# Libravatar Addon
by [Klaus Weidenbach](http://friendica.dszdw.net/profile/klaus)
-**Please note that [the Libravatar service will shut down on 2018-09-01:](https://blog.libravatar.org/posts/Libravatar.org_is_shutting_down_on_2018-09-01/).**
-You maybe want to switch to the catavatar or gravatar addon.
-
This addon allows you to look up an avatar image for new users and contacts at [Libravatar](http://www.libravatar.com). It will be used if there have not been found any other avatar images yet for example through OpenID.
Libravatar is a free and open replacement for Gravatar. It is a service where people can store an avatar image for their email-addresses. These avatar images can get looked up for example in comment functions, profile pages, etc. on other sites. There exists a central installation at [www.libravatar.com](http://www.libravatar.com), but you can also host it on your own server. If no avatar was found Libravatar will look up at Gravatar as a fallback.
There is no rating available, as it is on Gravatar, so all avatar lookups are g-rated. (Suitable for all audiences.)
-PHP >= 5.3 is required for this addon!
-
You can not use the Libravatar and Gravatar addon at the same time. You need to choose one. If you need other ratings than g you better stay with Gravatar, otherwise it is safe to use Libravatar, because it will fall back to Gravatar if nothing was found at Libravatar.
* * *
See examples at [Libravatar][1].
## Alternative Configuration
-Open the .htconfig.php file and add "libravatar" to the list of activated addons:
+Open the `config/local.config.php` file and add "libravatar" to the list of activated addons:
- $a->config['system']['addon'] = "..., libravatar";
+ 'system' => [
+ ...
+ 'addon' => '...,libravatar'
+ ...
+ ]
-You can add one configuration variable for the addon:
+You can add one configuration variables for the addon to the `config/addon.config.php` file:
- $a->config['libravatar']['default_avatar'] = "identicon";
+ 'libravatar' => [
+ 'default_avatar' => 'identicon',
+ ],
[1]: http://wiki.libravatar.org/api/ "See API documentation at Libravatar for more information"