Private Beta Underway

February 06, 2007 | Posted by Tom Werner

I’ve kicked off the private Gravatar beta by opening it to the 32 volunteers that helped rate gravatars in the olden days. I’d like to thank them for all the time and effort they put in to help you get your gravatars rated in a timely manner.

In less than a week I will expand the beta to include anyone who has left a comment on this blog’s first post, so if you want in early, make sure to get your comment in. Spread the word!

One of the biggest changes for 2.0 is that you will be responsible for rating your own gravatars. This means no more waiting to get that image live! This was a big decision, but is essential to the growth of Gravatar. I can no longer support the overhead involved in rating every single gravatar that comes in. I’ve placed a prominent “Abuse” link on every page to make it easy to report inappropriately rated content. Having you rate your own gravatars will also allow you to (in the future) use the Gravatar API to update your gravatar at will and from your own programs (can you say “Dynavatars?”)

More details coming soon. I’m starting to get excited!

Comments (143)

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143 Responses »

  1. Kyle Korleski Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Nice! I can’t wait to get my hands on the beta and on the Gravatar API.

  2. monaxle Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    This is good news. Just found out about gravatars recently. I came here just as you’ve been updating. Be happy to the the new beta a spin.

  3. Julia Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Yay, me want Gravatar too!

  4. yoshi Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I can’t wait to see everything that’s going for gravatar. Hopefully final release will be soon. I’ve changed my email address since the old gravatar and haven’t been able to change it. Keep it up!

  5. kainita Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I need it!!

  6. Sajid Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would like to test this as well. Include me :)

  7. bart Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would like..! ;)

  8. Ken Hughes Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Blantant attempt to get onto the extended beta… ;-)

    .. KenH

  9. Borghal Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    “Less than a week” for beta! Let’s hope it’s not too much longer for going live!

    Good work!

  10. Hikaru Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    WOW I also can’t wait to see the new gravatar beta! :D
    Good work! :D

  11. Romi Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I’m looking forward to the new gravatars! =D

  12. Mary Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I’m so happy gravatar is coming back !! ^_^ can’t wait to use it again !!!

  13. Leichtmatrose Hannes Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Beta tester ;-)

  14. Nan Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I am very excited each time my sage returns an update from here. Count me in!

  15. Corinne Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I hope the email is what matters because I’ve moved my site.

  16. Jared Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    beta tester too

  17. Casey Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Nice! These new features sound great! I’d like to get in on the beta as well…

  18. Jason Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Look forward to seeing the new changes.

  19. Ben M Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Getting excited. Thanks for all the hard work.

  20. Aragorn Invent Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Wow, im excited too. I want to see what is new on the next Gravatar Version. I can’t wait anymore! :D

  21. Indelibrella Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I miss my Gravatars!

  22. jinny Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Oh…May you recover soon!

  23. Andrew Flusche Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Please include me in the beta as well.

  24. Valerie Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    This is great! I’ll implement them on my sites again when I get home tonight. Thanks for allowing us the sneak preview ;-)

  25. Queeny Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Yeah – me want gravatar!!

  26. Keith Petrus Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Count me in.

  27. Luc Latulippe Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Sweet! Count me in.

  28. Equipe TV No Ar Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would like to test this as well. Include me please.
    Best regards

  29. Reyson Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Cool!! me too ^^

  30. badillo Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    see good and new functions well

  31. sugplopp Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Sweetoe!

  32. Shuugo Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    If you have any free slots yet it would be awesome to test it.
    Keep it up the hard work!

  33. Natti Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Amazing, can’t wait to change my gravatar picture. Thank you bunches for this wonderful service.

  34. Torley Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I’m really looking forward to the new Gravatar! My current one has been stuck for months and it’s soooo out-of-date. I look forward to the service coming back, better-than-ever-before!

    Best of hope! :)

  35. timwizard Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I think you are taking this in the right direction. I think your ideas are scalable and have promise to be adopted by more people.

    Hit me up with a beta invite when you go public with it.

  36. B.M.B. Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Count me in.

  37. Ymode Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I will love to help, besides i really need to change my gravatar, so please hurry up!!!

  38. Lilly Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    cant wait for the new site!

  39. Test Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Still the old ones work? Nice

  40. Tabatha Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Count me in! Me! Me! Me! Pick me!

  41. Ulf Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I’ve been wanting to change my photo for a long time.

    I’ve actually been wanting to change it since the day after I uploaded it. But I was very unfortunate and the service was down. So ever since, whenever I post somewhere that employs Gravatar, I get this old photo :)

    So I would very much appreciate a beta invite! I’ve given some beta feedback before too (The Venice Project, some web 2.0:s)

  42. Mindy Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Huzzah!

  43. kevin Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    操，没完没了了
    整天测试个什么劲啊

  44. Heiko K. Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Cant wait! Let me be a beta-tester! :)

  45. Coming soon Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Oh how fun. The king of missed deadlines won’t have Gravatar go primetime in early February as promised. In fact, he originally promised it by February. Werner, please stop with the promises. You’re pathetic! No, the above losers are actually more pathetic. March, April, May anyone?

