Adding A Favicon to your iWeb Site

Have you ever wanted to have a little icon next to the URL of your website? You’ve searched iWeb for ages but found nothing dealing with these URL icons. Well - this tutorial will show you how to add a favicon to your iWeb Site.

This tutorial is binary - meaning it will work with iWeb 1.X and the iWeb 2.X (iLife ‘08)

Looking for cool iWeb Templates? Go here!

  1. The first thing you will need to do is to create your icon. You can use any graphical program that allows you to design stuff. Examples include OmniGraffle, LineForm, ZeusDraw and all Adobe Design Applications. You will then need to export the final image as .png and to a relative small size. Then publish your iWeb Site as usual. If you publish to a folder, then please do not upload your site just that moment. Do that after the tutorial!
    Now download iTweak. iTweak is a free application built by Guimkie, which will make this tutorial much easier.
  2. Now go to this page and convert your image into an icon. Then save the icon files to your Desktop. Go into the unzipped folder and search for a file that ends with .ico. Rename that file to favicon.ico.
  3. Open iTweak and navigate to the “Interface” tab. Select the option labeled “Add Favicon.”

    4. iWeb Expander - Favicon Window

  4. Navigate to the downloaded files from Chami, and search for the .ico file which you have renamed to favicon.ico in step 2 and drag it into the drag box for the favicon.
  5. Then go one field up to the “Favicon URL.” Type in the location of where you want the favicon to end up. If you have correctly named the favicon to favicon.ico and you are using the original site structure. So if you publish to .Mac (MobileMe), you can type something like this:

    http://web.mac.com/bob/Bobs_Homepage/favicon.ico

    http://web.me.com/bob/Bobs_Homepage/favicon.ico

    Or like this if you publish to a folder:

    http://bob.com/Bobs_Homepage/favicon.ico

    Alternatively, if you just upload the contents of the folder that iWeb publishes to your server, then your URL will look like this:

    http://bob.com/favicon.ico

    Of course, replace the bob with your .Mac (MobileMe) username or your actual domain, and Bobs_Homepage with your actual site name. Watchout for _’s and spaces, as well as capital and small-based letters!
    That is the most difficult and important part, so be sure that the URL is 100 percent correct!

  6. Now click the “Choose Published Site” and select your Site. If you publish to a folder, you should know where the site folder is! On the other hand, if you publish to .Mac (MobileMe), you might not know. Well it is on the iDisk. So navigate to the iDisk, then into the “Web” folder, then in the “Sites” folder and finally select the folder that is named after your site!
  7. Now click the “Process Site” button and you’re done! Your favicon has now been added to your site.
    Please note that you have to do this processs everytime you publish!
    If you have published to a folder, then you can now upload your site!

Additional Info:

Looking for cool iWeb Templates? Go here!

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This page was created on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 at 4:08 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

68 Comments

  1. Larry posted:
    17 Nov 07 at 11:07 pm

    Hi, and thanks for your efforts on behalf of Mac users. I was a bit disappointed to read to then end of your favicon tutorial and see that the process has to be repeated each time the site is published. So if I understand this correctly, a person who constantly tweaks his site (typos, new entries, etc.) would probably consider using a favicon not worth the trouble. Does that make sense, or am I missing something?

    Also, I was wondering whether the favicon sticks to all pages of a site or just the home page.

    Many thanks,
    Larry

  2. Max Karreth posted:
    17 Nov 07 at 11:24 pm

    yes you have to do it everytime you publish, thats just how stupid iweb is :-P but if you tweak it each second, then maybe just add the favicon once every week or so :-D that should work as well

  3. Chris posted:
    18 Nov 07 at 5:25 am

    I am getting an AppleScript Error: The variable source_files is not defined. (-2753)
    Would this be caused by the use of the iweb personal domain feature or something else?

  4. Max Karreth posted:
    18 Nov 07 at 9:32 am

    you forgot to choose your site :-D
    max

  5. Fay posted:
    23 Nov 07 at 1:28 am

    Hi Max
    I am getting a applescript time out error when trying to create favicon - can you advise?

  6. Michael posted:
    27 Nov 07 at 7:48 pm

    Got the following message:

    Finder got an error: An item with the same name already exists in the destination. (-15267)

  7. Max Karreth posted:
    27 Nov 07 at 7:57 pm

    publish all to .mac and then try again

    max

  8. Michael posted:
    27 Nov 07 at 8:36 pm

    Went through process, said it was publishing. Went to site and no change. BTW: I am using djwedge.com and masking .mac address. Does this matter?

