About Me Widget For Wordpress.com

One of the things that makes the Wordpress.org self hosted platform more beneficial than the standard Wordpress.com platform is the flexibility. Well, that is, in most cases.

Today as I was searching a few sites, I found a great post about a new plugin that is only available for Wordpress.com users. The new plugin is called the “Gravatar Widget” which is a very advanced, easy, and updated version of the “About Me” section that you find on all Wordpress.com blogs. But before we break down the neat features of this “Gravatar Widget” plugin, let us actually discuss what a “gravatar” is. A “gravatar”, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things. Think of it as your blogging identification card. You only need to sign up once, and as long as you use compatible software, it will work universally - personally, I think it’s awesome.

So, back to the plugin now. The “Gravatar Widget” is a drag and drop widget that you will put into your sidebar, but unlike the default “About Me” section, you do not need to edit your template file to update your “About Me” section with this new “Gravatar Widget”. In addition to that, it obviously includes your “gravatar” image that you select when you set up your gravatar profile. I should add, this will now replace the old “About Me” section on Wordpress.com (you do not need to download or install this…it’s already been done).

Below, I have an included an image that displays how easy it is for you to update your information:

This is one of the first plugins/widgets that I’ve seen that outshine any similar ones on the Wordpress.org platform. So, if you’re using a Wordpress.com blog, I’m not sure what you’re waiting for -go use this awesome little tool! It is now the default “About Me” area in all Wordpress.com blogs.

To sign up (for free) for a Gravatar profile, click here.