Just a suggestion for an FAVICON image for this board

philimpex · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 18:26:02 pm

I realize that the Postage Stamp Chat Board displays a boring "file" or "page" icon on my bookmarks folder, while other boards have their pretty icons there.

I suggest the admin to load a favicon to the index page folder (I believe) a pretty "roo" icon would do well, or of course a dove from Basel ;-)

.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favicon

ozstamps · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 18:55:29 pm

Hi .. I am not tech minded at all, but I THINK I know what you mean.

Is such a thing easy to do, does anyone know?

Glen - Admin

philimpex · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 19:11:24 pm

The problem is that it has to be quite simple, because of the small size allowed, otherwise it will not be recognizable..

E.g. here the logo of the message board "The Bat" (ritlabs), the producers of my e-mail program and 3 other bookmarks I have on my computer, note the boring one from "Meteo Schweiz"

admin · **Posted:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 19:15:58 pm

Gotcha!

Yes I see what you mean.

Well you are right we should have one!

What kind of design would be we have - does anyone have some ideas?

philimpex · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 19:51:27 pm

Well, I have found this, possibly we could still try to downsize it.

As far as I know it has to be in the directory where also the index file is, (on normal web sites) for boards I don't know..

or

This is just an idea, personally as a ZÃ¼richer I would choose a 6 or 4 from my town, stamps which are almost as beautiful as the penny black and scarcer!

ozstamps · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 20:10:08 pm

Golod idea!

We need to have an image that is identiable as a STAMP, and this one as you suggest might be best.

Anyone know how to take the 1d Black down to this size we are allowed?

i.e.

philimpex · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 20:42:42 pm

Also someone could draw it, the simpler the better..., note, there are two sizes allowed for favicons. One is the stamp posted by Glen, the other the stamp I have used in my previous post.

Here, what I was able to do with PSP, simply resized to 32 x 32 pixels, which is the larger of both sizes allowed for favicons.

....................................................................

I understand these would match the requirements..

The more the original picture approaches a square, the better, a peny black is a good choice, because it is a mono color stamp ...

ozstamps · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 20:44:40 pm

Wow.. that icon looks perfect for us!

That larger size is definitely allowed?

ozstamps · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 20:53:28 pm

I'll post a lighter scan than the one above in case that reduces sharper?

ozstamps · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 20:55:47 pm

This is the smallest I can get it to as I only have photobucket!

But it appears it will be easier to see when small than this one:

philimpex · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 21:01:19 pm

ozstamps wrote:

Wow.. that icon looks perfect for us!

That larger size is definitely allowed?

I don't know more than explained on Wikipedia, my guess would be, that eventually very old browsers will not be able to display the new, larger one, but this is just what I suspect.

The goal is, that the browsers will display the icon on the bookmarks page and on top of the tabs, which say, which pages are open (I am a Firefox user).

Next step, how to get it into the right directory..?, possibly the admin has a configuration page and can add it with same procedure like a simple member adds his avatar.. but it's only a guess too, otherwise upload into the same directory, the 'index' page is (www or so)

ozstamps · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 21:04:42 pm

My "Favourites" list in Windows XP has all of them smaller which is why I asked .. but someone might know more on this?

But a GREAT suggestion, many thanks for it. And trust me we WILL do something this week on it!

Glen - Admin

philimpex · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 21:42:54 pm

ozstamps wrote:

My "Favourites" list in Windows XP has all of them smaller which is why I asked .. but someone might know more on this?

But a GREAT suggestion, many thanks for it. And trust me we WILL do something this week on it!

Glen - Admin

My guess, very old browser will not display the 32 x 32 size, but that's just what I suspect. If we will be forced to use 16 x 16 we will surely not be able to use a scan of a stamp, because the image will be to complex for such a low resolution.

Bye for now, need to make some money to pay my bills

librarianc · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 23:52:55 pm

Here are the two images, one at 16x18 and the other at 32x38:

or

John A

ozstamps · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 23:54:52 pm

HOT DOG!!!!

OK ... now I'll go find out how the heck to get them loaded onto this site!

librarianc · **Posted:** Tue Nov 20, 2007 00:25:26 am

Glen:

I realized after posting the first pics that this may require exact image constraints, so I have loaded the same images again, this time in true 16x16 and 32x32 (so they are square, rather than rectangle).

or

The laws of web design can sometimes be very persnickety.....

John A

philimpex · **Posted:** Tue Nov 20, 2007 01:06:10 am

Here a bord, where they discuss "how to":

http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=423752

ozstamps · **Posted:** Tue Nov 20, 2007 01:10:21 am

Perfect philimpex - I'll pass this on to Aaron shortly!

Glen

Shrug · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2008 15:53:39 pm

The file you upload should be in the *.ico format and be called favicon.ico

If it is not called favicon.ico it will not save the icon when you bookmark the page.

