Thursday, August 4, 2011

The Tiniest Flower On the Internet

This post is for everyone who uses Blogger and especially those indoor-bound gardeners still suffering from extreme heat who might need something to do. Take a seat by the AC and read on...

I wonder, have you clicked on your blog's Design tab lately? Recently I did because I wanted to add something to my sidebar. I was pleasantly surprised to see a new feature. Right at the top of the page is an option to add your own Favicon. What's a Favicon, you might ask. Well it's that little icon next to your blog title. All Internet sites have them. For Blogger it's that rather ugly looking orange B. Know what I'm talking about? But now, thanks to the intrepid programmers at Blogger, you can say goodbye to that orange blob and make your own unique Favicon. Why would I want to do that, you're probably asking. No reason. It's just fun and a great waste time, a way to learn a little more about the workings of the Internet and maybe, here's the best part:  allow your blog to stand out in the crowd. The Favicon, albeit a tiny thing, shows up nicely, among other places, on blog rolls around the Internet and I'm so proud of mine it makes me giddy! [Thank you to all of you who have me on your blog roll!]

So, I'll try to make the instructions as easy as possible to understand given that I'm not good with all the Internet lingo and procedures and all that. Okay? First, you need to choose a photo. Here is the one I chose.


Once I decided this was the photo I wanted, I went into my photo editing software [I use Microsoft] and cropped it so it would be basically a square. It's best to have a close up of an object [or face] and to make it square. You'll see why when it's done. Then I moved the photo to an easily accessible folder in my computer for easy upload retrieval, if that makes sense. Okay, with me so far? Then I found a site that formats this photo into a Favicon file. There are hundreds of these sites on the Internet. All you have to do is Google "Favicon Generator Free". Here is one such site. On the site it will instruct you to upload the image/photo you want to format into a Favicon. Click on that, find your photo and upload it. Allow the site to make the Favicon then download and save it on your computer. Again save it in an easily retrievable folder because then you'll want to go into Blogger and click on the Design tab. At the top of the page where it shows the Favicon option, click on that and upload your finished Favicon. Voila! You may have to restart your computer or close all your Blogger tabs first but it works. The reason I'm so thrilled with this is because a year ago I was fooling with HTML and all kinds of weird coding to get a unique Favicon for my blog. Now it's easy as pie.

If you do this, let me know. I'd love to hear from you. If you have questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them. Wouldn't it be fun if we all had our own unique Favicon?


Since this is a garden blog, I'll confess that my Oriental lilies are beginning to bloom in the garden. I just swoon over the luscious scent.

One more thing before I go. I wanted to direct you to my sidebar where it shows the book, The Moment I Knew. I'm proud to announce that a short story I wrote about my best friend's suicide in 2005 has been chosen for inclusion. The book is slated for release on August 26th. You can read more about the book by going to the Reflections for Women Facebook page. I'm psyched!

29 comments:

  1. Dear Grace, I did the favicon thing a long time ago and now they make it so easy!!
    I am not sure how to say, how wonderful it is to be published, but the subject seems so sad...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Grace ~ Thank you for this tip. I didn't even know about it and am going to work on this Sunday morning when I've time to putter more in my computer. I already have a flower in mind.

    I'm sorry about your friend's suicide, but want to give my congratulations to you for the publishing of your book.

    Hugs ~ FlowerLady

    P.S. What program did you use for your garden view drawing in your sidebar.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats on being published!! I checked out the book on fb and it sounds like a great read with real life experiences and insights. Like it said...every woman has a story to tell and I'm glad you got to tell yours. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I did the favicon a long time ago - the old fashioned way... it's so much easier now, isn't it! Your lilies look lovely too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations on the publication of your short story and kudos for creating something positive in art from what must've been a painful experience.

    Also, the Facebook link to the book is not working, and I'd like to check it out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dang...my favicon is gone. I used to have one and I'm not sure where it went. Glad you did this post because now I will have to figure out how to find it again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just did my favicon earlier this week. I am going with the Janet rose picture I took of my rose. Thought it was apropos. I don't see it showing up everywhere, but it does on a few places. Great tutorial on getting it done!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Grace, I'm gonna check out that favicon dealyo, sounds like a fun evening exercise :) Congrats on your short being published, that is so cool, you must be beaming with pride! Your oriental lily's have a head start on mine, I can smell their incredible fragrance right through the computer screen!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great tutorial - I'm going to try this today!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Now I know how you have that little flower there, I've been wondering about it. Thank you for sharing the information.
    The Oriental lilies are stunners, always. They even make my mouth water lol!
    Congrats on being published, an accomplishment to be proud of.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have a favicon, but am not sure I like it. I'm going to play around a little more. Congrats on your short story being published. It must have been a hard subject to write about.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wonder if it works with Wordpress...will have to experiment. I love seeing that flower next to your name. I look forward to reading your published piece...the first of many, I am sure.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Grace:
    Congrats on being published. How very exciting! I thought about the favicon but found it too time consuming. I might just try it again using your easy to follow instructions!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for the info on the favicon. I'm following the directions and I keep getting that the file I'm using is invalid when I try to get it onto blogger. I'll try again later.

