How to display your web site logo on the address bar and in the favorites list
Want to make your web site standout in crowded favorites lists in browsers and address bars? How about displaying your logo next to links to your site.
First, you have to create a logo for your site; a very tiny logo to be specific. The size of the logo should be 16x16 pixels and it should be saved as a Windows icon file (logo.ico for example). If your image editor doesn't support saving files in Windows icon format, you can use the following online tool or download an icon editor from a shareware site.
Preview:
Once you have an icon file with your logo, you're ready to take the final step. Following methods will work in Explorer 5.x and higher without having any negative effects on other browsers.
Method 1
This is the easiest method to implement and it will work regardless of the particular page on your site users choose to add to their favorites list. Don't worry if you don't have access to your web site root; take a look at the next method.
If you have access to the root of your web site, simply save your icon file as "favicon.ico" there. For example, if your web site is "www.chami.com", your icon file should be available at "www.chami.com/favicon.ico". The web browser will look for favicon.ico whenever your site is added to the favorites list and if it is found at the root of your web site, the icon will appear next to the link to your site.
Method 2 If you don't have access to the root of your web site, you have to add the following tag to your web page so that the browser will know where to look for your icon. Unlike before, this time you can save the icon under any name ending with ".ico" We'll use the name "logo.ico" and assume that your web site is under the directory "~your_directory".
Listing #1 : HTML code. Download logo.htm (0.2 KB).
How to make Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla or Opera your default browser
Changed your mind about which browser you want as your default browser -- the browser that opens when you click on HTML files, when you type an URL into the Windows "Start | Run" input box, etc.? During the installation process, both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator browsers will ask whether you want them to be your default browser. Here's how you could change the default browser once a browser is installed on the system: Internet Explorer: 6.x, 5.x, 4.x Mozilla: Firefox 1.x, Firebird 0.x, Mozilla 1.x Netscpae: 7.x, 4.x Opera: 7.x Internet Explorer 6.x and 5.x: * Select "Tools | Internet Options" from the main menu in Explorer. * Change to the "Programs" tab. * Check the "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser" option. * Click "OK". * Close all Explorer windows and restart the system. Once the system comes back up, restart Explorer. * When the "Would you like to make [Internet Explorer] your default browser?" prompt appears, click "Yes" to make Explorer the default browser.
Internet Explorer 4.x:
* Select "View | Internet Options" from the main menu in Explorer. * Change to the "Programs" tab. * Check the "Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser" option. * Click "OK". * Close all Explorer windows and restart the system. Once the system comes back up, restart Explorer. * When the "Would you like to make [Internet Explorer] your default browser?" prompt appears, click "Yes" to make Explorer the default browser.
Mozilla 1.x:
* Select "Edit | Preferences" from the main menu in Mozilla. * Change to the "Navigator" tab/section. * Click the "Set Default Browser" button. * Click "OK". * Close all Mozilla windows (for best results, restart the system). Finally, restart Mozilla.
Mozilla Firefox 1.x:
* Select "Tools | Options" from the main menu in Firefox. * Change to the "General" tab/section. * Check the "Firefox should check to see if it is the default browser when starting" option. * Click "OK". * Close all Firefox windows (for best results, restart the system). Finally, restart Firefox. * When the "Would you like to make [Firefox] your default browser?" prompt appears, click "Yes" to make Firefox the default browser.
Mozilla Firebird 0.x:
* Select "Tools | Options" from the main menu in Firebird. * Change to the "General" tab/section. * Click the "Set Default Browser" button. * Click "OK". * Close all Firebird windows (for best results, restart the system). Finally, restart Firebird.
Netscape 7.x:
* Select "Edit | Preferences" from the main menu in Netscape. * Change to the "Navigator" tab/section. * Click the "Set Default Browser" button. * Click "OK". * Close all Netscape windows (for best results, restart the system). Finally, restart Netscape. * When the "Netscape 7.x is not currently set as your default browser. Would you like to make it your default browser?" prompt appears, click "Yes" to make Netscape the default browser.
Netscape Navigator/Communicator 4.x:
* Open the prefs.js file located in [Communicator installation directory]\users\[profile name] (for example: C:\Program Files\Netscape\users\prefs.js) using a text editor. * Make sure that the following line exists and has the value false. If it does not exist, insert it at the end of the file. user_pref("browser.wfe.ignore_def_check", false); * Save changes to the file and close it. * Close all Communicator windows and restart it. * When the "Would you like to make [Communicator] your default browser?" prompt appears, click "Yes" to make Communicator the default browser.
Opera 7.x:
* Select "File | Preferences" from the main menu in Opera. * Change to the "Default Application" tab. * Check the "Check if Opera is default browser on startup" option. * Click "OK". * Close all Opera windows (for best results, restart the system). Finally, restart Opera. * When the "Would you like to use Opera as your default application for viewing web pages?" prompt appears, click "Yes" to make Opera the default browser.
