Favicon?  What is a favicon?

Favicon is short for favorites icon.  If you are using certain browsers such as Firefox or Chrome, you will see tiny 16x16 pixel images or icons on your tabs, next to the url and on your favorites list if those sites happen to use a favicon. If you are using Internet Explorer as your browser or are on an iPad or another device you won't see them.

I have added a favicon to our CAST blog that is a dark green "C" on white.  Etsy uses a white "E" on a orangey-red field. Facebook uses an offset "f" on a dark blue field. For my own website and blog I use a "S" in soft blue on a soft green field. Other sites use small pictures or logos. Any tiny image that identifies the company will do.

favicons on tabs in Firefox

It used to be a daunting task to add a favicon to a blog which involved creating a special icon graphics file type (.ico) and adding html coding to the root template of the blog.  Now Blogger has made it very easy. Now all you do is create an image file (.jpg will do nicely) and upload it to your design page on Blogger.

Blogger "design" page

You'll want to create a file that is square and small as it will shrink down to 16x16 pixels. And you'll want to create something that is very readable at that tiny size and fits with your image branding. Any graphics software will let you make a simple text image like I have done and save it as a .jpg file.

If you search for favicon creator you'll come up with a host of free sites you can use to design a favicon pixel by pixel if you wish. I think they are sort of like the software you would use to design a cross-stitch pattern square by square and are fun to play with. They will create a .ico file which you will have to convert to .jpg for Blogger, but save the .ico file if you have a website you wish to use it on as well.

Be warned that your favicon may not show up immediately on tabs or favorites lists.  Mine took 3-4 days to appear. If you want it immediately I think you have to do things like clearing cookies and other techie gobbly-gook I don't now how to do (maybe you do). You will also have to sign out of Google and then sign back in.  You may have to exit your browser and restart your computer. If it is showing up on your design page it should appear eventually.

If you give it a try, come back here and comment and leave a link for us to look at!

by Sue of SueRunyonDesigns