What is a Favicon?<\/h2>
A favicon (short for “favorite icon”) is a tiny graphical element used to distinguish a WordPress website from other bookmarks. A favicon is 16px x 16px and is displayed in the URL and bookmarks bar in the browser.<\/strong><\/p> Favicons are rectangular images that are placed on your website for the browser. The desired image can have a completely filled or a transparent background.<\/p> Since the release of WordPress 4.3, it is possible to add “favicons” to your website.<\/p> The trick is to create a WordPress favicon where it’s instantly recognizable that it links to your website, without taking up system resources at the same time. That’s what we’ll cover in this detailed guide.<\/p> While favicons aren\u2019t going to do any \u201cheavy lifting\u201d when it comes to search engine optimization, it\u2019s hard to imagine anyone building a WordPress website without making this little icon a major priority.<\/p> That\u2019s because your favicon is basically your \u201cWordPress fingerprint\u201d. It lets people identify your bookmark at a glance, adds more brand congruency, and increases the odds that visitors are going to interact with your site, too.<\/p> Built properly, a favicon can add quite a bit of style to your site \u2013 but it\u2019s also going to help you with your branding and your visibility.<\/p> Even though favicons are tiny (16 pixels by 16 pixels isn\u2019t a lot of real estate), you have to be really deliberate in how you create them.<\/p> This isn\u2019t something that you should approach \u201cwilly-nilly\u201d. It\u2019s something that you really want to think through, something that you want to smash out of the park.<\/p> For starters, think about how you\u2019re going to use the space you have available. Small, simple, but visually arresting favicons are much more effective than those that try to cram too much into this compact footprint.<\/p> Simplicity is a big piece of the puzzle, too. Really try to get a big part of your branding element across in this bit of space and you\u2019ll have to take care of most of the heavy lifting.<\/p> Building favicons in the \u201cdark ages\u201d of WordPress development (even just a handful of years ago) had to be done by hand.<\/p> Today, nothing could be further from the truth.<\/p> Now there are a whole bunch of tools available to help you shortcut the favicon development process.<\/p> We\u2019re not just talking about tools like Photoshop, GIMP, and the like, either.<\/p> Favicon generators (like the Real Favicon Generator<\/a>) allow you to transform a 260 x 260 pixel picture \u2013 a JPEG, PNG, or SVG \u2013 into a properly scaled favicon ready to rock and roll.<\/p> are just some of the other tools out there on the market today to help you hit the ground running with your new favicon design.<\/p> As highlighted a moment ago, you really are limited to just 16 pixels by 16 pixels when it comes to the available real estate you have to work with for your favicon.<\/p> Anything larger than that and your imagery isn\u2019t going to display correctly. Any smaller than that, though, and your favicon could scale incorrectly \u2013 or it could stay shrunken down and you wouldn\u2019t be taking full advantage of every pixel of available space.<\/p> When you\u2019re designing your favicon really try to think about the size restrictions. This is a tiny little icon. The detail doesn\u2019t have to be off the charts \u2013 but it does have to be immediately recognizable as your WordPress fingerprint.<\/p> After your favicon has been built it\u2019s time to run through the process of actually getting that favicon up on your WordPress installation and in the bookmark bars of all of your visitors.<\/p> Here\u2019s a quick rundown of four popular ways to add favicons to your WordPress site with as little headache and as little hassle as humanly possible.<\/p> The WordPress Customizer (found in the APPEARANCE \u2013 CUSTOMIZE settings of your WordPress administrative backend) lets you create a great favicon in record time, and have it uploaded into the correct position as well.<\/p> This is the fastest method for getting a favicon on your site, hands down.<\/p> Start with a 512 x 512 pixel that you want to use as your favicon image. That helps you avoid having to convert the actual image into the .ICO format.<\/p> Run through the WordPress Customizer in your administrative backend, select the file you want to use under the SITE IDENTITY section, and then upload the actual image.<\/p> Click save and then publish and you are good to go!<\/p> There are a couple of different plug-ins you can use to knock this project out of the park, too.<\/p> The Favicon Rotator plug-in makes uploading and adding a favicon to your WordPress installation a breeze. You can even add multiple favicons in a rotating library and have this plug-in swap them out every time someone loads up your site.<\/p> All in One favicon is another great plug-in for WordPress users. It streamlines the process quite a bit, though it\u2019s not nearly as fast as using the WordPress Customizer.<\/p> Still, it\u2019s nice to have options!<\/p> Of course, you can also manually add a favicon to your WordPress installation through an FTP client.<\/p> All you really have to do is upload the image that you want to use as your favicon to the root directory of your WordPress installation.<\/p> Change the name of that file (after it\u2019s been uploaded) to \u201cfavicon.ICO\u201d and you\u2019re good to go.<\/p> Some themes in WordPress let you add a favicon through the theme options page in your administrative dashboard.<\/p> To find out if the theme you\u2019re using has this functionality, simply log into your admin panel, go to your WordPress theme options page, and see if they have an option to upload your new favicon.<\/p> If they do, simply use that tool to upload the file and get your new favicon rocking and rolling on your site from here on out.<\/p> As far as top-tier favicon generator plug-ins are concerned, you really can\u2019t go wrong with the following options:<\/p> \u2026 And that\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg!<\/p> Both Heroic Favicon Generator and the Very Simple Favicon Manager plug-ins deserve an honorable mention, too.<\/p> Changing the favicon in the WordPress Astra theme is simply a matter of running through these quick steps:<\/p> First, prepare the image file that you want to use as a favicon. Make sure it\u2019s 512 x 512 pixels.<\/p> Log into your administrative backend and then navigate to the APPEARANCE \u2013 CUSTOMIZE section. Now go to the HEADER \u2013 SITE IDENTITY section.<\/p> Click on the SELECT IMAGE at SITE ICON section of this backend and choose the image you want to use as your new favicon.<\/p> That\u2019s it, you are good to go!<\/p> Changing out the favicon in the Divi WordPress theme is pretty easy, too.<\/p> You\u2019ll want to use the THEME CUSTOMIZER built into your WordPress backend.<\/p> First, log into your administrative dashboard and then go into the Divi Theme Options section of the platform.<\/p> Navigate to the THEME CUSTOMIZER \u2013 GENERAL SETTINGS \u2013 SITE IDENTITY part of the theme options. Click on the SITE ICON or APPEARANCE settings to find the favicon image upload option.<\/p> Now you\u2019ll need to select the favicon you want to use. Just make sure that it\u2019s 512 x 512 pixels and in the ICO, PNG, or JPG file format.<\/p> Upload the imagery and let the magic of WordPress handle the rest of the heavy lifting for you. Click on the PUBLISH button at the very bottom of this page and your new favicon will be live!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/wpfellows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wordpress-favicon-example.jpeg\")
Why Should You Add a WordPress Favicon to Your Site?<\/h2>
Creating a Favicon in WordPress<\/h2>
Building Tools for Favicons<\/h2>
The right size for your favicon<\/h2>
4 Ways to Add a Favicon to Your WordPress Site<\/h2>
Option 1: Using the WordPress Customizer<\/strong><\/h3>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpfellows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/insert-favicon-wordpress-customizer-1024x512.jpg\")
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Option 2: Using Plugins<\/strong><\/h3>
Option 3: Manual Installation via FTP Client<\/strong><\/h3>
Option 4: Uploading the Favicon Through Your Theme\u2019s Options Page<\/strong><\/h3>
The Best Favicon Generator Plugins for WordPress<\/h2>
How to Change the Favicon in WordPress Astra Theme<\/h2>
How to Change the Favicon in Divi theme<\/h2>