If you can see six images at the top section of this page, your computer should be OK:
April 03, 2009
December 30, 2007
What is that little image in my browser's address bar?
What is it?!
Ever notice that sometimes in your browser's address bar there's a small image to the left of the web page address?
Take a look at this screenshot from Firefox, which shows a portion of my address bar, and notice the peace sign to the left of "http":
You might also see an icon on a browser tab, such as in this screenshot to the left of "Gmail":
These images are related to a special file named favicon.ico, for favorite icon. A webmaster places this icon file on the web server, in the main folder where the web site's documents are stored. Then when a person visits that web site with their browser, the browser displays the icon stored in the icon file.
How do I create a favorite icon?
If you have your own website, you might want to create one of these favorite icons. Perhaps you'd like a miniature version of your corporate logo or a snapshot of your dog. To create an icon file, you need an icon editor -- software that allows you to edit or create an image and store it in the proper ICO file format. One such program is called Microangelo -- here's where you can read more about it:
Although you can use other graphics programs to create or edit images, ultimately you do need to store it in the ICO format for web browsers to be able to use the image. (Some newer browsers recognize other image file formats, but the ICO format is the most widely supported.) Make sure that the image is at least 16x16 pixels.
I suggest that you keep the image simple and use only a handful of colors. That way most web visitors will be able to actually see what the image is. If you make it too fancy it may just look a mishmash of pixels and defeat the purpose of having an icon.
Remember to test your web site after uploading the file to the web server. To see the icon, you might need to refresh your web page in the browser, or perhaps even restart the browser. Finally, ask a friend at a different location to check out your web page from their computer, to make sure they can see it too.
How do I remove a favorite icon?
Now of course you might not want any icon to show up in the browser when someone visits your site. If you notice that your web site is displaying an icon and you don't want it there, simply ask your webmaster to delete the favicon.ico file from the main folder where your HTML content is stored on the web server.
April 30, 2007
January 06, 2007
Affordable Web Sites
Design, hosting, email, and management... for businesses of all sizes.
