Blog Dos #6: Create a favicon

Here's a really geeky (but pretty easy) thing to do with your blog that adds a touch of professionalism and is something you'll surely want to show off to your friends and family.

Create a favicon for your blog. What the heck is a favicon, you ask? Here is mine:

See it at the top of your browser in the address bar? There it is. Isn't it cute?

Normally, the Typepad favicon logo would be displayed there, but you can override this by supplying your own.

Creating a favicon
You don't have to have Typepad to display a favicon, it can appear on any website. You have to 1) create it as a 16x16 pixel graphic, 2) convert it to the .ico file format, and 3) upload it to your documents directory of your website. This is the same directory where your index or home page reside. If the file is placed on your website correctly, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and any other browser will find the file automatically and display in your address bar.

For Typepad, I followed the instructions from their knowledge base called Adding a Personalized Icon to your Weblog. I created the logo with Photoshop and used IrfanView to convert it to the proper format.

The article includes links to two sources that allow you to create the highly specialized .ico format:

• IrfanView (this is what I used)
• FavIcon from Pics (allows you to create a favicon without downloading a program to your computer)

You must name the file favicon.ico for the favicon to work and it may take several hours for the favicon to appear in your web browser.

Benefits of having a favicon
Favicons allow your site to stand out in a few really cool ways. First, it adds a nice logo next to your web address. Next, it accompanies your site's name on tabs in Firefox making your site very easy to identify. Finally, it appears next to your site name in bookmarks if a reader has bookmarked your site.

Tags: favicon, ico, .ico, irfanview, favicon from pics, typepad favicon, blog favicon

Comments

[sharla]

Thanks for the info! I just uploaded a favicon to my blog.

[Brian Brown]

Very nice Sharla. I just checked it out and it looks great!

[chris]

Gimp can export the .ico format natively. And for something small with little detail photoshop is a little overkill. So get gimp.

[Thea Westra]

Thanks for that tip.
I have favicons on each of my 'regular' sites http://www.forwardsteps.com.au and http://www.ask-thea-about.com yet I'd never even considered adding favicons to each of my blogs http://www.forwardsteps.com.au/FSBlogs.htm
What a cool blog this is. Thanks for the reminder and I'll now go and bookmark your site for future reference - won't miss seeing it with your favicon attached! :)
Will add favicons to my blogs next time I'm there.
Here's a tool for those who aren't sure how to create one http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/
Best regards,
Thea

[Joe W]

Hi...I like your post. Irfan Vief is a great tool and so is The Gimp. The Gimp is an open source editor comparable to photo shop. For a quick favorites icon I use Quick Favicon. They have 2 online generators and a gif banner assembler!

[Joe W]

Comment cut off? Anyway check Quick Favicon Free favicon generator online! Pretty cool...