  46. Laughing Muse Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I wanna play, too! :D I’ve done software testing, both as a QA engineer and as a beta tester. And I’m a nitpicker – which is helpful only in situations like this one.

  47. Dariana Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I want in. Was a Beta tester for AOL for 6 years, also Beta tested BlogMad and some others. I have been checking the blog here and the Gravatar site EVERYDAY to see the new launch. I can hardly wait! Include me PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! :-)

  48. 6pence Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Count me in!

  49. ~A~ Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Ohhhhh, anxiously awaiting. If there’s still room for me, let me know.

  50. Slowfinger Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Desperate for giving it a whirl myself! Thanks.

  51. c Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I can’t wait to try what is coming.

  52. Markus Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    yippee ka yay! Can’t wait anymore…

  53. Sascha A. Carlin Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Nice not to see this great idea die. Add me to the beta ;)

  54. Frédéric Roland Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would like to test too.

  55. Julien Simery Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I cannot wait to have the gravatars on wordpress. Sounds really exciting! I would really really like to be in the beta as well ^__^

  56. Frank Hamm Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Thanks alot for keeping us on tenterhooks :-)

  57. Arwen Folkes Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Hurry Hurry … I must get rid of my awful avatar and replace it with one much nicer …

  58. Ken Welsch Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would love to be included in the second round of new Gravatar testing. Count me in!

  59. Hazel Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Glad to see its nearly ready for release.
    Will be awaiting the public release, I beta test enough software.;)

  60. Maros Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I can’t wait for the new Gravatar!

  61. Chryssy Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Hurry Hurry Hurry. CAN’T WAIT…Thanks

  62. James Snape Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Would love to help out…

  63. Cofyc Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Beta tester,Thanks.

  64. jimmy die tulpe tedeski Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    i don’t know what gravatar is but i want it now :)

  65. Vinny Carpenter Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Great to hear Gravatar will be back – Would love to beta test if you still need volunteers. Thanks

  66. Celeste Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    How can I change my gravatar? I got it about 2 years ago and have since split with teh guy in my gravatar so would like to change it!!!

  67. Venu Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Please do include me in the beta test :)

  68. Dennis Morhardt Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I love Gravatar, include me in the betatest

  69. BloodyWhore Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I need a new avatar!! HURRY!!!

  70. c.a. Marks Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Would like to be beta tester.

  71. Dakini Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Count me in. :) Thank you.

  72. Aqeel Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Cool, Can’t wait :)

  73. Gmartintin Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Some visitors on my website are waiting for the rating for september … What about it ?

  74. Thomas Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Why You let your users wait?
    Cannot understand that!

    Is there an alternative?

  75. suexID Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    In my opinion, giving users the rights to rate their own avatar is a very wrong idea. My own website has the acceptable rating set to the highest one, so it isn’t a problem for me, but for children-friendly and strictly “non-adult” content websites. The abuse link is a good idea, but I’d rather use it WITH a centralized rating system and not instead of it.

  76. Peter Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    good luck in the new web 2.0 age! Looking forward to the new gravatar having it’s place there.

  77. webmotion Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Agree with suexID. BTW, interested in the beta, of course!

  78. JavaMonkey Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Awesome idea. I’m looking forward to the larger beta.

  79. Gaco Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Excelente…i cant wait more!!!…Saludos desde Chile!!!

  80. Johnny Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    me wantssssit.

  81. Asuka Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Can’t wait until gravatar is back online again!

  82. Echilon Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Can’t wait!

  83. chi Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I`d like to be on board too – curious me!

  84. Heather Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Oh pleassssssse hurry!!! I have been a blank gray head for too long!!! HURRY!!

  85. Brian Kuhn Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would like to be part of the beta as well, looking forward to seeing the next version.

  86. Mike Vitoroulis Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    The new features of gravatar 2.0 look great, I can’t wait. Mine needs some major updates. :D

  87. Sascha Loebbert Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Hey, good news. I will be using gravatar in my blog and in a user authentication I am using in a RoR application I am just developing.

  88. skepticlawyer Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Count me in – at the moment our blog is expanding rapidly and people have been wanting gravatars. The sooner the better!

  89. slackerman Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Yeah!!! Giddyup!

  90. nonozone Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Yay, me want Gravatar too much!

