:dunno: Hi, this is in relation with my query on how to change the icon appearing before the URL on the address bar. Which I was able to successfully do with your help guys! Going back, I happened to check my uploaded website on an internet cafe, and I noticed that my favicon does not appear. Then I check other sites that has favicons also, and the same thing happens, only the default icon of internet explorer can be seen. I am just curious, can somebody explain the reason why other computers are not showing the favicons. Thanks!
Favicon not appearing on other browsers
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LHVWB
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Which browsers where you using at the internet cafe? IE 6 for example only shows the favicon in your favorites area. So the browser you were using may not be one the shows favicons in the normal spot.
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rockee
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Such a big issue for a very small graphic!
This problem with a browser not showing the favicon.ico file can be caused by several issues which, incidentally, are not IE6 alone issues as the favicon.ico image has been supported in IE since IE5.
Currently, all versions of the major browsers support favicons, including Internet Explorer 5/6+, Firefox 1+, Mozilla 1+, Netscape 7+, Opera 7+, Konqueror 3+ and Safari.
Apparently MS invented favorite icons in 1999 to allow small images to display next to an entry in the browser's favorites, hence the file name favicon.ico.
I remember from your previous post on this subject that you created a vector graphic which may be the sole reason that IE is not rendering it - until recently alpha channeled graphics failed in IE unless a fix was included - Google for this info.
BTW IE7 and newer should be able to display alpha channel and vector graphics without issue.
This link will perhaps verify your favicon.ico file:
http://www.html-kit.com/favicon/validator/
Try changing the file back to a 16 X 16 bitmap image (or create another favicon.ico in 16 x 16 bitmap format) and see if it helps - and make sure if using an icon editor that it does not also store other resolutions in the same file (several editors do and this is a no-no in IE), which should be a relatively small sized file of say no more than 1k or 2k at most (some browser settings can change this value, not sure off hand which ones) and is possibly an indication that the file does not have other resolutions included - large file indicates other resolutions are included and will not render in time in IE and some other browsers - this is from personal experience.
Also try adding the full address in the link href="http://blah.blah/favicon.ico" and make sure it is in the same root web site directory (public_html) as the htm(l) files.
Remember the favicon.ico file is stored in the IE Temporary Internet Files folder on a PC, so at a Cafe this may be flushed or have different IE settings than your home PC.
Have you declared the web page code as XHTML and if so, is it error free - try the W3C Validation site for error checking.
Here are few different types of html tags you can try:
XHTML:
<link rel="icon" type="image/ico" href="http://example.com/favicon.ico" />
HTML - this code can be added below your existing favicon link code:
<link rel="icon" type="image/ico" href="http://example.com/favicon.ico">
More tags and both can be used together:
<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
Nothing wrong with including as many variants of the rel link tag as possible which may help with this issue in most browsers out there in the wild - those tags that are not needed will be ignored by a browser.
This from a Blog and note the / in front of the file name which is another twist:
I found these references in my own K Base (sorry the sources are not available) which also might solve your problem.
And this:
It worked on a site that at first only displayed the generic icon but then after the above drag fix it displayed the correct favicon.ico file for the web site - the mind boggles.
And this:
So as you can see, even though MS invented the darn thing, IE browser's have always had strange issues with displaying it.
Regards,
Rocky
This problem with a browser not showing the favicon.ico file can be caused by several issues which, incidentally, are not IE6 alone issues as the favicon.ico image has been supported in IE since IE5.
Currently, all versions of the major browsers support favicons, including Internet Explorer 5/6+, Firefox 1+, Mozilla 1+, Netscape 7+, Opera 7+, Konqueror 3+ and Safari.
Apparently MS invented favorite icons in 1999 to allow small images to display next to an entry in the browser's favorites, hence the file name favicon.ico.
I remember from your previous post on this subject that you created a vector graphic which may be the sole reason that IE is not rendering it - until recently alpha channeled graphics failed in IE unless a fix was included - Google for this info.
BTW IE7 and newer should be able to display alpha channel and vector graphics without issue.