    Congrats on being published even though it's for a sad event that happened. I like the FB page and will more of it this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Grace, just popped over from Flowerlady's blog and I'm so glad I found you - what stunning Oriental Lilies and what a helpful post!
    I don't think people ever truly come to terms with losing someone through suicide do they... but you writing the story and getting it published is a really special tribute to your friend. Best wishes from Bronteland. Jane Gray

    ReplyDelete
  16. I saw the favicon but haven't done anything about it yet. Thought it need a lot of time to familiarise. Motivated after seing FlowerLady's and your post.

    Congratulations on the publication! Sorry for the tragic news about your friend.

    Your flower favicon and asiatic lily are lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Congrats on being published Grace. That's always an honor even if the experience (for the story) wasn't a happy one. Sorry about your friend too.
    Your tutorial was so good I think I could probably follow it! Now let's see if I do.... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hey there Grace girl !
    Thank you for the information and I want to try that out as soon as I figure out the right picture !
    Congratulations on being chosen for this book .. I know your story must be very profound .. it is a wonderful gift to others that have gone through similar circumstances and are trying to deal with it. It helps immensely when this is spoken about ... I hope it was cathartic for you and helped heal at least a little ..
    Joy : )

    ReplyDelete
  19. I always wondered about that little blob :)

    How fun to prettify it! I will have to give it a go!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow, Awesome is YOU Grace!!

    Excellent job sharing about that favicon portion of what is, to me, the great fathomless digital abyss. I use Wordpress so I'll be checking on these things in that realm. But especially, huge congrats on the short story, what an accomplishment, I raise my coffee cup to you, really I am so impressed!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Sounds like a lovely feature Grace but I must confess that try I can't see your favicon :( ~ perhaps I need to go forth and get my spectacles :) Congratulations on the inclusion of your article in the anthology xxx

    ReplyDelete
  22. Grace, thank you very much for the favicon link. I created mine today. Hopefully it will appear soon. My favicon looks a bit blurr while yours is really stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi Grace,
    I like your new Favicon. I had never heard of that word before. I want to try that one of these minutes. It was pretty nice out today, but after a couple hours of gardening, I had the urge to clean out my closet and the top of my dresser, and do laundry so I'll be ready for work Thursday. I guess I'm feeling more caught up in the garden than in the house.

    It's odd to me that you are in a warmer zone than I am, and yet my kiss me blooms are ahead of yours. Maybe it's because of all the hot weather we had.

    Your lilies are lovely. How cool that your story is being published in that book. I'm sorry about your friend. I've lost contact with the woman I was good friends with a number of years ago, who was suicidal, and ended up in the hospital for a few days over it. It was hard to see her like that.

    ReplyDelete
  24. wow, that's cool that you're going to be published, though I'm sorry about the topic... It looks like it will be a meaningful read.

    Those oriental lilies are just amazing. love it.

    Great tip on the favicon. Your little icon is much prettier than the orange B!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I just noticed that my flavicon did get changed! I was going to come back and let you know that I wasn't able to paste the code in the blank to change my flavicon. It did let me put the square photo from my desktop that I used to make the flavicon. Then, I was worried that I may have messed up my blog. I don't know how long it's been there, because I was looking at my bookmark bar. Now, I'm seeing the orange "B" by your blog title. I wonder why that is.

    I want to change my photo, because it's hard to see what it is. I should have used a photo with one thing in it instead of a monarch on a flower.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Very cool, Grace! I'll have to check out making my own favicon, the biggest problem will be what photo to choose.
    Congrats on being published!
    Our lilies have mostly gone, but I loved them while they were blooming.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Well, I did this, we'll see if it eventually shows up. Thanks for the info!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Grace, I link to you today in my Aug 2011 GBBD post. Thank you very much for the info about the favicon.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I think it was Elephant's Eye who taught us also in her blog about the favicon, but i thought following computer instructions is difficult so i didn't try. Maybe i will try it now, and if i will succeed i will link it to both of you and Autumn Belle. Congrats for your publication, but condolence for your friend's passing. thanks.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for being here! Your comments feed my soul.