Well, that’s what Gizmoz is. A Web 2.0 3d character maker that lets us create, customize and animate lifelike 3D talking characters and share it on sites like YouTube and Facebook. Yes, your very own talking, blabbering avatar.

The animated online clones are a new ‘breed’ of character-based visual icons. Digital characters that will take over from humdrum photos and dumb avatars. What Gizmoz does is provide a free web service that makes it dead easy to create dead ringers for our online selves. These are embeddable Flash objects with the look of a 3D caricature. It’s a huge lot of fun when you make these characters lip-synch with your own lines on social networking sites or just send it across like a 3D postcard.

There are three ways you can use the Gizmoz 3d character maker to make your own virtual showcase. But first, go through the simple registration and log-in.

Publish 3D Clips

Large repertory of templates to put your face on and publish them or embed them as Flash objects. The templates give you a gallery of choices to make slideshows, 3D greeting cards, animated mini-clips, vacation postcards, commentary clips for any video where you are the speaking critic, 3D avatars, and a new beta product where you get to swap faces with a celebrity.

Print Customized Products

You might not be asked to star in the next Indiana Jones film but you can put your face under his hat with a face swap. That’s the general idea in this section (which is basically the beta face swap option from the earlier section) leading up to the stage where you get to print it on mugs and tees. But the printing isn’t free though it may sound cool. If you don’t want to part with your pennies, share the finished file on your social networks or simply download it to your computer.

Create Cool Profile Pics

We are back to free with this part of the Gizmoz service. Create your own character using provided faces or your own snapped with a webcam or uploaded. You can customize your character by changing the hair, giving it some makeup, accessorizing it or just morphing it into something bizarre. The finished character is yours to download, print or share on social networks like Facebook.

Enter the Gizmoz Studio

The process behind all three options takes you into the Gizmoz Studio interface where you mashup your face on the templates provided, add bells ‘n whistles like graphics, media clips and voice bits to make the animations talk. Gizmoz gives you many tools to do the job. What’s needed is only the face.

Making the character talk is also easy using your own recorded voice or taking the help of the site’s text to speech engine. The steps to follow for each process are clearly outlined.

The Gizmoz site is designed around one concept – that it should be easy to make your own animated 3D avatars and share it across the web. Making animated reincarnations of your own self is fun, what’s better is finding out the ways to entertain your friends through it.

I will leave you here now and go make one Clint styled avatar for myself. Always wanted to spout the lines – “Go ahead, make my day!”

Will Gizmoz make yours? Discover it and let us know.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Have you ever asked yourself, “How do I make a background on MySpace?” Well, today I’ll show you how to find, create, and use a custom background on your MySpace profile.

Your source image could be from your personal photo collection or some wallpaper made available for free download from a site like Customize.org, one of my favorite sites, Digital Blasphemy, or Google’s Image Search (we suggest using the Advanced Search to narrow it down to non-commercial-licensed content).

When selecting your image, keep your audience in mind. Does the image provide a pleasing pattern or illustrate a great moment? Will it distract from your profile’s content? Is it age-appropriate, considering your friends? These are all things to consider, as well as image size. If your image is larger than, say 1024 pixels in length, we suggest using a tool like Resizr or any image resizer to shrink the image down.

Rather than linking to the image as hosted elsewhere, it’s good etiquette to save a copy of the image and upload it to a free host such as PiccDrop, and also to give credit somewhere on your profile to the artist or photographer. For demonstration, I’ve chosen this photo by Tim Snell. Once you’ve uploaded your image to your host, make note of the image’s URL (copy it into Notepad) for future use.

Your next step varies based on what type of MySpace profile you’re using. There are two versions of your MySpace profile. If you’re a long-time user and haven’t switched, then you’re using Profile 1.0. Here’s how to determine what type of profile you’re using. When you login, click the “Edit Profile” link next to your MySpace URL. Then, select “Customize Profile.” On the next screen, your profile type will be displayed at the very top of the page.

If you’re using “Profile 1.0”, follow these directions: Hit your “back” button to go back to the original profile editor. Use this background generator with your image’s URL to create the HTML code, then copy that code into the profile editor’s “About Me” box. Save your changes and check your profile.

If you’ve upgraded your profile to “2.0”, the process is easier. First, select your basic theme. If you have a dark image like mine, for example, it’s important to pick a dark theme to start with. In your customize menu, click Advanced Edit, then Background, and then paste your image’s URL into the URL field. Publish your changes and check your profile.

