| One of the simplest things you can do to give | | | | rubbish when 16 x 16 pixels! If your having |
| your site 'identity' and to make it stand out | | | | trouble, you could use a free icon converter |
| from other sites is to use a favicon | | | | like Image Icon Converter or use an icon |
| (favourite icon). They are the little logos | | | | editor such as ImageAuthor to build your icon |
| that go next to the website listing in your | | | | from scratch. |
| favourites folder, and pop up in other | | | | |
| places, (depending on your browser and | | | | 3) Now, save your logo as "favicon.ico". This |
| operating system). To see one, go to Big Wow | | | | is the default icon name that web browsers |
| Web Hosting. Bookmark the site, open another | | | | like Explorer and Netscape look for. Upload |
| browser window and then go to open the | | | | it into the root directory of your web site |
| bookmark you have just made. The 'B' next to | | | | (the main directory that contains all your |
| the words 'Big Wow Web Hosting- Home' is the | | | | HTML pages). Voila! Your favicon should now |
| favicon. | | | | be working! |
| | | | |
| Want one? Just follow these 3 simple steps: | | | | To test your favicon, get a friend to |
| | | | bookmark your site and then open a new |
| 1) Choose the logo you want to use for your | | | | browser window. If is next to your listing in |
| favicon. On my site, I use a 'B' in the same | | | | their bookmarks, it works! |
| format as the website title, buut anything | | | | |
| will do, as long as it reflects the look and | | | | To test your favicon in the designing stages, |
| feel of your website. Bear in mind that the | | | | dump your cache and open a new browser window |
| size of it will be reduced to 16 x 16 pixels. | | | | between tries before bookmarking your site. |
| | | | If you don't you will just see the same |
| 2) If it isn't already, convert your logo | | | | favicon as when you first bookmarked it, as |
| into a .JPG or.GIF and either make it 256 | | | | your computer will have cached it in an |
| color Web Safe Palette or the Windows 16 | | | | effort to reduce loading times. |
| color format (the fewer colors the better). | | | | |
| Then, using a graphics package or image | | | | That's all you need to do! You now have an |
| manipulation software, reduce the image to 16 | | | | eye-catching logo representing your web site |
| pixels wide by 16 pixels high. Try to | | | | in the favorites list of all your visitors. A |
| preserve the image resolution. This is the | | | | professional touch for very little effort. |
| part where you find your fantastic logo looks | | | | |