  9. Max Karreth posted:
    27 Nov 07 at 8:56 pm

    yes - if you mask your domain, you will ALWAYS HAVE to use the DOTMAC addresses.

    dont just publish, you need to publish ALL to dotMac. select that via the menu.

    max

  10. Michael posted:
    27 Nov 07 at 9:21 pm

    2 last questions and if I don’t get I’ll stop bothering you.

    1) When you say “publish to all”, do you mean each page?
    2) What via menu are you referring to?

    Thanks

  11. Max Karreth posted:
    27 Nov 07 at 9:51 pm

    micheal,

    first - bother me as long as you want. I will always help you :-D at least i hope i can.

    when i refer to publish all to .mac. i mean you open iweb and go to the “file” menu and then select “Publish All to .Mac!” Actually quite easy :-P
    then it overwrites all the files in the iweb published files and so could make sure that the favicon stuff will now work.

    max

  12. Carlos posted:
    11 Dec 07 at 12:53 am

    Hi,

    I’m getting a finder error when I choose my iweb site. error number 1712.

    Can you help me?

  13. Max Karreth posted:
    11 Dec 07 at 8:36 am

    are you using idisk syncing? you need to deactivate that for iwebexpander to be able to choose your site on the idisk

    max

  14. Carlos posted:
    11 Dec 07 at 12:01 pm

    hi,

    the idisk syncing is deactivated. The expander crashes the finder and give me a time out error -1712 :(

  15. Max Karreth posted:
    11 Dec 07 at 4:44 pm

    oh if it is a timeout error, then that means that your internet is toooo slow. you will need to try it on gigabit ethernet with a intel mac. the whatever are quite a tideous process because dotMac is so slow. its a problem because imap recieves no answer from dotMac, meaning it cannot add the whatever. i could add loops, but that results in a never ending spinning wheel of death :-D
    with whatever i mean the hitcounter, or “whatever” you are trying to add.

    max

  16. Carlos posted:
    11 Dec 07 at 8:43 pm

    ty, I’ll try it and then I’ll tell you something. ;)

  17. Carlos posted:
    11 Dec 07 at 9:16 pm

    Finder got an error: AppleEvent timed out. (-1712)

    The same :(
    I quit

  18. Max Karreth posted:
    11 Dec 07 at 9:19 pm

    what internet connection are you on?

  19. Carlos posted:
    11 Dec 07 at 11:41 pm

    adsl 8Mb

  20. thomas posted:
    12 Dec 07 at 1:23 am

    Like the site and the information, Thanks!

    Please Advise as per http://web.mac.com/Stupid_Site/favicon.ico

    http://bavariancreamdesigns.com/Stupid_Site/favicon.ico

    my question is the exact thing to type for Stupid_Site?
    do i include “_Site” at the end of bavariancreamdesigns_Site

    what is my “actual site name” ? How do i find out?

    Thanks for your help.
    Thomas

  21. Carlos posted:
    12 Dec 07 at 1:54 am

    you have to put only your site name

    http://web.mac.com/bavariancreamdesigns/

  22. Carlos posted:
    12 Dec 07 at 1:57 am

    better copy your url from your home page

    My home page is;
    http://web.mac.com/pormenor/PORMENOR/home.html

    My site is http://web.mac.com/pormenor/PORMENOR/
    ;)

  23. Max Karreth posted:
    12 Dec 07 at 8:51 am

    thomas,

    you can use this: http://www.bavariancreamdesigns.com/favicon.ico

    yep, carlos is right. copy your homepage url, and then delete the last part and replace it with favicon.ico

    carlos,

    lol i have no clue why you are getting the error then. it at least states from the error message, which i built in, is that dotMac is not responding. this means that it is a internet connection problem.

    max

  24. Max Karreth posted:
    23 Dec 07 at 11:21 am

    hm xtra weird. send me a link to your site

    max

  25. David posted:
    29 Dec 07 at 6:14 am

    http://www.davidsalowgallery.com

  26. Roben-Marie posted:
    31 Dec 07 at 6:16 pm

    First, thanks so much for iWeb Expander. I have been attempting to add my favicon this morning and have been experiencing troubles.

