You may (or may not) remember that we previously added a setting to allow you to opt in to using Gravatar. Today we removed that setting and replaced it with a curated selection of characters that you can choose from to personalise your WaniKani experience.
The removal of Gravatar means one less third party tracking you as you move around the internet.
Go to the account settings and choose your new character.
I was just mid-post asking about this. Is there no way to use a custom avatar at all anymore on the main WK page? The avatars are cute but I will miss my Dragon Quest one Iāve used since day 1 
No sorry not at this moment. Hopefully you can find something from the current selection that fits for you. More options may be added in future, if that is any consolation.
I canāt be too upset since this is ultimately so minor, though Iād definitely be in favor of the feature being restored in some alternative way if youāre looking into options to proceed from here. The avatars are cool and hope to see more as you mentioned- but if thereās a way to add in a regular simple image upload or sync with the forums thatād be amazing. Custom PFPs are a little thing but definitely feel premium, especially if already a previously established feature. Thanks for the response
Obligated to use the little squid fella. Sweet update
I understand the sentiment behind the change, but I do mourn the loss of having the option to see a custom avatar. Seeing the image of my choice was providing me with the slightest extra motivation boost to do lessons, serving as a visual reminder to me personally of the native content that I hope to be able to further engage with!
If my opinion has any weight I would like to have the option to post a custom avatar as well.
Just not having Gravatar tracking my pages is benefit enough to me. Thanks for getting rid of it!
Hopefully custom profile pictures will return soon.
Iām quite bummed out about this and completely donāt understand what the issue is/was to completely remove gravatar integration.
If someone had problems with gravatar/ privacy then not using gravatar would be solution enough.
I feel that most of the users lost quite essential customisation because if some vocal minority 
Can you add in your own implementation of custom avatar?
This didnāt need to be a third party implantation anyway.
You and I have different definitions of āessential.ā
Itās good to know that sites like Gravatar track everyone, not just Gravatar registered users. To assume they donāt is folly.
this tbh
i canāt imagine what possible reason would make it not worth the (very tiny amount of) effortā¦
any answer along the lines of āstorage costā or āsecurityā would be utterly laughable in this context
is it somehow a content moderation concern? that one is slightly more plausible, but still baffling
iām sure this will just go onto the list of nerfed features that people complain about for years and we never get a proper explanation for anyway
If itās related to not wanting to have anything that might cause friction on a language site hidden in avatars I definitely understand that. Canāt tell you how many social spaces Iāve seen get ugly over something as simple as avatars. Posts are way easier to moderate for on-topicness rather than something less concrete like whether itās āappropriateā or ācontroversialā
if you are so privacy oriented then most likelu you already use tracking blocker (because everything tracks) and the rest justā¦ donāt care (see majority of users participating in this forums).
Alas - itās still possible to
a) make gravatar completely optional for those that want to use (so no tracking)
b) use own custom avatars.
People complained that gravatar tracked you, you can look at the old forums to see for yourself. Canāt please everybody, but I think itās the right call. I donāt care about privacy but I never uploaded a profile when it was a thing because why would I, nobody sees it anyway. Iāll just use whatever options the site gives me, and these are pretty nice
Now to remove āgoogletagmanagerā
I donāt believe it should be everyoneās responsibility to anticipate every privacy breach. It is up to those of us who do understand privacy issues to protect the ones who have no idea theyāre being abused this way.
This whole exchange makes me regret commenting on the thread because I do not feel I can continue this discussion if you make another response like that without making a response that could be construed as insulting. Suffice to say I think itās dangerous to take a position that it is only people who know enough about privacy to be concerned who deserve privacy. Leaving the thread now.
