How to Size an Avatar in BuddyPress

BuddyPress is "social networking in a box," as it allows you to create your own Facebook-like network with a few clicks. You can have your own Avatar, or small picture, that appears on all of your posts. You can change the size of a BuddyPress Avatar with a simple PHP custom code. Changing the size allows you to change the look and feel of your BuddyPress site.

Instructions

PHP Customization

1. Create a new "bp-custom.php" file that has the new sizes you want your Avatar to appear in.

2. Go to your WordPress files and click on the "wp-content/plugins" directory.

3. Open the current Avatar code by going to your cPanel in your hosting site. Look for the "bp-core-avatars.php" file. Copy the code and paste it into a text document.

4. Look at the current code and change the width and height to your specifications. The code will look something like this:

   "if ( !defined('BP_AVATAR_THUMB_WIDTH'))

   define('BP_AVATAR_THUMB_WIDTH', 50);

   "if ( !defined('BP_AVATAR_THUMB_HEIGHT'))

   define('BP_AVATAR_THUMB_HEIGHT', 50);

   The default for the Avatar thumbnail is 50 by 50 pixels. Where "50" appears in the example above is where you want to change it to your sizing.

5. Change the full-size avatar by following the same step. The full-size avatar code will look like this:

   "if ( !defined('BP_AVATAR_FULL_WIDTH'))

   define('BP_AVATAR_FULL_WIDTH', 150);

   "if ( !defined('BP_AVATAR_FULL_HEIGHT'))

   define('BP_AVATAR_THUMB_HEIGHT', 150);

   The default for the full avatar size is 150 by 150 pixels.

6. Save the code document as "bp-custom.php" and upload it to the "wp-content/plugins" directory in your cPanel.

Test Sizing

1. Upload a new avatar using BuddyPress with the new size parameters.

2. Save the new avatar in BuddyPress.

3. Load your preferred browser and see if the new sizes are registering.

Tips & Warnings

• You can change the default sizes in "bp-core-avatars.php," but if you want to quickly revert back to the original sizes, just create a new custom sizing code.

• Do not delete the original "bp-core-avatars.php" file. Always keep a backup.

References

• BuddyDev; Changing Default Avatar Size; Brajesh Singh; October 26, 2009