If everything worked, you’ll have a custom background for your MySpace page to show off to your friends (my profile is here). Feel free to share in the comments about any profile-customization tips you may have. There’s more MySpacey goodness on MUO here.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Convert video to animated gif

To convert a video to an animated gif, you first need to make sure that you make the video as short as possible. You can do this with one of many online video editing tools or with Windows Movie Maker (if you are on Windows of course).  According to gifninja, the video file has to be about 4 seconds long, so you should try to shorten it to about that length.

Once you’ve edited your movie and cut it down to size, visit the page to convert your video to gif. Click the Browse button, navigate to where your video file is, and select it. If you wish, you can make your picture available to the public and available to be rated. Then just click on make my gif!

Make animated gifs from images

If you have a series of images you wish to animate, you can make an animated gif from images. You can upload the files individually (up to five) or you can zip them up and upload them in a single file. If you choose to upload them as a zip, you will have to append numbers to the filenames in the sequence of the animation (car1.jpg, car2.jpg, car3.jpg, etc…).

Selecting the file(s) to upload is very much the same as uploading a video. However, there is an additional option to set the speed of the animation. There is a preview of an animated dog that demonstrates the selected speed. But don’t worry, if you’re not happy with the speed of the animation after you’ve uploaded it, you can adjust it later.

After you click the make my gif! button, you are taken to a preview page.  The preview page allows you to keep the image as it is, adjust the speed, or start all over again.  Once you have the animation set to the desired speed, click Yes – it’s fantastic! to proceed to the next step.

After you’ve selected the desired speed for your animation, you select the filename for your animated gif.  Again, you can make the image publicly available if you wish.  You can also enter the filename for the image as well as tags to help other people find your image.  Once you have everything set the way you want, click the Save gif button.

gifninja also has a cool feature to split animated images into separate images.  Just upload the file and click the split my gif! button.  The individual images will appear right on the page.  You can also download all the images at once with a zip file generated by gifninja.

gifninja could hardly make it easier to create animated gifs online. What other free online and offline tools do you use to create animated gifs?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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I noticed that many of our commenters are not making use of Gravatar yet. Of course you don’t have to. But maybe you would like to and just haven’t found a cool enough image to represent you online so far. Here’s a small selection of online avatar creator tools that may float your boat.

DoppelMe

Would you be surprised if this site was different than all the rest? Well, it’s not really. You start with a naked avatar, select little bits and pieces from a variety of looks, styles, and extras, then you’re done.

Unfortunately, you only get access to all the options when you sign up with the site, hence my slightly annoyed face. But once you have signed up and in, there are plenty of unique options – with the exception of a cool posture.

Simpsonize Me (Simpson Avatar Creator)

This Simspon avatar maker is in fact different because you can’t get it started without a photo of yourself. Based on the photo and some details about your gender, age, color of Simpson you’d like to be, choice of clothing, and hair style, the machine will create a suggestion which you can perfectionize using a few sliders and custom settings.

They denied me the Marge hair tower, though. Probably because I selected straight instead of curly.

ObamiconMe

And now for the highlight: the Obama hype moves on…now we have Obama avatar generator as well.

At ObamiconMe you can upload your own image or acquire an image through your webcam. There is no restriction on image size and you can zoom into any picture. The text below the image can be customized, as well as the color balances. Simple and cool.

In case you want to use any of these avatars for Gravatar don’t worry too much about the exact size or resolution. Gravatar lets you crop the image when uploading.

Sill need more resources? Don’t know how to use Gravatar to get your picture next to your comments? Let me refer you to some other MUO articles. Here you go:

Create Avatars Online Without Any Image Editing by Varun
Liven Up Your Wordpress Blog Comments With MyAvatars by Mark
Get A Pic Next To Your Comments On MakeUseOf & Other Blogs by Aibek

And now is the time to comment and show off your new Gravatar. If you are aware of any other good online avatar creator apps,please share them in comments.

Picture credits: mzacha

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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• How to Create Animated Gifs from Images & Video (11)
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• [Google Picasa 101] – View, Folders, Toolbars (18)

Cool Webcam Avatars lets you create animated gif avatars directly from your webcam using their website and you do not have to sign up for an account or install any software.