This file should be in the root html directory for the site which would be like

/home/user/public_html

doug2222usa · **Posted:** Tue Feb 26, 2008 15:41:56 pm

Favicons are discussed in great detail on Wikipedia, including
how-to-do-it

mozzerb · **Posted:** Tue Mar 04, 2008 09:13:49 am

Again, I came across this thread casually browsing, and since site icons are useful to people like me who have about 20 tabs open at once and I noticed that this site doesn't yet have one -- a few comments!

A site icon is an image file used as a logo, named (precisely) favicon.ico and placed in whatever the top level directory of the webserver happens to be -- in other words, the browser will request it from the URL http://www.stampboards.com/favicon.ico each time. It has to be in the Windows 'icon' format (.ico -- i.e. what Windows uses to display file types etc). Just to be difficult, that format isn't a normal image file -- it's a collection of images, of different sizes for use in various parts of the system.

The good news: for web work that collection really only needs to contain one image -- the little 16x16 pixel version which gets displayed by the browser in tabs, history lists etc.

The bad news (1): 16x16 pixels is pretty small. A stamp image reduced to that size is going to be virtually unrecognisable. A simple logo image (e.g. the letters "SB") is probably a better bet.

The bad news (2): you still need to save that image in the special .ico format, and graphics programs have an annoying habit of not having that as an option.

However, there are special icon editor programs that can be downloaded (Googling 'icon editor' should get plenty of options), into which you can paste a gif or bitmap file or just colour in individual pixels, and then save the file in .ico format. The better ones tend not to be free shareware, but since you only need to do this once, if they have a free demo period that's not a problem ...

ozstamps · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 02:50:24 am

Any more info on these before I talk to the techies?

Glen

iomoon · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 03:05:36 am

Mine already has a capital G in blue on a white background.

I thought it was because of the goggle search engine.

Then I thought it was G for Glen.

StampStudy · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 04:03:49 am

Hi,

This board runs on phpBB and the favicon can be changed according to this article

http://www.gamingbob.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=329

To get the icon file there are various websites that will allow the creation of a favicon file :

http://www.favicon.co.uk/

You can import your source image file and it will return the favicon file you need for the board.

Favicons definately give a site a better look

Im not sure whether the pennyblack would be the best icon choice loads of sites including mine use the pennyblack use it -- maybe something with a large S using the colours of the logo.

Anyhows goodluck

StampStudy

OttawaMike · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 06:03:03 am

Something with a large "S" using the colours of the logo?

That could turn out to resemble the Superman emblem!

Perhaps something a little more inviting, like a pic of one of the grumps?

ozstamps · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 19:29:57 pm

librarianc wrote:

Here are the two images, one at 16x18 and the other at 32x38:

or

John A

Thanks for the great input.

So can we use the larger one .. or do we need to smaller version for practical purposes?
.

ozstamps · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 20:23:44 pm

StampStudy wrote:

Favicons definitely give a site a better look

Im not sure whether the pennyblack would be the best icon choice loads of sites including mine use the pennyblack use it -- maybe something with a large S using the colours of the logo.

Nah .... Iomoon would then say the S stood for Stephens.

I'll ask Ginnyflo who kindly designed our quite superb logo series, to see if she might be able to do "SB"in the same font as these letters, down tiny, and show us how that might look.

SB will be roughly square in shape, and might look quite good. :idea:

arls1 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 21:15:25 pm

Pity it has to be so small. The Penny Black with a cancel of S.B through it would be OK? Although probably wouldn't be able to see the S.B. very well.

Arlene

StampStudy · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 21:30:08 pm

Here is a baby SB.

StampStudy

philimpex · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 21:32:47 pm

StampStudy wrote:

Here is a baby SB.

StampStudy

and why not install one of the proposed icons, just for a try? It's hyper simple to change later.. - I like the penny black and the "SB" too.

librarianc · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 22:03:40 pm

ozstamps wrote:

librarianc wrote:

Here are the two images, one at 16x18 and the other at 32x38:

or

John A

Thanks for the great input.

So can we use the larger one .. or do we need to smaller version for practical purposes?
.

Glen:

Just so you and/or your "techie" staff know, I believe I posted a bit later, with these same icons, in the true 16x16 and 32x32 size, which may or may not make a difference in what the Favicon generating software spits out.

John A

ozstamps · **Posted:** Mon Sep 15, 2008 23:05:34 pm

Ha!

Great contributions so far folks.

Ginnyflo is in the USA South, so may will be affected by the Hurricane Ike ... or asleep right now!

She is the only one with access to the original fonts, and is a whizz with this stuff, so let's see what she can offer .. however from the 2 above I reckon even down at tiny 16x16 it may well look pretty neat.

.

librarianc · **Posted:** Tue Sep 16, 2008 09:41:32 am

Glen:

I just noticed that the Pierron's web site uses the Penny Black for it's favicon!! That will give you an idea of what one would look like.

