion.

Having Gravatar be the only core option for user profile pictures introduces several issues including (but not limited to):

• Having to have a WordPress.com account.
• No access to WordPress.com or Gravatar.com from intranets and systems not connected to the web or behind firewalls or geoblockers that block either domain.
• Data collection and privacy concerns (real and/or imagined) around what it means to upload a photo to Gravatar.com / create an account on WordPress.com. (see #45384 as example)

Proposal

• Introduce a core option to use profile photo from media library.
• Sunset Gravatar as core option. Offer Gravatar as plugin.
• Introduce Gravatar-type service not tied to WordPress.com (ideally hosted by WordPress.org or similar).

[earnjam]

Related #14682

[earnjam]

Actually, this is sort of a combination of #14682 and #16020. Could probably close as a duplicate.

[anonymized_7658014]

Replying to earnjam:

Actually, this is sort of a combination of #14682 and #16020. Could probably close as a duplicate.

Although essentially about the same topic, this one here is worded a lot more thoroughly than #16020 where the author just said ‘it would be nice if’. Closing it as a duplicate would remove its coherent reasoning from visibility.

[ocean90]

Closing it as duplicate of #44067, #14682 and #16020 which already have some history and actionable suggestions.