    I first got this error (Finder got an error: An item with the same name already exists in the destination. (-15267) So, I republished all as you advised).

    Next, I got this error, (-1712).

    Then, I got this error, (-2753 about variable source file not defined). I checked the url and it seems to be accurate.

    For the Favicon URL I used my .Mac user and site folder:

    http://web.mac.com/robenmarie/Roben-Marie/

    My user is robenmarie and my site folder is Roben-Marie

    This is what is placed in the Favicon URL Box:

    http://web.mac.com/robenmarie/Roben-Marie/favicon.ico

    As far as the selection of the iWeb Site, maybe that is why I get that 2753 error? I go through the iDisk via my computer:

    HD
    Idisk
    Web
    Sites
    Roben-Marie (folder/name of site)

    I can’t go any further than “Roben-Marie” which is the name of my site.

    Thanks so much for your help!

    Happy New Year!
    Roben-Marie :)

  27. jo posted:
    09 Jan 08 at 6:43 am

    dang it worked the first time, but now it doesnt work anymore. it times out

  28. Max Karreth posted:
    09 Jan 08 at 9:03 am

    jo,

    are you publishing to dotMac?

  29. jo posted:
    10 Jan 08 at 10:00 am

    yeah max i do publish to DOTmac. it worked the first time, it didnt work 3 times after that. then last night it worked. and i tried again to check and it didnt work. i get that. it seems on-and-off and i get lucky sometimes

  30. Max Karreth posted:
    10 Jan 08 at 5:45 pm

    elizabeth,

    the time out error is due to the slow connection of dotMac. you need to be sure to go on a hell fast internet connection (not WLAN!!!!!).

    max

  31. Max Karreth posted:
    10 Jan 08 at 5:49 pm

    Error -1712 Timed Out

    UPDATE:

    everyone and to the rest with this freezing timeout error

    i have solved it an i will release the update of iwebexpander (and imap) next week!!! ( so jan 21st)

    check the front page for updates (blog)

    thanks,

    max

    For anyone getting this error; this is not a problem of iWebExpander. It has to do with your internet connection and the slow speed of dotMac!!!

    There is no 100% working solution for this but there are the following ways that might solve it:

    - Do not use WLAN/WIFI!!!! It is to slow. Do not use it!
    - Be sure to have a really fast internet connection!
    - Use a Intel Mac with 2 GB of RAM.

    I am sorry for anyone getting this error. I am trying to figure a way to work this.

    Max (Guimkie)

  32. jo posted:
    11 Jan 08 at 1:20 am

    yeah I have comcast broadband through an ethernet, its fast ass hell. so maybe its just dotmac?

    i got a question also

    here is my username:

    http://web.mac.com/jeubeda

    and here is the site: http://web.mac.com/jeubeda/_/

    yes its an underscore ” _ ”

    so should i put in the favicon URL:

    http://web.mac.com/jeubeda/_/favicon.ico OR should I put http://web.mac.com/jeubeda/favicon.ico ??

  33. Max Karreth posted:
    11 Jan 08 at 6:27 pm

    jo,

    you put in this: http://web.mac.com/jeubeda/_/favicon.ico

    max

  34. firerobin posted:
    15 Jan 08 at 4:27 am

    My color wheel just goes and goes to the point where Web Expander doesn’t respond and I have to alt apple delete to quit.

    This happens immediately after I choose my iWeb site.

  35. Max Karreth posted:
    16 Jan 08 at 10:08 pm

    firerobin,

    UPDATE:

    everyone and to the rest with this freezing timeout error

    i have solved it an i will release the update of iwebexpander (and imap) next week!!! ( so jan 21st)

    check the front page for updates (blog)

    thanks,

    max

  36. Max Karreth posted:
    17 Jan 08 at 7:40 pm

    do you have idisk syncing activated?

  37. patrick goodman posted:
    18 Jan 08 at 1:28 pm

    Karreth, you beauty! I used your tutorial for my site map as well, so I’ll make sure to throw you some cash after grad school. You’re a legend, mate.

  38. jo posted:
    22 Jan 08 at 12:32 pm

    just wondering where i can download the update that was suppose to come out on the 21st. i cant seem to find it

    thanks a lot

  39. Max Karreth posted:
    22 Jan 08 at 4:44 pm

    @Jo - havent brought it out yet. i am so busy i simply had no time….