Want to be prompted before accepting cookies or completely disable accepting cookies? Here's how:
Explorer 4.x
* Select "View | Internet Options..." from the main menu. * Change to the "Security" tab. * Select "Custom" and click "Settings..." * Scroll down to the "Security" section. * To enable: Select "Always accept cookies" To disable: Select "Disable all cookie use" To get a prompt: Select "Prompt before accepting cookies" * Click "OK"
Explorer 5.x
* Select "Tools | Internet Options..." from the main menu. * Change to the "Security" tab * Click "Custom Level..." * Scroll down to the "Cookies" section. * To enable: Set "Allow cookie that are stored on your computer" to "Enable" Set "Allow per-session cookies" to "Enable" To disable: Set "Allow cookie that are stored on your computer" to "Disable" Set "Allow per-session cookies" to "Disable" To get a prompt: Set "Allow cookie that are stored on your computer" to "Prompt" Set "Allow per-session cookies" to "Prompt" * Click "OK"
Navigator 3.x
* Select "Options | Network Preferences..." from the main menu. * Change to the "Protocols" tab. * Navigator 3.x does not have an option to completely disable accepting cookies. To get a prompt: Check "Accepting a Cookie" under "Show an Alert Before" * Click "OK"
Communicator 4.x
* Select "Edit | Preferences..." from the main menu. * Select "Advanced" * To enable: Select "Accept all cookies" or "Accept only cookies that get sent back to the originating server" To disable: Select "Disable cookie" To get a prompt: Check "Warn me before accepting a cookie" and select "Accept all cookies" or "Accept only cookies that get sent back to the originating server" * Click "OK"
Believe it or not, browsing the web with Internet Explorer or Netscape is relatively new. It wasn't that long ago (ten to fifteen years) when the tools you would use on the internet (not the web) were email, gopher (a menu based browser), archie (a file and directory locator) and FTP.
The letters FTP stand for File Transfer Protocol, and that's exactly what FTP allows you to do - transfer files from place to place. In fact, FTP is by far the most efficient (the fastest) way to copy large files across the internet.
Today many people use a sophisticated FTP client to get files to and from their web sites. This has several advantages over the method commonly used by amateurs on free web sites. Many newbies who don't know any better use the gadgets provided by their free host to edit their sites. The problems with this are many and varied.
First, the gadgets are not very impressive as editors. Most users who want to create a web site of any size and complexity will find themselves constrained horribly by these tools. Probably the only good thing about these editing tools is they give people a nice, easy way to start creating web sites without a huge learning curve. But take my word for it, you will outgrow them soon enough.
In addition, a major problem is the editing is generally done directly on the host site. This means you do not have a back up of your site on your own hard drive. If your host decides to close your account, goes bankrupt or just plain is unavailable, you lose your site. If you ever want to have a frustrating experience, just try and call your host and ask them to restore your site from one of their backups!
Other people use products such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage, which include site updating capabilities. These are often very convenient until they don't work or perform unexpected actions. For example, I spent several days trying to figure out why my CGI routines were not working, until I realized that FrontPage was uploading the files incorrectly. From that moment forward, I used an FTP package to upload my files.
Most of the modern FTP clients are very simple to use. You just launch the program, enter some basic information (such as the site address, account name and password) and connect. Once connected, you can usually just drag and drop files from your own hard drive to the site.
Precisely why is it a good idea to use an FTP client over, say, FrontPage (or Dreamweaver) or direct editing on a hosts web site?
FTP is fast and efficient - As it turns out, FTP is actually one of the most efficient ways to transfer large amounts of data on the entire internet. Don't believe me? Try transferring a very large file, say a megabyte, using FTP. It really moves, doesn't it?
By using FTP, you have an automatic backup - If you use FTP you will be editing your files locally on your own computer. As you make changes you will copy the files up to your host's computer. This means no matter what happens to your host, even if their computer is totally destroyed, you've got a copy of your site on your own disk. The reverse is also true - if your computer is trashed you can recover your site from your host's system.
FTP gives you control - You can choose whether to transfer in binary (executables and compressed files) or ASCII (text files) as needed. This is an advantage over FrontPage, which does not give you the choice. This means you cannot use FrontPage to upload your site if you use, for example, CGI routines.
This FTP client has the ability to do multiple tasks at the same time. This means you can start a long copy, look at the site and copy some smaller files all at the same time.
Has the ability to schedule transfers for selected times. The template feature allows you to create a pattern which can make future transfers much easier.
Several different FTP clients. FtpNetdrive maps an FTP site as a drive letter, which integrates it directly into your desktop. Internet Neighborhood adds the FTP site directly to your network neighborhood. These are both very nice products.
WebDrive is a Windows 95/98/NT FTP software client that allows you to map an Internet FTP site to a local drive utilizing the standard FTP protocol. This enables you to connect to an FTP site and perform familiar file operations like copy, xcopy, and directory functions with the Windows explorer, a DOS box, or any other application like Microsoft Word, Excel, etc. WebDrive instantly FTP enables any application that reads or writes files by allowing the application to read files from or write files to the FTP site.
Another very nice FTP client with scheduling, speed and integration into the browser. This allows you to enter ftp:// in the address bar of the browser to call up the program.
