Changing Favicon Images

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Changing Favicon Images

New image only shows if change file name as well

gypsychild

5:27 pm on Feb 27, 2003 (gmt 0)

I recently changed the image for my site's favicon, but kept the same file name (favicon.ico). However when I tried to bookmark it and despite deleting all obvious files relating to the old image, it just reverted to the Microsoft Internet Explorer icon. The only way I could get it to show was to rename the file and then it worked perfectly. Anybody know why? The only thing I can think of is that a hidden copy of the old file on my computer is somehow causing confusion and forcing it to revert to the Microsoft default icon.

Also has anyone else changed the favicon image without changing the file name and managed to get it to show up on the same computer?

Pinetree

5:53 pm on Feb 27, 2003 (gmt 0)

I didn't see a link to your site in your profile, what tag did you use? Are you 100% sure that your HTML is correct?

I left out a closing quote mark once and it drove me nuts trying to figure out why my icon wasn't showing up when I re-did my site.

gypsychild

6:08 pm on Feb 27, 2003 (gmt 0)

Thanks Pinetree. Identical conditions for both, ie, same (and correct) syntax, the only difference was the file name itself.

jimbeetle

6:17 pm on Feb 27, 2003 (gmt 0)

You can find a good discussion about favicon at this WW thread [webmasterworld.com].

What does the Webmaster World favicon look like? The was a hint from somebody on WW to grab the IE icon in the address bar and try to move it slightly until you see shortcut arrow on the cursor. Release and there it is.

(Don't do this if you are typing a reply to a thread -- it just sent me back to the last page and I had to start over.)

tedster

6:48 pm on Feb 27, 2003 (gmt 0)

Even deleting the bookmark in IE seems to leave the favicon in your local cache. But deleting the bookmark AND emptying the cache has always worked for me. A new bookmark always downloads and caches the new favicon.

gypsychild

8:18 pm on Feb 27, 2003 (gmt 0)

Good thread jimbeetle, but followed all advice in there and doesn't seem to make any difference.

>But deleting the bookmark AND emptying the cache has always worked for me.

I've deleted everything you mentioned and more tedster. Just to clarify, when you say a "new favicon", presumably you mean you have changed the image, but kept the old file name and the new icon replaces the old one in your bookmarks?

tedster

9:15 pm on Feb 27, 2003 (gmt 0)

Yes, that's what I see. However, I do suspect many other factors at work here.

An icon is tied rather closely to the OS, and not just to the browser like a gif, jpg, or png. What happens if your favicon uses many colors and a non-system pallete? I suspect that some older OS may have trouble, but I haven't taken the time to check as of yet. Does the color depth setting and/or the graphics card come into play?

There's a lot of hidden stuff going on in the .ICO format. Somtimes I think it is the greatest web development mystery going.

I'd love to get some input from a software designer who regularly creates .ICO icons for their programs. I only make a handful in a year, and it seems like the terrain shifts with each new browser release.

gypsychild

11:16 pm on Feb 27, 2003 (gmt 0)

Thanks for the confirmation tedster. In a way though, this makes it even more frustrating - I've been researching and playing around with this for hours (Windows 98). As you said, a great "web development mystery".

If you do ever get round to looking into this, you may be interested to know that I tried a couple of images (all directly from the favicon.com site) - one was in fact a plain single colour image and this still did not work for me under the same file name.

In any event, forget about the thrill of seeing my favicon show up on my computer - perhaps I should temporarily forget about this particular issue and just assume that calling the file favicon.ico (as recommended) will mean the new icon will show up for everyone else.

jimbeetle

4:34 am on Feb 28, 2003 (gmt 0)

Started a new site in November and the fist thing I did was to creae a brand new favicon.ico file. All pages were linked to the file before being uploaded.

The result? Worked great for a few days befoe I emptied my cache and dumped temp files, always showed in the address bar. Now only shows in IE favorites.

Same-o for major sites such as Yahoo. Favicon does not at first show in address bar but does show in favorites and address bar after bookmarking it.

M$. Go figure.