  40. Kurt posted:
    25 Jan 08 at 9:35 pm

    I followed the instructions, yet the favicon does not appear. I publish to a folder, use iweb expander, and upload from there. Please advise.

  41. Max Karreth posted:
    27 Jan 08 at 10:02 pm

    Kurt - your favicon does not show up because you have a wrong url!

    you have this entered in imap: http://explodinglightbulb.com/explodinglightbulb

    but, you need to enter this:

    http://explodinglightbulb.com/explodinglightbulb/favicon.ico

    that should make your black/red/white icon appear.

    max

  42. firerobin posted:
    28 Jan 08 at 1:50 am

    Any word on the update for iWeb Expander that would help remedy the timeout issue that occurs on the last step? I keep trying to do it and all I get is the color wheel where I have to force quit the app. as well as finder.

  43. Ken posted:
    30 Jan 08 at 8:41 am

    Hi,

    Do the favicon.ico works if I publish my outside .Mac ?

    Thank You
    Ken

  44. Max Karreth posted:
    30 Jan 08 at 9:02 pm

    Ken,

    yes they do! just clear your caches!

    max

  45. Ueli Hebeisen posted:
    30 Jan 08 at 9:50 pm

    I followed your instructions and I can see in iDisk that the favicon.ico file is in place and so it the code in the HTML page. But in the webbrowser there is still the .mac globe.

    What’s wrong here?

    ps
    I have a personal domain name set to the .mac account (everyDNS)
    [similar situation as Michael above]

  46. Max Karreth posted:
    30 Jan 08 at 10:46 pm

    ueli,

    also es ist meistens so das safari oder andere browser immer die favicons cachen. irgendwann wird es bei einem selber erscheinen… könntest du mir vielleicht deine url geben dammit ich mir das ansehen kann. danke. deine angegebene url scheint ja mit RW gemacht zu sein :-D

    max - grue(scharfes s)e aus muenchen

  47. ueli hebeisen posted:
    31 Jan 08 at 9:39 am

    max,
    meine Website http://www.uhebeisen.ch ist auf dem dotmac Webspace eingerichtet. Mit iWeb allein komme ich nicht weiter, respektive ich arbeite schon lange mit RW und das gefällt mir immer noch.
    dotmac erlaubt ja die personal domain (zeigen auf web/sites/iweb auf iDisk). Davon mache ich Gebrauch.
    Das klappt auch soweit, bis auf das Favicon (Kosmetik) und dann sind da noch die Restriktionen wie sie von Apple vorgegeben sind.

    Gruss ueli (scharfe “s” gibts hier nicht ;-)

  48. ueli hebeisen posted:
    04 Feb 08 at 11:46 am

    Max,
    I’ll write in english again (your page is setup in english) so …
    since everything is in place (HTML lines including URL, favicon.ico in root directory) and because there are other websites I have done with a favicon that worked I assume that it is either o problem of the dotmac webserver or the personal domain “feature” offered by dotmac.
    Investigating further I changed the URL to the favicon from http://www.uhebeisen.ch/favicon.ico to web.mac.com/uhebeisen/favicon.ico (the dotmac address). Now for this particular page the “right” favicon is displayed (my personal favicon, not the generic iDisk icon).
    Do I have to change all pages to have the favicon-URL set to the dotmac address? Or is there a feature in the domain forwarding setup (CNAME) I have missed?

    thanks ueli

  49. Dennis Schneider posted:
    25 Feb 08 at 11:03 am

    I am getting the following error message

    The variable source_files is not defined. (-2753)

    What am I doing wrong???

  50. Max Karreth posted:
    25 Feb 08 at 5:40 pm

    did you choose your site?

  51. Ben Charity posted:
    02 Mar 08 at 1:59 pm

    I’m also getting the (-1700) error that was mentioned before. Any solutions yet?

    I do have syncing turned off.

    I am forwarding and masking…does that matter? And in the URL: spot do I put the http://www.cloverleafdesign.net that is forwarded and used for masking? Or put in the DOTmac address that is actually hosting the site.

