Website Stats

Freeway
1

Hi All,

When I check my website stats (awstats), I see a term that I don’t
understand. Does anyone know what “Hits on favicon.ico” means?

Thanks,
Richard

Richard Houston
Architectural Art
http://www.richardhoustonart.com

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2

favicon.ico is a tiny image that appears in your browser’s location
field, next to the address. Originally, only IE supported these, but
then Mozilla and WebKit browsers added support for them. These
browsers will request the file, regardless whether you have created
one or added the code to your page indicating where it can be found.
They will simply try to request Fast, Reliable & Secure UK Based Web Hosting | Hosting.co.uk 2023 and if there
is nothing returned, they will display a default icon instead. Mostly,
all this does is bulk up your server logs with useless 404s.

You can create a favicon in Photoshop with a special plug-in, or in
GraphicConverter without. The format name is called Windows ICO.
Traditionally, these images are 16px square, and have a limited bit
depth, like 4 or 8 bits. The application you use will do this down-
sampling for you.

Once you have a favicon, Tim Plumb has an Action[1] to add it to your
page, so the upload will happen automatically and the proper code will
be written into your pages so these browsers will look for the file
where it actually lives.

Walter

  1. http://www.freewayactions.com/product.php?id=005

On Feb 27, 2011, at 12:07 PM, Richard Houston wrote:

Hi All,

When I check my website stats (awstats), I see a term that I don’t
understand. Does anyone know what “Hits on favicon.ico” means?

Thanks,
Richard

Richard Houston
Architectural Art
http://www.richardhoustonart.com

freewaytalk mailing list
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Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

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3

On Feb 27, 2011, at 9:15 AM, Walter Lee Davis wrote:

They will simply try to request Fast, Reliable & Secure UK Based Web Hosting | Hosting.co.uk 2023 and if there
is nothing returned, they will display a default icon instead. Mostly,
all this does is bulk up your server logs with useless 404s.

Thanks Walter.
So, if I’m not interested in supplying a favicon, can I just ignore the
whole issue without any consequences?

Richard

Richard Houston
Architectural Art
http://www.richardhoustonart.com

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4

Yes. no harm.

Walter

On Feb 27, 2011, at 12:53 PM, Richard Houston wrote:

On Feb 27, 2011, at 9:15 AM, Walter Lee Davis wrote:

They will simply try to request Fast, Reliable & Secure UK Based Web Hosting | Hosting.co.uk 2023 and if
there is nothing returned, they will display a default icon
instead. Mostly, all this does is bulk up your server logs with
useless 404s.

Thanks Walter.
So, if I’m not interested in supplying a favicon, can I just ignore
the whole issue without any consequences?

Richard

Richard Houston
Architectural Art
http://www.richardhoustonart.com

freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

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5

On Feb 27, 2011, at 10:00 AM, Walter Lee Davis wrote:

Yes. no harm.

Thanks for your help – and quick response!

Richard

Richard Houston
Architectural Art
http://www.richardhoustonart.com

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6

I was curious about how to create this also. I noted this paragraph about the action:

Creating an icon file (.ico):
The icon file itself is simply a bitmap image saved in ideally the .ico file format but increasingly more browsers now support icons in GIF or PNG formats. Sadly there are few Mac applications that can export the ico file type although one of the best, GraphicConverter, is available from Lemkesoft.
Create your icon as a 16 pixel square image and save it using an indexed colour palette. After conversion to an .ico file format it should ideally be called ‘favicon.ico’ to work once online.

I just wanted to say I have been using this program for about 80% of my photo work (20% Photoshop) as it opens fast, is VERY powerful and versatile- can open nearly any format, and cost (after indefinite trial period) about $40, in the ten years plus I have used it, I have spent about the same on the major upgrades, and nothing for the almost weekly improvement tweaks.

If you don’t have if, you might want to try it. Sorry if giving blatant plug is offensive to anyone. It really is a diamond ever being polished.

http://www.lemkesoft.com/

Frank USA

On Feb 27, 2011, at 9:15 AM, Walter Lee Davis wrote:

favicon.ico is a tiny image that appears in your browser’s location field, next to the address. Originally, only IE supported these, but then Mozilla and WebKit browsers added support for them. These browsers will request the file, regardless whether you have created one or added the code to your page indicating where it can be found. They will simply try to request Fast, Reliable & Secure UK Based Web Hosting | Hosting.co.uk 2023 and if there is nothing returned, they will display a default icon instead. Mostly, all this does is bulk up your server logs with useless 404s.

You can create a favicon in Photoshop with a special plug-in, or in GraphicConverter without. The format name is called Windows ICO. Traditionally, these images are 16px square, and have a limited bit depth, like 4 or 8 bits. The application you use will do this down-sampling for you.

Once you have a favicon, Tim Plumb has an Action[1] to add it to your page, so the upload will happen automatically and the proper code will be written into your pages so these browsers will look for the file where it actually lives.

Walter

  1. http://www.freewayactions.com/product.php?id=005

On Feb 27, 2011, at 12:07 PM, Richard Houston wrote:

Hi All,

When I check my website stats (awstats), I see a term that I don’t understand. Does anyone know what “Hits on favicon.ico” means?

Thanks,
Richard

Richard Houston
Architectural Art
http://www.richardhoustonart.com

freewaytalk mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

freewaytalk mailing list
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7

Here’s a link to the Photoshop .ico plugin - Telegraphics - Free plugins for Photoshop & Illustrator...and other software

and some online options to create .ico files

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