Gravatar Support in Meh

Meh integrates with Gravatar to display user avatars next to comments. This provides a familiar and consistent way for commenters to have their profile images appear across different websites.

How It Works

When a comment is displayed:

1. Meh checks if the comment has a custom avatar URL (e.g., from Mastodon imports)
2. If not, it generates a Gravatar URL based on the commenter's email address or name
3. The Gravatar service returns either:
   • The user's Gravatar image if they have one registered
   • A fallback image based on your configuration

Configuration

You can configure Gravatar behavior using these settings:

# Set the fallback image type
./meh config gravatar_fallback "initials"

# Set the content rating
./meh config gravatar_rating "g"

Fallback Options

When a user doesn't have a Gravatar, you can choose what appears instead:

• initials: Generates an image with the user's initials (default)
• mp: Mystery Person silhouette
• identicon: Geometric pattern
• monsterid: Generated "monster" avatar (did you know those were invented by Meh's creator?)
• wavatar: Generated face
• retro: 8-bit style pixelated face
• robohash: Robot avatar
• blank: Transparent image
• Or any URL to a custom default image

Content Rating

Control the maximum rating of Gravatar images:

• g: Suitable for all audiences
• pg: May contain rude gestures, provocative clothing, etc.
• r: May contain harsh language, violence, nudity, etc.
• x: May contain hardcore sexual imagery or extremely disturbing violence

Privacy Considerations

• Email addresses are never exposed to site visitors
• Only the MD5 hash of the email is sent to Gravatar
• Users who don't want to use Gravatar can simply use an email address not registered with the service