John A

ginnyflo · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2008 09:49:40 am

Glen - here they are:

admin · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2008 15:07:03 pm

mozzerb wrote:

A site icon is an image file used as a logo, named (precisely) favicon.ico and placed in whatever the top level directory of the webserver happens to be -- in other words, the browser will request it from the URL http://www.stampboards.com/favicon.ico each time. It has to be in the Windows 'icon' format (.ico -- i.e. what Windows uses to display file types etc). Just to be difficult, that format isn't a normal image file -- it's a collection of images, of different sizes for use in various parts of the system.

The good news: for web work that collection really only needs to contain one image -- the little 16x16 pixel version which gets displayed by the browser in tabs, history lists etc.

The bad news (1): 16x16 pixels is pretty small. A stamp image reduced to that size is going to be virtually unrecognisable. A simple logo image (e.g. the letters "SB") is probably a better bet.

The bad news (2): you still need to save that image in the special .ico format, and graphics programs have an annoying habit of not having that as an option.

However, there are special icon editor programs that can be downloaded (Googling 'icon editor' should get plenty of options), into which you can paste a gif or bitmap file or just colour in individual pixels, and then save the file in .ico format. The better ones tend not to be free shareware, but since you only need to do this once, if they have a free demo period that's not a problem ...

ginnyflo wrote:

Glen - here they are:

GREAT stuff thanks ginnyglo .... the red background looks good too.

I do think the "SB" is wiser for us than a Penny Black, which as others have pointed out is widely used by other stampies?

Glen

arls1 · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2008 17:31:06 pm

The SB I think looks great AND it's unique. Who wants something that everyone else has. :twisted:

Arlene

vandemonia · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2008 21:25:12 pm

Well done Glen! A beautiful "SB" favicon for the site!

Cheers!

John

admin · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2008 21:41:06 pm

John .. we do not have it loaded yet, unless you know more than me.

Glen

vandemonia · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2008 21:58:32 pm

Glen

That's strange! It's showing up on my computer!

John

ewen s · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2008 22:23:49 pm

Same.

Ewen

GlenStephens · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2008 23:02:14 pm

How odd ..maybe Roly loaded it and hasn't told me .. does anyone else see it? :?:

Alastair · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2008 23:03:44 pm

I don't, but its the work computer ...

apptec · **Posted:** Thu Sep 18, 2008 23:16:58 pm

I can see it ok.

ginnyflo · **Posted:** Fri Sep 19, 2008 05:08:01 am

Glen - On our computer, I noticed that the icon is there using FireFox or Internet Explorer, but not with Slimbrowser. (Does Roly have any suggestions for getting it to appear using Slimbrowser?) And just to get you in the know....I live on the south shore of Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio.

librarianc · **Posted:** Fri Sep 19, 2008 08:19:47 am

I'm using Firefox 3 on a MAC and I don't see it yet........but then I don't see my own favicon either (unless I switch to Safari). I've been reading, but haven't quite figured out the subtleties of cross-platform and multi-browser images.

John A

P.S.: GinnyFlo.........you're in Cedar Point country?

ginnyflo · **Posted:** Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:04:47 am

John A - Yes, we are! There's a wonderful magic-like feeling just watching the park come alive. We can see the July 4th fireworks from our livingroom. When we were in business, we did a lot of work for their graphics department. Very cool. We used the same software, they'd send the files and we'd make it.

ozstamps · **Posted:** Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:20:57 pm

Alastair wrote:

I don't, but its the work computer ...

OK .. Roly had the tip.

I turned off my computer and re-booted and did not see it.

I overwrote the bookmark and did not see it.

What you need to do it DELETE your stampboards bookmark and then re-bookmark it and yes I now see ginnyflo's cute little icon .. great colour match down low size too!

Thanks again to ginnyflo for her graphics input, and to Roly for somehow getting it loaded up there for all of us to see!

Glen

RolyRJ · **Posted:** Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:45:59 pm

I loaded ginnyflo's favicon in the wee hours last night (NZ time).

Attaching the code was not a problem but some browsers will not be able to see it unfortunately.

I will have a look at the code again this evening and see if I can get further browsers to play the game

Cheers and thanks ginny, looks great.

Roly

ozstamps · **Posted:** Fri Sep 19, 2008 13:02:10 pm

Looks good Roly. Many thanks.

The images above ginny loaded as photobucket saves.

She did kindly email me the originals in .ico format but my el-basic computer would not open those.

Not sure if any clarity is lost by not using the original art from Ginnyflo, versus the photobucket scans?

If so, I can forward them across.

Glen

RolyRJ · **Posted:** Fri Sep 19, 2008 13:49:52 pm

I used Ginny's originals and then converted them to .ico format so no loss in clarity

It is nice having all the logo's and colours tied together.

The code is not complex, just takes a little trial and error to get it placed correctly.

Cheers

Roly


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