What data does the plugin collect?
Nothing, unless you opt in. On activation you are asked once whether to share usage data. If you skip that screen, or never answer it, the plugin sends nothing at all and every feature works exactly the same — none of it is gated on opting in.
If you do opt in, the following is shared with WPMake through Freemius:
- Your WordPress user’s first name, last name and email address
- Your site’s homepage URL and title, WordPress version, PHP version and site language
- This plugin’s version, the Freemius SDK version, and whether it is active or uninstalled
- The names, slugs and versions of your other plugins and themes, and whether each is active
The last three groups are optional and can be switched off individually on the opt-in screen before you accept. If you deactivate the plugin you are offered a short form asking why — answering it is optional, and you can close it and deactivate without saying anything.
You can withdraw consent at any time by deactivating the plugin. To switch the whole integration off in code, so no opt-in is ever shown:
add_filter( 'wpmake_advance_user_avatar_enable_freemius', '__return_false' ); How do I turn off the review request notice?
The notice appears once the plugin has been active for a week, on the Dashboard and the plugin’s own screen only, and only for administrators once at least one avatar has been uploaded. “Don’t ask again” removes it for good, and each administrator answers for themselves. To switch it off in code for everyone — useful on client sites — drop this in a plugin or your theme’s functions.php:
add_filter( 'wpmake_advance_user_avatar_show_review_notice', '__return_false' ); How do I let users upload profile picture images on my site?
Add the shortcode [wpmake_advance_user_avatar_upload] to any page, or insert the Advanced User Avatar block in the block editor. Both render the full upload form, with cropping and webcam capture built in. Users can also set their picture at Users > Profile without you placing anything at all, and WooCommerce stores get an upload field on the Account Details page automatically.
How do I show a WooCommerce profile picture on the My Account page?
Enable the WooCommerce integration in settings. The customer’s avatar then appears on the My Account dashboard and an upload field is added to the Account Details page. No template editing or shortcode placement is required for the standard WooCommerce account pages.
Can my users set a profile picture without Gravatar?
Yes. That is the point of the plugin. Customers upload a photo directly from their device or take one with their webcam. No Gravatar account, no external sign-up, no email hashing.
How do I replace Gravatar across my whole site?
Activate the plugin and let each person upload their own photo. Once someone has one, WordPress serves it everywhere it would otherwise call Gravatar — comments, author boxes, the admin bar, the Users list, the block editor and the REST API — and nothing at all is sent to Gravatar for that user, not even a hashed email address. Anyone who has not uploaded a picture still falls back to your usual default avatar.
Can users take a webcam profile photo instead of uploading a file?
Yes, when “Capture Picture” is switched on in settings. The browser camera opens inside the upload form, the shot is cropped the same way an uploaded file is, and nothing is written until the user saves.
Where are the avatars stored, and does anything leave my server?
Each photo is kept in your own uploads directory and served from your own domain. The plugin makes no external requests to Gravatar or any other third-party service, so no customer data leaves your site to fetch profile images. That is also what makes it straightforward under GDPR.
Does this replace the default BuddyPress avatar upload screen?
Yes, optionally. When the BuddyPress integration is enabled, Advanced User Avatar takes over the avatar upload flow on member profile pages, giving members the same crop and webcam tools used elsewhere on the site. Avatars also display on the member directory.
Does this work with Bricks Builder?
Yes. The WooCommerce integration is compatible with Bricks Builder and inserts the avatar uploader and viewer without conflicting with the builder’s template rendering.
Will this work with my theme?
The plugin works with any theme that follows WordPress and WooCommerce template standards. It has been tested with Flatsome, Astra, Storefront, and Hello Elementor. Themes that heavily override the WooCommerce My Account templates may need minor adjustments.
Can I control what file types and sizes users can upload?
Yes. From Users > Users Avatar, the admin chooses which of JPG, PNG, GIF and WEBP are accepted and sets the maximum upload size. Both limits are enforced on the server, and invalid uploads are rejected with a clear error message so the customer knows what to fix.
How does this work on a multisite network?
An avatar is network-wide: a user uploads once and the same picture appears on every site in the network they belong to. The plugin records which site the image was uploaded to and reads it from there, so the same avatar resolves correctly everywhere.
