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.
When a comment is displayed:
- Meh checks if the comment has a custom avatar URL (e.g., from Mastodon imports)
- If not, it generates a Gravatar URL based on the commenter's email address or name
- The Gravatar service returns either:
- The user's Gravatar image if they have one registered
- A fallback image based on your 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"
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 silhouetteidenticon
: Geometric patternmonsterid
: Generated "monster" avatar (did you know those were invented by Meh's creator?)wavatar
: Generated faceretro
: 8-bit style pixelated facerobohash
: Robot avatarblank
: Transparent image- Or any URL to a custom default image
Control the maximum rating of Gravatar images:
g
: Suitable for all audiencespg
: 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
- 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