Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

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apodman
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Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by apodman » Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:42 pm

I'm looking at all of the open tabs in my browser. Everyone has a favicon. Even APOD has a favicon. But the Asterisk* has a generic dog-eared page symbol.

You can use this one if you like. It took me 5 minutes to build and ship it. No charge.

Image

Some browsers find favicons on their own if you just put the favicon.ico file in the domain's root directory or the same directory as your web page. To help other browsers, I've been in the habit of including these lines in the <head> section of my html (and you would have http://asterisk.apod.com/viewforum.php and http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php generate them with the rest of the web page):

<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
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makc
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by makc » Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:13 pm

no active users have enough rights to server, sorry.
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geckzilla
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by geckzilla » Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:52 pm

Heh, you could do it through the admin panel by editing the overall_header template file. But only RJN is active and has access to that right now.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.
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Chris Peterson
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by Chris Peterson » Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:09 pm

geckzilla wrote:Heh, you could do it through the admin panel by editing the overall_header template file. But only RJN is active and has access to that right now.
Here's a bit of useful info for those of us who hate favicons and use Firefox: go to aboutconfig, find 'browser.chrome.favicons' (just put 'fav' into the filter box), and set it to 'false". That way you'll never have to be bombarded by all those frenetic icons in your shortcuts and tabs, and every page will show a pleasant little generic document icon.
Chris

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apodman
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by apodman » Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:34 pm

Chris Peterson wrote:... and every page will show a pleasant little generic document icon.
Hey geckzilla, would you hire Chris Peterson as your decorator?

Seriously, favicons do have a practical benefit for those of us who play roulette with three pair of eyeglasses and don't want to change glasses just to click a link or pick a tab. The little pictures, even out of focus, register faster in the mind than pleasant fuzzy generic text.
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by geckzilla » Fri Nov 20, 2009 12:11 am

Haha, oh gosh. There's a reason why scientists' websites tend to be ugly at best. I'm just glad when they design them so that the text is legible.

I have to agree that favicons are useful. In fact on my favorites bar (right above the tabs in Firefox) I have nothing but favicons. It upsets me when a site has no favicon because then I have to have an actual text title next to it. But that's just me.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.
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Chris Peterson
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by Chris Peterson » Fri Nov 20, 2009 12:26 am

apodman wrote:Hey geckzilla, would you hire Chris Peterson as your decorator?
Actually, I think I'm a pretty good designer. Heck, I have a side business designing web pages for artists, who tend to be fussy about how things look.
Seriously, favicons do have a practical benefit for those of us who play roulette with three pair of eyeglasses and don't want to change glasses just to click a link or pick a tab. The little pictures, even out of focus, register faster in the mind than pleasant fuzzy generic text.
Sure, lots of people like them. I didn't mean to suggest that there's anything wrong with them, but it's a fact that many people dislike them as well, so knowing how to disable them is useful. Personally, once I have more than a few different icons I can't remember what most of them are for (that's one of the reasons I really dislike the Mac user interface). I like text!
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by geckzilla » Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:20 am

Artists aren't necessarily designers, either. Actually they can want pretty absurd designs for their sites. Chris, you're certainly not terrible, but that red striped background is killing me. Then again I just woke up because there's this beeping coming from outside that's been going on since about 4 AM so maybe that has my senses a little extra ... sensitive.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by apodman » Fri Nov 20, 2009 5:20 pm

Chris Peterson wrote:bombarded by all those frenetic icons
geckzilla wrote:that red striped background is killing me
I can design, too. In fact, I think Chris' stripes work well with my old animations.

http://j3000.com/x/apod/red-stripes.htm

To be fair to myself, I should point out that I originally created the animations as examples of irritating distractions that are too busy for business web pages. And I suppose the square Fibonacci spiral on the right has some educational value.

---

It occurs to me that geckzilla may have viewed Chris' red stripes on a newish wide screen monitor. In my usual 1024 px wide window, the background makes a fairly narrow border around the page and therefore doesn't overwhelm the content, but I maxed my window to the full 1600 px width just to see and my retinas bled instantly. In general, some old backgrounds (along with other page elements) that were optimized for hardware only a few years ago need to be revisited. A webmaster's job is never done.
Last edited by apodman on Sat Nov 21, 2009 6:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Chris Peterson
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by Chris Peterson » Fri Nov 20, 2009 5:24 pm

apodman wrote:I can design, too. In fact, I think Chris' stripes work well with my old animations.
http://j3000.com/x/apod/red-stripes.htm

To be fair to myself, I should point out that I originally created the animations as examples of irritating distractions that are too busy for business web pages.
I think you need to add a border of marching anime cats around the edge, and some jazzy circus music. What business wouldn't like that?
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by geckzilla » Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:22 pm

Oh my, humor. Sarcasm, even! Next thing you know, we'll have Chris using the emoticons. :lol:
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by apodman » Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:36 pm

Never <g>.
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by bystander » Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:44 pm

Sometimes sarcasm is more appropriate.
http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... 37#p112337
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by geckzilla » Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:02 pm

That wasn't sarcasm, that was a creative metaphor.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.
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Chris Peterson
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by Chris Peterson » Sat Nov 21, 2009 12:35 am

geckzilla wrote:Oh my, humor. Sarcasm, even! Next thing you know, we'll have Chris using the emoticons.
Hey, I'm a funny guy. Really. (But emoticons just ain't gonna happen! :)
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by makc » Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:44 pm

O RLY :twisted:
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Re: Why Doesn't The Asterisk* Have A Favicon?

Post by geckzilla » Mon Nov 23, 2009 9:30 pm

Oh mak, you cheater.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.
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