A favicon is is that little icon you will often see next to a websites URL which is basically just another way to identify the site. Favicon's are also known as website icon, page icon, or urlicon and is short for "favorites icon". Today, favicons are used by almost all large scale and high traffic websites, and even the majority of smaller sites (so long as the designer knows what they are doing). Besides being displayed next to the URL in the address bar, favicons can also be seen on bookmark lists, and in tabbed document interfaces.
Here are a few examples of some familiar favicons:
Youtube, Google, and Myspace. All pretty recognizable icons that immediately identify the site.
Favicons are uploaded to your website by using a file called "favicon.ico". Before you create your favicon you have to download a photoshop plugin which supports the .ico file format. To create your favicon, use photoshop while keeping in mind a few things. First off, a favicon is only 16x16 pixels, which means there is a good chance that your standard logo may not look good at that size (if its even square). Apparently the best way to go about creating your favicon is to use a 64x64 px canvas size and resize the image to 16x16 when finished. Also, when you resize your image use the "Bicubic Sharper" setting, which caused the image to blur less when resizing.
Every site can benefit from a favicon. Some people can remember a image or graphic far easier than a URL and when they see the sites favicon, they know what site it is without reading the address. Why not have one? They are fairly easy to create (a real memorable good one may be more difficult) and upload to your site, and they make your site seem more professional.
Here are a few examples of some familiar favicons:
Youtube, Google, and Myspace. All pretty recognizable icons that immediately identify the site.
Favicons are uploaded to your website by using a file called "favicon.ico". Before you create your favicon you have to download a photoshop plugin which supports the .ico file format. To create your favicon, use photoshop while keeping in mind a few things. First off, a favicon is only 16x16 pixels, which means there is a good chance that your standard logo may not look good at that size (if its even square). Apparently the best way to go about creating your favicon is to use a 64x64 px canvas size and resize the image to 16x16 when finished. Also, when you resize your image use the "Bicubic Sharper" setting, which caused the image to blur less when resizing.
Every site can benefit from a favicon. Some people can remember a image or graphic far easier than a URL and when they see the sites favicon, they know what site it is without reading the address. Why not have one? They are fairly easy to create (a real memorable good one may be more difficult) and upload to your site, and they make your site seem more professional.
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