FavIcon An Identity To Your Brand !

How to Create a FavIcon:

If you have your own website, chances are you’d want a FavIcon that will go well with it. Also known as a favorite icon or a bookmark icon, this simple image allows users to identify and brand your site. It’s not so difficult to make a favIcon, as long as you know the steps how.

What You’ll Need:

• FavIcon image
• Website
• PC with Internet connection
• Internet browser
• Online favIcon generator or photo editing program

Procedure:

1. Determine which particular image you’d want to use as your favIcon. The trick is to choose something that’s easily identifiable and has a simple design and color. Remember that you’ll be scaling it down to a much smaller size, so if you picked out a complex image, it won’t be too recognizable. One good option is to use an initial based on a logo or your site’s name. Popular sites with initials for favIcons are Yahoo!, Google and Facebook. 
2. Once you’ve chosen the image, you can either use a photo editing program or a favIcon generator to convert it into the smaller image or you can simply use any icon file from your hard disk if you have one.
   • For a photo editing tool: You can use programs such as Adobe Photshop, GIMP, Paint Show Pro, or Fireworks. Open the image, then crop and edit it, so it contains only the elements you want for the icon. Reduce the image to 16×16 pixels. The image resolution must be 72 or 96 dpi. Save it in .ico (Windows icon) format, by clicking on the Format drop down menu and choosing ICO. It’s best to name it as “favicon.ico”, so browsers will recognize it automatically.
   • For a favIcon generator: Find a free online .ico generator, then click “Browse”. Locate the image you want to use as an icon, then click “Create”. Wait for the generator to finish, then download the .ico file, saving it on your PC again.
3. Upload your favIcon to your website, in the domain root directory.
4. Define your favIcon file’s location, by specifying it in a link tab that’s in the open and close head tags of your page.
5. Clear your browser cache. Open the browser, then click “Tools”. Click “Internet Options”. Once you’re in browsing history, click “Delete”, to show the Delete browsing history dialog box. Locate the temporary Internet files then click “Delete files”. Once it’s done, click “Close”, and “OK”.
6. See if your favIcon loads in the address bar, by typing your website address. Try bookmarking it and refreshing the page. You’ll see your favIcon in the address bar beside your website URL.
7. Test the favIcon in other browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Netscape.

Customizing your website with a favIcon is a great idea. Try these steps, and you’ll end up with a nice-looking and recognizable one, in no time flat.

After all it's the question of your identity !