Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
This line tells all modern browsers that your application's icon lives at
http://yourdomain.com/app.ico
(y
ou could put the icon anywhere you choose). This
causes the browser to show your icon (instead of the stock 'bookmark' icon) whenever a
user bookmarks your page or (in some browsers) browses to it. Figures 8-3 and 8-4
show the URL bar of the Mozilla Firefox browser when viewing a site with a favicon
versus one without, respectively.
Figure 8-3.
Firefox displays a website URL with a favicon specified
Figure 8-4.
Firefox displays a website URL without a favicon
You might also want to include one additional line:
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/image.png" />
This line specifically tells mobile browsers (such as Apple's Safari and Android's
Browser) that the reference image file (typically either a 57x57 pixel image or a 114x114
image file (for newer system) should be used in functions that pin a shortcut to a home
screen. For a web app, this can give a polished appearance to users, bringing them
closer to a native application experience.
Now that we've got an icon picked out and in use, let's talk about making our
application a bit more image friendly, by finding and using stock photography. We'll
begin with one of the oldest image search tools, deviantART.
deviantART
forever, and in technology terms, it has. This ancient relic of the year 2000 has stood the
test of Internet time and is a shining pillar of the creativity of amateur and professional
artists and graphic designers alike.
Add to this some social media features that allow users to comment on or share works
or arts with other users and you have an addicting user experience that offers up a ton
of great resources... and sometimes not so great resources.
Make sure to check out their photography sections for a slew of free stock photography
that can be manipulated and used in one of your upcoming projects. Also be sure to
check out the licensing agreements of the stock photography being offered. Some of
the artists might have special requirements that will have to be met before you can take
advantage of their work. These requirements may be fairly mundane (i.e., no commercial
use) to very specific (i.e., must be used in a public service announcement or for a
charity).