There are 4 easy steps to create animated avatar and it takes about 2 to 3 minutes from start to finish.

There are lots of things you can record, not just your face, so be creative. You need to take into account that the finished avatar will show up larger on the screen than the smaller size some sites normally require. That means you need to record a clear picture so it is easy to see if a site you use it on resizes it.

Step 1: Go to Cool Webcam Avatars and click the Record Your Avatar! button at the top of the screen.

Step 2: A screen will appear which asks if this site can use your webcam. Click Allow.

Step 3: Click Start. You only have about 2 seconds to record but you can try again if you don’t like the results.

Step 4: When you like your results click Download Avatar! On the next page you can right-click on the avatar to save it to your computer. You do not have to signup for an account but make sure you save your avatar before you leave the page because it will not be saved unless you create an account.

Here is the avatar I created. I actually used the picture of my “evil” cat that is on my cell phone. Pretty cool, huh?

Here are some other avatars from their site that people have recorded to give you some more ideas.

If you decide to create an account, your avatar will be visible to the public. It will appear on the Cool Webcam Avatars site and you can show it to the world. Creating an account is easy and free. After logging in, the avatars will be assigned to your account.

If you decide to make an animated avatar, why not upload it and show it here on the MakeUseOf website next to a comment? All you need to do is make a free account on Gravatar, upload your animated avatar there and then use the same email account that you used for your Gravatar account here for your MUO comment. Your animated avatar will then appear next to your MUO comment.

Are you avare of any other animated avatar maker sites? Let us know in comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Before we start, let me lay out the things you will need:

• A text editor capable of editing HTML. I suggest TextWrangler.
• Signature Profiler
• Some basic knowledge of HTML.
• An online file-sharing service like DivShare or Box.net to store your avatar.
• To be running Mac OS X 10.4.x and higher.
• To be using Mail on Mac OS X.

This entire tutorial will transform your email signature from this:

to this:

If you’re still excited, then read on. But be warned, depending on your level of geekiness, this process may or may not be easy for you. [Disclaimer: this tutorial is actually an improved version of this one]

First step – Making a HTML signature

You have to understand that in order to insert HTML in your email signature and make it interactive, it’s actually two different procedures. The first is to change it into HTML, the second is by using Signature Profiler and adding the interactive stuff: iTunes status, random quote, Skype button.

Let’s focus on the HTML part first. You’ll need to open up TextWrangler and create your HTML signature. There are some limitations to adding HTML – for example, GMail does not recognize body or style tags and all CSS must be embedded. Head here to read more about CSS in email.

If you have no idea where to start, use this example HTML file as a base to mess around with. If you want, you could tweak it to fit your style. You should fill in your name and social sites where the fields indicate. Also, you’ll need to upload your avatar to Divshare or Box.net, get the direct image link and insert it in the image tags. The size of the image varies and depends a lot on the style of your signature and how many lines of text you will have. Like I said, you will need to play around and customize it yourself.

If you notice, there’s a specific line of text after the second break, {itunes.display.info} is used later to retrieve your iTunes status.

To see how your signature will look like, save it (to the desktop or anywhere else convenient) and drag it into Safari. Once you’re happy with the results, click on the File menu and Save as ‘webarchive’ onto your desktop. Name it “HTML sig”. We’ll return to it later.

Step two – Show your currently playing song

Now that you have your HTML signature all set, you’re ready to add the interactive stuff like iTunes status and Skype buttons.

Download and install the Signature Profiler plugin for Mail and restart Mail. It should now be added into your Mail preferences.

Here’s what SigPro can do:

• Add iTunes currently playing song, artist and album
• Add a Tail signature
• Add a random text qoute
• Add your Skype Status and buttons to call you
• Lots more advanced stuff like calling scripts

If you’re planning to show your iTunes status, then you’ll need to create signatures for them. Personally, I’ve only created two new ones: one to show the song iTunes in playing, and another when it is paused, stopped or not running. To do this, you’ll need to go to the Signature tab in Mail preferences. Create a new signature and call it “iTunes playing”. Right click in the signature field and you’ll notice that SigPro has added their Replacements into the menu.

Add the items {itunes.playing.song}, {itunes.playing.artist} and {itunes.playing.album} into the signature field from the right-click menu. Now all you need to do is to customize it. Here’s what I would write: I’m listening to {itunes.display.song} by {itunes.display.artist} from their album {itunes.display.album}.

