A favicon is a special icon that appears at the top left corner near the web address bar. The file type can be of any jpg, png, gif, or icon(.ico) image. The default favicon name is favicon.ico. The favicons are also commonly known as shortcut icons, bookmark icons, or website icons. They provide convenience to users for locating your web page. The favicons are included for a branded professional look with a specific logo that maintains uniformity throughout all the pages of the website. The icons help the website in online branding. An animated favicon is created from an animated image. It is set through link tag. It is basically a set of images running one after the other within a specific time frame.
Syntax:
- To add a gif as a favicon:
<link rel="icon" href="geeksforgeeks.org/favicon.gif" type="image/gif" />
- To add a normal image as a favicon:
<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"/>
Note: Animated images of type GIF will work in the Firefox browser. The .ico is the standard format which works well on all browsers but many websites prefer images of type PNG.
Approach: In the following example codes, the approach taken is a display of progressing animation with the help of HTML canvas, javascript, and mathematical geometry. An Animate Favicon button is added to the HTML page, which helps in starting the animation effect on the click event. Once the drawing is done in the canvas, it is converted to a PNG image before being assigned as a favicon.
Example 1: The following example code will show the implementation of circular animation on the favicon image. image widget
html
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Circular animation on favicon</title> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="gfgFavicon.png" width=32px> <script language="javascript"> onload = function() { canvas = document.querySelector('#canvasId'), context = canvas.getContext('2d'); if (!!context) { // The start position for drawing circle C3qpi = 1.5 * Math.PI, tc = pct = 0, btn = document.querySelector('#animateBtn'), faviconLnk = document.querySelector('link[rel*="icon"]'); context.lineWidth = 3; context.strokeStyle = 'green'; // On page refresh, enable the button if (btn.disabled) btn.removeAttribute('disabled'); btn.addEventListener('click', function() { tc = setInterval(drawcircularLoader, 60); this.textContent = 'Animating'; this.style.backgroundColor = '#99999'; this.setAttribute('disabled', ''); }); } }; function drawcircularLoader() { with(context) { clearRect(0, 0, 32, 32); beginPath(); arc(8, 8, 6, C3qpi, (pct * 2 * Math.PI / 100 + C3qpi)); stroke(); } // Update favicon to PNG image faviconLnk.href = canvas.toDataURL('image/png'); if (pct === 100) { clearInterval(tc); btn.textContent = 'Animated'; btn.style.backgroundColor = 'green'; return; } pct++; } </script> <style> body { width: 450px; height: 300px; margin: 10px; text-align: center; } h1 { color: green; } #animateBtn { background-color: #1c2e46; border-radius: 2px; border: none; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; padding: 0px 5px; letter-spacing: 1px; cursor: pointer; } #animateBtn:focus { outline: none; } #animateBtn[disabled] { cursor: default; } .height { height: 10px; } </style></head><body> <h1>neveropen</h1> <b>How to use circular animation on favicon image</b> <div class="height"> </div> <br> <!-- Canvas and button for animation --> <button id="animateBtn">Animate Favicon </button> <br> <br> <canvas id="canvasId" width=32 height=32></canvas></body></html> |
Output:
Example 2: In this example, the implementation of drawing a square which transforms the favicon into an animated image.
html
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="gfgFavicon.png" width=32px> <script language="javascript"> onload = () => { var canvas = document.getElementById("canvas"); context = canvas.getContext('2d'); if (!!context) { var animateBtn = document.getElementById("animateBtn"); faviconVar = document.querySelector('link[rel*="icon"]'); // The styles used for the square which will // be animated in place of favicon let linerGradient = context.createLinearGradient(0, 0, 32, 32); linerGradient.addColorStop(0, '#8be8a7'); linerGradient.addColorStop(1, '#297d4c'); context.strokeStyle = linerGradient; context.lineWidth = 10; // On page refresh , the button is enabled if (animateBtn.disabled) animateBtn.removeAttribute('disabled'); animateBtn.addEventListener('click', function() { // Variable used for drawing incrementation n = 0, // Speed interval for animation loadingInterval = setInterval(drawSquareLoader, 80); this.textContent = 'Animating...'; this.style.backgroundColor = '#297d4c'; //Once the drawing is done, the button is again disabled this.setAttribute('disabled', ''); }); } }; // Function for drawing square in canvas in a incrementing way function drawSquareLoader() { with(context) { clearRect(0, 0, 32, 32); beginPath(); // One fourth time taken to draw if (n <= 25) { moveTo(0, 0); lineTo((32 / 25) * n, 0); } // Between second quarter of drawing else if (n > 25 && n <= 50) { moveTo(0, 0); lineTo(32, 0); moveTo(32, 0); lineTo(32, (32 / 25) * (n - 25)); } // Between third quarter of drawing else if (n > 50 && n <= 75) { moveTo(0, 0); lineTo(32, 0); moveTo(32, 0); lineTo(32, 32); moveTo(32, 32); lineTo(-((32 / 25) * (n - 75)), 32); } // Between last quarter else if (n > 75 && n <= 100) { moveTo(0, 0); lineTo(32, 0); moveTo(32, 0); lineTo(32, 32); moveTo(32, 32); lineTo(0, 32); moveTo(0, 32); lineTo(0, -((32 / 25) * (n - 100))); } //Function to draw the path stroke(); } // Assigning the drawing to favicon after // converting into PNG image faviconVar.href = canvas.toDataURL('image/png'); // After the drawing is finished if (n === 100) { clearInterval(loadingInterval); animateBtn.textContent = 'Favicon Loaded'; animateBtn.style.backgroundColor = '#bbbbbb'; return; } // Increment the variable used to keep // track of drawing intervals n++; } </script> <title>Animation on favicon image</title> <style> body { width: 450px; height: 300px; margin: 10px; text-align: center; } h1 { color: green; } html { background: #f4f6fa; } #animateBtn { background: #1c2e46; color: white; font: inherit; border: none; padding: 0px 5px; letter-spacing: 1px; cursor: pointer; border-radius: 2px; } canvas { margin: auto; display: block; } .height { height: 10px; } </style></head><body> <h1>neveropen</h1> <b>How to use animation on favicon image</b> <div class="height"> </div> <br> <button id="animateBtn">Animate Favicon</button> <br> <br> <canvas id="canvas" width=32 height=32></canvas></body></html> |
Output:
