Do you use a favicon on your websites?

[MichaelCorfman]

Many websites have a favicon, many do not. It was recently pointed out the the GPWA website does not have one in the thread www.gpwa.org/forum/right-who-wants-site-have-favicon-196325.html. And I've agreed the GPWA will add one.

But that got me thinking. How many webmasters here use favicons on their websites and how many don't. Besides voting the the poll be sure to share your thoughts about them. And for those of you who do use them, share with us what software you used to create them, or if you paid someone else to make them for you.

If you don't know what a favicon is, there is a good article on wikipedia about them here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favicon. Here is the first paragraph of that article:

A favicon (short for favorites icon), also known as a shortcut icon, website icon, URL icon, or bookmark icon is a file containing one or more small icons, most commonly 16x16 pixels, associated with a particular website or webpage.

Michael

[FictionNet]

All of my sites use favicons and they're really easy to create. The following link is a brilliant little tool that will convert an image into a favicon - and it's free.

http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/

[rak]

I use them on sites, and honestly everyone should... image is everything, and it adds that professionalism to your site when it appears in the address bar!

[gayle]

Count me in for a yes to favicons. I believe that you are creating a 'brand' for your site from the domain name to graphics on site, layout, design and yes, a favicon.
With our gamerisms site, we have even created a mascot--the gaming gecko that directs
visitors around the site. This golden character is holding a symbol for specific games while offering a challenging grin
As gamerisms is a glossary site set up to be the language of games, we use a small 'g' as
our favicon in bright red.

[Vrindavan]

i like my sites having something unique. I used simple drawing software to make them in the past.

[craig96]

Hey Michael,

Please see the post http://www.gpwa.org/forum/favicon-193896.html I created a favicon in the correct format there. Just download it and then upload it.

Just shows that thread got no reply when it was in that section.

[robertmedl]

This is one of the easiest things that you can do to promote your brand. Many things to brand, maintain, and promote sites are difficult, but this one is a no-brainer.

[Chips]

I have a favicon for all mine as well. Takes seconds to create, I usually use xxhttp://www.favicon.cc to make mine. I feel it is needed for brand identity.

[ih82lose]

Funny, I noticed the favicon first thing today(I haven't been here for a couple days).

I try to have them for all my sites, but it is an easy thing to forget.

Today I will be making favicons...

[RayUK]

I use them on all my sites - personally as a surfer I prefer sites to have them as it makes it much easier to pick out the site I want in my bookmarks (I have a lot of bookmarks!). For my own sites I agree with the comments above, it makes the site stand out a bit, unique, branding etc.

I create the little image in paint.net and use png2ico to convert it to the right format.

[grem]

they are fun to make and most sites should have them

[Zoorana]

I didn't think it was that necessary but after reading this i'm definitely gonna add one to my site

[baldidiot]

I don't really care about them, but I know a lot of other people do. So I guess I'd better make one

[craig96]

Hey Michael,

Sorry but the Favicon I made for your site looks better than what you are using now. I am sure the one at current would have worked great in 1997.

[davenewgates]

I have a favicon on both of my blogs! I like it and also this new gpwa favicon.

[baldidiot]

Hey Michael,

Sorry but the Favicon I made for your site looks better than what you are using now. I am sure the one at current would have worked great in 1997.

I agree!

[RayUK]

OK I am going to disagree and say I quite like the favicon - it is bright and very easy to pick out in a long list of bookmarks, clearly GPWA branded (colour scheme and initials) and certainly different from the others in that list of bookmarks.

It depends what you want from it (it is really just a small part of the graphics of a website, literally!) - do you want it to look sleek and cool, or have it noticable and branded.

Anyway with a couple of people saying they disliked it I thought I would at least put in a word in its favour

[baldidiot]

It's not that I don't like it, I just think the one that craig made is better

(it's here btw: http://www.gpwa.org/forum/favicon-193896.html)

[RayUK]

Ah OK - I must have missed that post - yeah Craig's one is nice. Not as bright but still obviously 'GPWA'

[MichaelCorfman]

I'm thinking we will create a few choices and get feedback on them. I had thought about doing that in the first place before we put anything up, but decided to just put up the first one with the idea that we could get feedback later. Here in the office there were folks who liked and folks who did not like the initial one.

Michael