Keep in mind that these are just text, so you can adjust the font attributes. You’ll need to select the curly brackets as well when changing the size and colour of the fonts, if not you’ll lose the formatting.

Now, make another signature for iTunes’ paused state. It doesn’t need to have any fields in it, just a short message will suffice.

After you’ve done that, go to SigPro’s tab in Mail preferences and hit the ‘iTunes & Quotes’ tab. For each iTunes state, select the appropriate signature. Now test it out! Play iTunes and see if the signature changes (it will change right there in Mail preferences).

Step three – Swapping your text signature for the interactive one

If you already have a plain text-only signature set in Mail, good. If not, set one up and associate it with an account (by dragging the signature from the middle column into the appropriate email account in the left column). Quit Mail.

After you’ve done that, go to ~/Library/Mail/Signatures/ and you will find all of your signatures in webarchive format. Assuming that you only have one email account set up in Mail, you will have three signatures: your regular signature, “iTunes Playing” and “iTunes Paused” signatures. To find out which is the one you want to change, double-click them to open in Safari until you find them.

Once you’ve located it, copy its file name. It should look something like this “F61C8250-DE9F-4B33-A17D-2F5FF6E3B5B9″ (without the webarchive extension). Rename the “HTML sig” file on your desktop with this file name. Drag the new signature file from the desktop into the ‘Signatures’ folder and replace the older signature file.

Open Mail and your signature is now HTML and interactive.

A few things to remember: The avatar doesn’t load in Mail’s preference but it will load when composing a new mail. Also, any changes made in the HTML signature will be hard to repair. For instance, if you accidentally delete the avatar logo from the signature, you will have to start from scratch again. Keep a copy of the ‘webarchive’ files so that you can restore your signature in case of a disaster.

You can also add other stuff (like the Skype button) into your signature by right-clicking and selecting fields from the SigPro Replacement menu. If you want more control over its formatting, then I suggest that you add the fields by editing the HTML signature in TextWrangler.

If you’re into this kind of thing but don’t use Mac, then I would recommend that you check out Saikat’s article on creating multiple singature in Gmail. Retaggr is also an easy way to add a funky signature to your emails, David mentioned it earlier in his post about how to create online business cards.

Please ask if you have any questions about this tutorial or if you somehow screwed up and need help. What are the other methods you use to interactify/interactize your email signature? Let us know in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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The brains behind Clippy or for that matter Genie or Bosgrove is called the Microsoft Agent. It is a technology which allows an enhanced form of interactivity with interactive personalities in the form of animated characters. These characters can move freely within the computer display, speak aloud (and by displaying text onscreen), and even listen for spoken voice commands.

Office 2007 saw the end of these animated characters because of user dissatisfaction but user interface agents are being increasingly being used in software and presentations to enhance interactivity. This is where the free Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper (MASH) comes in.

In simple words, MASH is a freeware application which allows you to set up animated 3-D characters and make them talk, move and gesture.

Using these animated characters, you can add more pizzazz to your desktop by having it pop-up and perform actions, make your presentations more interactive and also take it your webpages to make them eye-catching. You just have to record and playback what you want the characters to do.

MASH allows you to be creative with the animated ‘agents’ without you having to go under the hood with any programming. MASH turns the backend code into several scripting languages for use in websites, PowerPoint Presentations, email stationery and also as standalone executable files (*.exe).

With the help of the Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine, voice activated menu commands can be used to launch programs, documents and websites.

Imagine an animated character giving an interactive tour of a website or just reading out a file, and you will get the idea behind the program.

The Nitty Gritty of the Program

The program comes with many configuration panels which help to set up the animated characters. The configuration panels can be detailed as follows :

1. Main: Select the character and set-up the basic animation which you want it to perform. The program supplies only two characters; more can be downloaded from the developer site.

2. Advanced Speak: Modify speech ability by adjusting the pitch, speed, volume, characteristic, and context of the TTS (Text-to-Speech) Engine.

3. Map Text: Here you can set up the character to speak one thing and display something else in the speech balloon.

4. Speak Wave: Here you can set up the character to playback the sound from a wav file or a Linguistically Enhanced Wav File from your computer.

5. Date/Time: Set it up so that the character speaks out the current date and time with any desired alternative text.

6. Character Size: Allows the character’s size to change before or during its action.

7. Sing: Let the character sing with a complex combination of musical keys.

8. TTS Voice: Select among the languages available and the specific voice to use.

9. Balloon Font and Style: Set the look of the speech balloon.

10. Desktop: Allows you to use the character to display images and play sounds during a presentation.

11. PowerPoint: Associate a Microsoft PowerPoint XP/2000 Presentation with your MASH Script (*.msh) or Executable (*.exe).

12. Bookmarks: Manage bookmarks which allow the character to play a sequence of actions in order.

13. Commands: Configure the right click menu for the chosen character. The menu items can also be voice activated.

14. Script Output: Select the type of script (for e.g. Javascript HTML, VBScript HTML, VB.net, VBA for Office) which you want MASH to generate.

15. Script: The script viewer with additional controls.

The available options give an idea of the level of customization possible with MASH. Though the program is user friendly, the list of configuration options are too numerous to explain here in detail. The detailed help does that job in detail. The beginner can go for the basic configurations while a power user can use the detailed aspects of the program.

The 5.97MB freeware is easy to use and easy to put together even without an iota of programming knowledge. It is supported by Windows XP and the older versions. The key requirement is that the Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine be installed for the program to function correctly.   If you don’t have it, here is a direct download link.

As an application, it has been around for some time. Have you used it to enhance your computing?  Give us a comment about your experiences.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Now, what if you can create your own animated “now loading” gif image and use it on your site within 5 seconds without any graphic editing, programming skill or any form of technical knowledge? Or how about animated avatar ? Wouldn’t it be great?

Ajaxload is a website that allows you to create animated loading images at a price of free (as in beer). This site has a very simple design. The upper yellow box is where you choose your loading image and set your background/foreground color while the bottom red box is where you preview the generated animated loading image. If you like what you see, you can download and use it on your websites/applications.

Ajaxload comes with a variety of shapes for you to choose. There are 37 shapes altogether and mostly are in the form of a circle or rectangle. Here is a preview of some of them.

Depending on the theme of your site/application, you can customize the background and foreground color. The best option for anyone is to get it to display a transparent background so you can use the image anywhere you want.

Ajaxload is accessible in most browsers. If you are using Opera, there is also a widget that you can use. On your Opera browser menu bar, go to Widgets -> Add widget on the menu bar. Type in “animated loading image generator” on the search bar and it will fetch the widget from its database. Add the widget to your browser and you will be able to use it anytime and anywhere. The interface of the widget image generator is exactly the same as the website, so you don’t have to spend extra time getting used to it.

Alternative to Ajaxload

If you find the shapes and design at Ajaxload are too simple and not to your liking, another site that you can use to generate animated loading image is Load Info.

Load Info has a different interface from Ajaxload. On the main screen, you will see all the various types of animated icons. There are hundreds of them, so it is unlikely that you will run out of choice. Pick the one(s) you like and click on it, it will pop up a window to ask you for the background, foreground color and the size you want (16×16, 24×24 or 48×48). Same as Ajaxload, click on the Generate button to get an instant preview and download option.

On the whole, LoadInfo has more choices of icons. If you don’t mind the black background which makes it hard to see and navigate, LoadInfo can be a great alternative to Ajaxload.

Which one is your favorite animated loading image generator: Ajaxload, LoadInfo – or another site maybe? Let us know in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Make Animated Characters Talk With Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper (Windows) (4)
• How to Create Animated Gifs from Images & Video (11)
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• [Google Picasa 101] – Getting Started (22)

- Wikipedia

Your online avatar is the first thing people would notice about you or your profile. So it becomes important that you have a stylish avatar.

So you’re not an avid Photoshop user? No need to worry. Here are some solutions where you only need to point and click and you would have a cool avatar in no time.

FaceYourManga

FaceYourManga allows you to create avatar or what they call a “Mangatar” (which is essentially an avatar). You are presented with a basic avatar which you can build upon and customize to your liking. You can choose different hairstyles, customize features, eyes, nose, garments and apply some makeup if you are inclined to do so. There are plenty of choices for each of them and if you spend some time on it, you will get pretty close to what you were looking for when you started.

Yahoo Avatars

Yahoo Avatars offers a lot of choices. If you found FaceYourManga enough then you will certainly be overwhelmed with the amount of choices offered at Yahoo Avatars. If you were looking for something more than you should definitely check them out.

Here again you start with a basic avatar which you can build upon. You can customize the face, hair, skin tone and choose from extensive options for branded garments and other accessories. Put on some glasses or hats, have a dog besides you or whatever. There is plenty of stuff to keep you involved for some time.

Yahoo Avatars supports some animation in that you can have an animated smile, eyes and backgrounds.

While Yahoo Avatars appears with your Yahoo Profile, there is no option to download your avatar to use on other places. That said, you can always take a screenshot and use it on other sites.

Doppel Me

The same strategy: start with a basic avatar and build upon it with all the fancy bells and whistles the site has to offer.

While Doppel Me doesn’t provide as many choices as Yahoo Avatars, it still has plenty of options. I found the interface clean and well designed. Once you are done with the avatar you can download it and use the way you want it, or you can register. Registration of course provides some extra features like inviting friends, managing your avatars (doppleme’s) etc. You can also get the code to embed your avatar on web pages, social networks, etc so that changes you make to your avatars are instantly reflected all over the internet! Overall, it’s another good free avatar maker that we actually profiled earlier.

SP-Studio

South Park fans will love this. This site allows you to create and customize your avatar in a “South Park” style. Put in a hat, eyes, hair, mouth, body and legs of your choice and you have a South Park character avatar! There are plenty of choices to customize the avatar to your liking. You would have to make a screenshot to save it though.

Turn Your Name Into a Face

If you are the no fuss guy, don’t give a dime as to how your avatar looks or you just want an avatar with minimal effort then there are some options. You can pick someone else’s and claim its yours, fetch an image off the web and use it as your avatar or use “Turn Your Name Into a Face”. The site just requires you to enter your name and it gives you an avatar, which is not head turning but at least you can brag that you created it with your name!

Here are a few MakeUseOf names (using full names):

Aibek	Mark	Varun

Hmm.. Don’t mess with Aibek! 

Which site do you like the most? Or do you have some other favorite place to create an avatar?  Let us know in the comments and maybe turn your name into a face and share it as well?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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See the screenshot below if you’re not sure what I mean.

So how do I get an avatar next to my comments ?

It’s very easy. Simply go to Gravatar, signup, and upload the pic that you want to use as your avatar.

Also make sure that the email address you use on your comment is the same one you use to sign up on Gravatar.

Done!

Next time you comment on MakeUseOf it will automatically add your avatar to the comment. And not only MakeUseOf, but also most other blogs too.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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MyAvatars was designed by an Italian developer and works using Yahoo-owned MyBlogLog. It simply shows the blog commenter’s MyBlogLog (MBL) avatar next to their comment.

It is simple to install on your Wordpress blog and by displaying the person’s MBL avatar next to their comment, it instantly livens up the page and puts a face to the words. It kind of creates an intimate friendly community and takes away the anonymity that normally surrounds blog commenting.

If the commenter doesn’t have a MBL account then they show up as a shadow figure. But I have noticed that this is becoming rarer these days as most people who regularly visit blogs tend to have MBL accounts as they want to become part of the community and interact with the other visitors. But on the off-chance that you get someone not registered with MBL then they will show up as Shadowman (or ShadowWoman!).

But for those registered with MBL, leaving a comment brings up their MBL logo :

I have heard complaints that this plug-in slows down the loading of the blog but personally I have not seen any slowing down of my blog at all. The only time you are likely to see a slow-down is when MyBlogLog is down and since they are hosted on Yahoo servers, that isn’t very likely. When was the last time a Yahoo server went down? Right, I can’t remember either.

If you use this plug-in, you’ll quickly find that people love seeing their avatars featured on their comments. Some have actually told me by email that seeing their shadow avatars next to their comments have actually prompted them to go to MyBlogLog and sign up for an account! This just goes to show that people (despite what they may say to the contrary) love attention, they love seeing their face or their avatar associated with their words and their opinions – and this means repeat visits to your blog!

And if you don’t have a MyBlogLog account, then you need to get one today and upload an avatar. You can open MyBlogLog account and join MakeUseOf community here. It’s free and essential if you are a blogger or visit a lot of blogs. MyBlogLog is the social network for bloggers everywhere.

(By) Mark O’Neill is a blogger, professional freelance writer and the editor of Make Use Of. Check out his personal blog at BetterThanTherapy.net

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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