  91. Brendan Rankin Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Ok…about time!

  92. Pia Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Yeah :)

  93. Benfante Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would like to beta-test too…

  94. Kimberley Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I want in!!!
    Can’t wait … :)

  95. Aryslan Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Well lets see what this new version bring us XD

  96. paskal Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    ooopppssss…i think its already (and almost half of) February… lolz no offense :P

  97. Patrick Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Can’t wait – I just… can’t… wait :p

  98. Kirsten Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would like to test too! ;)
    Include me ! ^^

  99. Jowah Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Count on me ♥

  100. Jenny Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    nifty. i can’t wait. i must see teh new gravatar!! wee!!!!

  101. caligurl Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    i SO can’t wait!!!!!!

  102. Miguel Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would like to test this as well!! :D

  103. beth Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would like to be included :)

  104. esotericsean Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    sounds awesome! i can’t wait!

  105. kaihsyn Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Can’t wait anymore!!

  106. NAKADAI Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    ME ENCANTA EL USO DE LOS GRAVATARS, PERO ES UNA LASTIMA TODO ESTE TIEMPO, ESPERO QUE PRONTO SE RECUPERE LA WEB Y TENGAN TODO LISTO, ASI QUE SOOLO PUEDO DECIR BUENA SUERTE, Y QUE SIGAN HACIENDO SU MARAVILLOSO TRABAJO.

    GRAVATARS ES GENIAL.

  107. jishui Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I miss my Gravatars! Can you give me an invation?

  108. toby Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    hey coming soon… it’s real. and it’s good.

  109. Alpesh Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Hey Get me in ;-) !

  110. aNt1 Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Really exited about that!

  111. christian Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Cool! At long last, gravatar is back!

  112. The Exit Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    The new Beta is great! It is a pleasure!

  113. dip Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    And I want to test it, please get me in!!!

  114. Nathan Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Sweet, I can’t wait!

  115. nick cetacean Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I too would like an unproven untested jury-rigged new gravatar!

  116. Filipe Rocha Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    As Halloween say: I want in. :)

  117. katychan Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I can’t wait to see it. :)

  118. Susanne Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Great! :-)

  119. Indigo Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Can’t wait!

  120. Joey Esquivel Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    It looks fantastic! The simplicity and ease of use will be excellent!

  121. Keith Solomon Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I’ve been putting off adding Gravatars to a couple of sites I’m developing until 2.0 is launched. It’s great to see you’re making progress! :)

  122. Evil Genius Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Sweet! Can’t wait to be one your beta testers!

  123. Jason Shao Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Glad to see this service is picking back up.

  124. Charlotte Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Thank goodness.. I did this avatar for a blog I no longer have and I’ve been wanting to change it for several months now. A ghost just doesn’t go with an armymom blog now :)

  125. Mark Hewitt Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Me too! Me too! Pweeeeeeease?

  126. figgy Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I am thrilled that this will be coming soon! I have been waiting for months!

    I do not know if I will need to resubmit my picture… it was in the process of being rated when Gravatar went down. Whatever, I’m just so pleased it’s almost ready!

  127. Carolinas CW Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Great work… can’t wait to see the new and approved gravatar.

  128. Todd Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    sweet! can’t wait to get in and be one of the cool kids.

  129. Josh Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Hey, i’d love to be in the beta. Count me in!

  130. Sascha Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Any chance to get into the beta (and will there be a new MT plugin)?

  131. Satsuma Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    been waiting for this, any chance i could get a chance to test it as well?

  132. jeremy Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    when you posted about leaving a message to be contacted or not if you were a user, i didn’t leave a message. i wish i would have now so i could have gotten in on the beta testing!

  133. Stephanie Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I can’t wait either.

    The only problem with having users rating gravatars is that they may misrate them. You should give a bunch of staff members with the power to rate gravatars as they’re changed and made, etc.

  134. Lasse Havelund Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    The beta is just great–look forward to it, guys :)

  135. Lubos Motl Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Curious whether I can still be invited. ;-)

  136. Matt George Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I would like to test this out, please.

  137. oliver Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Wow gravatar rocks! Look forward to seeing what it can do.

  138. SisterX Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    I am looking forward to the public release of Gravatar and any beta testing that might still beIavailable! Thank you!

  139. Carman Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Looking forward to it.

  140. PTey Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Also looking forward to it!

  141. Lily Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    Looking particularly forward to it. My avatar never shows up through the main site.

  142. ashton Says:
    February 6, 2007 at 6:00 am

    …

  143. jrphelps Says:
    October 8, 2008 at 3:34 pm

    Any update on when we might have an API for uploading new images to Gravatar? It would be a lot of fun to write an app to work with it!

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