Managing other people’s avatars is limited to super administrators. WordPress only lets a user edit another user’s account if they have network-level user permissions, and because avatars are network-wide, letting a single site’s administrator change one would change how that person appears on sites they have no rights over. The bulk avatar manager is therefore hidden for administrators without network user permissions; every user can still set their own avatar from their profile or the front-end uploader.
Uploads stay on the site they were made on, in that site’s own uploads directory. If you switch on the Advanced deletion setting, each site answers for itself when the plugin is deleted — a site that left it off keeps its avatars even if a sibling site opted in.
Can an administrator change someone else’s profile picture?
Yes. The Manage Avatars tab on the Users > Users Avatar screen lists every user with their current picture, searchable and sortable, with Change and Remove on each row. Individual users can also be edited from Users > Profile.
Can I change the avatar size, or the size, colour and shape of the upload button?
Yes, and no !important is needed. Every size, shape and colour is read from a CSS custom property on the widget’s container, so one rule in Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS is enough:
.wpmake-advance-user-avatar-container { --wpmake-aua-avatar-size: 150px; /* avatar width/height */ --wpmake-aua-avatar-radius: 50%; /* round the avatar */ --wpmake-aua-width: 100%; /* container box */ --wpmake-aua-height: auto; --wpmake-aua-padding: 0; --wpmake-aua-btn-primary-bg: #2f7d32; /* Upload file button */ --wpmake-aua-btn-primary-bg-hover: #27682a; --wpmake-aua-btn-padding: 6px 12px; --wpmake-aua-btn-font-size: 13px; --wpmake-aua-btn-radius: 999px; }
The remaining properties follow the same naming: --wpmake-aua-align , --wpmake-aua-avatar-spacing , --wpmake-aua-btn-border-width , --wpmake-aua-btn-primary-color , --wpmake-aua-btn-capture-color , --wpmake-aua-btn-capture-color-hover , --wpmake-aua-btn-remove-border , --wpmake-aua-btn-remove-border-hover , --wpmake-aua-btn-remove-color and --wpmake-aua-btn-remove-bg-hover .
Can I set the avatar size for one placement only?
Yes. Both shortcodes accept attributes: size (avatar width/height in px), radius (avatar corner radius, e.g. 50% ), shape ( circle , rounded or square , a shortcut for radius ), width and padding (the box around the avatar, e.g. 100% and 0 ), and class (extra class names on the container, for your own CSS). The uploader also accepts upload_text , remove_text and capture_text for the button labels.
[wpmake_advance_user_avatar size="150" shape="circle"] [wpmake_advance_user_avatar_upload size="120" class="my-profile-avatar" upload_text="Choose a photo"] How do I customise the uploader’s markup or layout in my theme?
Yes. Copy the template you want to change out of wp-content/plugins/wpmake-advance-user-avatar/templates/ into wp-content/themes/your-theme/wpmake-advance-user-avatar/ , keeping the file name, and edit your copy. The theme copy is used instead of the plugin’s and survives plugin updates.
There are also action hooks for adding markup without replacing a template: wpmake_advance_user_avatar_before_avatar , wpmake_advance_user_avatar_after_avatar , wpmake_advance_user_avatar_before_uploader , wpmake_advance_user_avatar_after_uploader , wpmake_advance_user_avatar_before_upload_buttons and wpmake_advance_user_avatar_after_upload_buttons . Each receives the resolved shortcode attributes.
Do custom avatars show up in the Better Messages chat?
Yes. Once a user uploads a custom avatar, it appears inside the Better Messages chat interface in place of the default Gravatar. No extra configuration is required.
Can members upload a profile picture from the WP-Members form?
Yes. When the WP-Members integration is enabled, the avatar uploader is added to the WP-Members profile form, so members set their picture on the same form they use for the rest of their details. No template editing is required.
How do I display a user’s avatar in an author box or sidebar?
Use the avatar shortcode [wpmake_advance_user_avatar] to output the current user’s avatar anywhere shortcodes are supported, including widgets, sidebars and page builders.
Is there a PHP function for setting a user avatar from my own code?
Yes. Three functions do the work, and every avatar change in the plugin goes through them:
wpmake_aua_set_user_avatar( int $user_id, int $attachment_id ) : bool wpmake_aua_remove_user_avatar( int $user_id ) : bool wpmake_aua_current_user_can_edit_avatar( int $user_id ) : bool
Setting an avatar checks that the user exists and that the attachment exists and is an image. The same attachment may be used by any number of users, and removing an avatar never deletes the file — so an image yo