This link will perhaps verify your favicon.ico file:
http://www.html-kit.com/favicon/validator/
Try changing the file back to a 16 X 16 bitmap image (or create another favicon.ico in 16 x 16 bitmap format) and see if it helps - and make sure if using an icon editor that it does not also store other resolutions in the same file (several editors do and this is a no-no in IE), which should be a relatively small sized file of say no more than 1k or 2k at most (some browser settings can change this value, not sure off hand which ones) and is possibly an indication that the file does not have other resolutions included - large file indicates other resolutions are included and will not render in time in IE and some other browsers - this is from personal experience.
Also try adding the full address in the link href="http://blah.blah/favicon.ico" and make sure it is in the same root web site directory (public_html) as the htm(l) files.
Remember the favicon.ico file is stored in the IE Temporary Internet Files folder on a PC, so at a Cafe this may be flushed or have different IE settings than your home PC.
Have you declared the web page code as XHTML and if so, is it error free - try the W3C Validation site for error checking.
Here are few different types of html tags you can try:
XHTML:
<link rel="icon" type="image/ico" href="http://example.com/favicon.ico" />
HTML - this code can be added below your existing favicon link code:
<link rel="icon" type="image/ico" href="http://example.com/favicon.ico">
More tags and both can be used together:
<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
Nothing wrong with including as many variants of the rel link tag as possible which may help with this issue in most browsers out there in the wild - those tags that are not needed will be ignored by a browser.
This from a Blog and note the / in front of the file name which is another twist:
I found these references in my own K Base (sorry the sources are not available) which also might solve your problem.
And this:
I just tested this drag fix in IE6 that I keep for testing web site designs.
It worked on a site that at first only displayed the generic icon but then after the above drag fix it displayed the correct favicon.ico file for the web site - the mind boggles.
And this:
So as you can see, even though MS invented the darn thing, IE browser's have always had strange issues with displaying it.
Regards,
Rocky
Last edited:
Thanks! really a big issue... I just tried to check it at an internet cafe while waiting for my appointment. Since we're using iMac and MacBook at home, I really just want to check how it looks at another computer.
Pardon me for how I will be explaining how I have done the uploading. The explanations that will follow is from a layman's point of view. Actually, I also learned that there are hosting sites that do not recognize ICO files. Others, suggested to try uploading a PNG file. When I saved my favicon as an ICO file, it was not recognized, so I decided to saved it as PNG and changed also the file type from the code I inserted.
For the vector thing, I am not aware that once I vectorized a 16x16 file, it will be bigger, he2. Sorry for that. My objective for doing so, is only to make the image clearer. I created my favicon using Macromedia Fireworks using only 16 pixels. I'll follow your instructions and check whether the favicon will appear on an internet explorer. thanks!
Pardon me for how I will be explaining how I have done the uploading. The explanations that will follow is from a layman's point of view. Actually, I also learned that there are hosting sites that do not recognize ICO files. Others, suggested to try uploading a PNG file. When I saved my favicon as an ICO file, it was not recognized, so I decided to saved it as PNG and changed also the file type from the code I inserted.
For the vector thing, I am not aware that once I vectorized a 16x16 file, it will be bigger, he2. Sorry for that. My objective for doing so, is only to make the image clearer. I created my favicon using Macromedia Fireworks using only 16 pixels. I'll follow your instructions and check whether the favicon will appear on an internet explorer. thanks!
Hi, sorry for the late reaction... Just correct if I'm wrong, I have done it twice and it seems that it's true, ico files are not supported by this hosting site. When I change the ico file (my favicon) to png type file, it has appeared on the address bar. Thanks guys for helping me with the favicon prob. It really is hard for favicons to appear on an IE, but there are really possibilities, as suggested on this thread.
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x10Hosting has no trouble at all with .ico files -- all I'm using on my site is favicon.ico in my root (public_html) with no link tag pointing to the icon. The <link> is for overriding the site icon and using a file other than a file named favicon.ico on the server web root path.