How to make an icon for a web page?

March 19, 2006 12:59 AM

How do I create a little icon for the tab of a web page?

I have tried searching, but "icon" and "web page" is on every 3rd page on the internet, hard to see what keywords to search...

You know how, say, Metafilter has it's own special "MF" icon in the tab bar of the page? Or how the coffeepot ghost guy has a little picture (of himself?) as the icon for his webpage? If he can do it it must not be that complicated?

I am vaguely competent with Photoshop and html.

Can someone please either spell out how to do this, or point me to a web resource that does? I would really appreciate it, thanks in advance for your time.

posted by Meatbomb to computers & internet (7 comments total)

This is called a favicon, here is the Wikipedia page about them, which should have everything you need to know.
posted by mayfly wake at 1:10 AM on March 19, 2006

They're called favicons. Here's a tutorial, a Photoshop plugin and tutorial, and an online favicon generator that's only IE-compatible.
posted by limeonaire at 1:13 AM on March 19, 2006

Webmonkey wrote about this in 2001. The term to search for is bookmark or favorites icon.
posted by MadamM at 1:14 AM on March 19, 2006

Wow, thank you all guys! Exactly the resources I need, hivemind rocks.
posted by Meatbomb at 2:14 AM on March 19, 2006

If you want to add a favicon to a blogger.com site, here's how.
posted by ceri richard at 3:24 AM on March 19, 2006

Perfect, ceri richard, I need that too!
posted by Meatbomb at 3:43 AM on March 19, 2006

And here's one that's not IE only.
Funny, I had the same question yesterday...
posted by Ferrari328 at 8:07 AM on March 19, 2006