    Thanks

  52. Dan jay posted:
    06 Mar 08 at 6:41 pm

    Hey Max,

    I tried the process here and did not get an error message. I can see the .ico in the website. but it does not show up. I am using the personal domain in DOTmac and used the personal domain address when I ran the program. Should I have used my DOTmac account instead? Also, I see that you need to turn off syncing to access the iDisk…but can you turn it back on when you are done? I ask cuz I am using both IWE and iMap and see you say this must be done for both.

    Thanks !!!

  53. Maragni posted:
    10 Mar 08 at 5:20 am

    Max,

    Same problem that others are having. I get this message every time:

    AppleScript Error
    The variable source_files is not defined. (-2753)

    And yes, I chose the favicon url but confused about if I did it correctly. I’ve tried if various ways.

  54. Max Karreth posted:
    10 Mar 08 at 8:59 am

    this error means that you did not select your site OR idisk syncing is activated. it needs to be deactivated!

  55. Dan jay posted:
    11 Mar 08 at 4:54 pm

    I am not sure but I think my question got overlooked. I understand that syncing needs to be deactivated during the use of this program and with iMap…..but is this permanently? or can you turn it back on when you have completed using the software.

    Thanks.

  56. Max Karreth posted:
    12 Mar 08 at 9:31 am

    No, not permanently, only while you are using iMap/iWebExpander.

    Max

  57. Antonio posted:
    25 Mar 08 at 3:19 am

    Hi there,
    I followed the whole process to add a Favicon and at the end everything works fine and I can see it working. The thing is that after a while (a few minutes) the favicon disappears and is no longer visible. Why is this? How can I get around this?

    Thanks ;)

  58. Bill Kobs posted:
    08 Apr 08 at 9:20 am

    I am very excited to use a program like itweak to work on my new website but I am struggling to figure out why I cant seem to get some of the functionality to work (user error but not sure what my error is) I cant seem to get either the favicon or the stat counter to show up. I see it in my website folder on idisk but still doesnt show up.

  59. Max Karreth posted:
    09 Apr 08 at 6:33 pm

    Hi everyone,

    anyone having questions - please contact me via mail for any support questions.

    this comments area is only for saying if this tutorial stinks or rocks. any other comment will be deleted.

    thanks!

    max

  60. katie posted:
    16 May 08 at 7:59 pm

    THANKS!

  61. Karena posted:
    01 Jul 08 at 9:18 pm

    Whenver I hit “process sit” in iTweak, I get this error message: “There has been an error while trying to add the favicons” even though I’m dragging and dropping my favicon.ico file right in. I remembered to add /favicon.ico to the Favicon URL window. Also, since I’m using a masked .mac site done in iWeb, I can’t find it when I hit “Choose Published Site” HELP! I want to make this work. Thanks!

  62. John posted:
    06 Jul 08 at 12:06 am

    When I go to choose Website, it shows me the Web folder in idisk, but doesn’t allow me access to anything beyond that (sites, etc.). Any ideas?

  63. Jaymie posted:
    09 Jul 08 at 9:54 pm

    What if I used my personal .mac account to publish my worksite? I mask the url with my personal info with the work domain name. I got the favicon to work with the unmasked url but not with the masked one.

  64. Katie posted:
    22 Jul 08 at 10:24 pm

    I always wanted to put a Favicon on my site… this is great thank you so much!!!

  65. Terry posted:
    30 Jul 08 at 9:09 am

    This is awesome and although I’ll have to re-do it each time I re-publish, your beauty of an app sure beats the heck out of doing it manually. THANKS!

    BTW, is there a way add the favicon code in an iWeb snippet that is permanent?

  66. Brad posted:
    17 Aug 08 at 5:19 pm

    Hi my website is http://www.digitalmediam.com.au
    I followed your steps and added this as the favicon URL;
    http://digitalmediam.com.au/favicon.ico
    Then chose my published site on my desktop and then processed site.
    Then uploaded to my server but there was no icon?
    Have i missed something?
    I looked in the folder on my desktop and noticed that the icon was there but no joy on the web?
    Appreciate all your help and your app seems great !
    Thanks

  67. Max Karreth posted:
    17 Aug 08 at 8:46 pm

    @Terry - No there is not. The favicon code has to go into the “header” of the published file.

    @Brad - … did you physically upload the favicon found inside your published folder to your server? Did you choose the correct location in iTweak?

    Max

  68. Brad posted:
    18 Aug 08 at 3:31 pm

    I uploaded the hole folder that contains my website and the favicon icon?

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