Tutorials

Favicon Fun

Ever notice the little icons next to the web address on so many websites? They are called Favicons (favorite icon) and use a file extension of .ico. They are easy to create if you know how! Use Illustrator or Photoshop or any other image creating tool and make an image that is 16 pixels by 16 pixels. Yes, it's small and keep the design very simple. Think one letter or a number or one symbol. Then head over to DynamicDrive and use their free conversion tool. Upload your .jpg or .gif and then download the .ico file they create for you free.

Upload your file to your website server in the main area. If you don't do your own website, send the file to your webmaster or ask for FTP access so you can do it yourself. Once the file is there, you can see it by using your website address www.mysite.com/favicon.ico and you'll see it. Place this code on your index.html or index.php page below the header tag:

<link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="/favicon.ico">

There you go, you have a favicon icon of your very own!

Joomla instructions on inserting a favicon.ico

Go to Tools, Template Manager.
Click on your template and choose Edit HTML.
Insert code above right before the <body> tag.
Click Save.

Joomla! Content Management System

Joomla! is a way to write websites that have lots of information that needs to be catagorized for easy searching or as a way to create a website that your client can help keep up to date without blowing up the site. Once the site is structured, the webmaster can create users that have vital areas of the site locked down to protect the structure while allowing users to create articles in an interface that looks much like a word processing program. When the user chooses a section and catagory for their article and saves it, the site updates automatically.

One neat feature is that you can choose the date you wish the article to publish and unpublish so your site always looks fresh and changes automatically even if you are out of town.

While there are many content management programs out there, I find Joomla! very user friendly, has lots of modules and plug-ins to enhance the site and with a bit of custom design, is an exciting environment to work in a collaborative effort with our clients. Being able to update your site yourself also saves on costs to have a web programmer do the work for you!

Ask us how we can get your involved in your own website in a fun and innovative way!