Why can't you change the .html/.htm filetype icons for Firefox?
- Before you read this question: NOTICE I am talking about Firefox Icons on Windows, NOT ON FIREFOX BOOKMARKS/PROGRAM!!!!! Read the question then please, please visit the link so you have a better understanding of what I'm asking with this question!!!!**
I've been trying to change the FileType Icons for the Firefox Documents for weeks now and there's no solution that I can see. I tried using Filetypes Manager to change the .html/.htm filetypes icons with no luck. Why does Firefox force this change on users when most users that use Firefox do so because of it's ability to be customizable? Even Microsoft Word .doc file icons allow you to change them! Microsoft!!! Why is Firefox forcing everyone to use their ugly filetype icons? &____& I've yet to see this issue not only addressed but solved. Why does Firefox ignore this issue? I'd like my computer's icons to all be top-notch, and Firefox is preventing me from making my weeks of hard work go to naught. Please, please address this issue... if anything, tell your users why your program is forcing the icons on them in the first place when monopolies like Microsoft allow their users to customize program filetype icons.
If this cannot have a fix, why can't it be a new feature/addition to the newest versions of Firefox?
Edit: And because people are starting to get 'confused' I've included a screen shot of what I'm talking about because, for the love of god, people, I'm *not* talking about using favicons and bookmarks!
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/arcanetheorem/example.png
Modified by arcanetheorem
All Replies (9)
not updating from ugly favicons for websites
That goes two ways, I really don't want to see the generic ugly Google icon for almost everything Google, so am glad many of the old descriptively designed Google favicons are still on my main profile.
If you are redesigning favicons for your site and want to see the changes immediately you might want to try resetting the icon (I'm not really familiar with this extension).
- Bookmark Favicon Changer :: Add-ons for Firefox (71.7 KB, download)
I guess you're not creating favicons for you site, but trying to change favicons the above extension also has a "Favicon changer" as per its namesake.
FWIW, I use 1-4 character text directly on the bookmarks toolbar for bookmark(let)s/folders instead of favicons which are meaningless for bookmarks folders and bookmarklets.
- Bookmarks Toolbar Fx4 Blue/Folders, Red/Bookmarks
http://userstyles.org/styles/46947/bookmarks-toolbar-fx4-blue-folders-red-bookmarks - fx4toolbars.png (PNG Image, 915x326 pixels)
http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/icons/fx4toolbars.png - Firefox Keyword Shortcuts
http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/kws.htm
Modified by David McRitchie
I'm not talking about favicons for websites. I'm talking about when you save a file into .html format on Windows and the icon for it (if you've saved it to your desktop or My Documents) remains the same ugly Firefox page/document icon no matter what you do. The File Type extension .htm and .html is monopolized by Firefox and you cannot change it to a different icon. I don't care about bookmark icons and what have you---I care about when a .html file is saved onto my desktop and I don't want to continue looking at Firefox's ugly FireFox Document icons.
I've included an image what I'm talking about. I also refuse to use the 'shortcut' option on how to change icons to what you want them to be. That's why I downloaded FileType Manager. FileType Manager *should* have been able to change the icons for Firefox file extension... yet every time, Firefox overrules it back to its default icon. As I don't think this is a problem with FileType Manager and expressly a Firefox issue, Firefox is the one with the answer to this issue.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/arcanetheorem/example.png Hope that clears things up.
Modified by arcanetheorem
If you create an internet shortcut that way then that shortcut gets the icon of the default browser.
If you want a different icon (favicon) then you have to assign that icon yourself to the desktop shortcut (right-click: Properties).
You can usually get the favicon if you append "favicon.ico" to the main domain of a website (e.g. http://www.mozilla.com/favicon.ico ) to display the favicon in a tab and save that image to a folder or see if you can find it in "Tools > Page Info > Media".
No. Read the question again and click the link. I'm not talking about favicons at all.
That is a desktop icon with an internet shortcut link and like I posted above such icons always get the icon of the default browser.
You will have to change that icon yourself if you want a different icon and the favicon is a good choice to start with.
That is why I mentioned the favicon that can be found and saved via Tools > Page Info > Media.
The icons you see on the desktop are from your operating system, Windows-7.
Firefox is your default browser, and will be brought up for .htm, html, http:, https: and it is because Firefox is you default browser that you see a Firefox icon on your desktop. If you created a similar shortcut form IE, you would see a Firefox icon because Firefox is your default browser. It is the operating system that you are working with on desktop not Firefox.
Firefox provides 3 icons, you can through Windows change the icon by right-clicking on the desktop shortcut and in properties choosing 1 of the 3 for Firefox, or you can browse for another existing icon from a pool of icons or from another application.
Right click on the desktop icon, choose properties, click on the Web Document folder, click on Change icon...
Changing the original question after people start answering adds to the confusion. I can't even tell what the original question was that I replied to.
The only thing I changed about the question was to add an image and to try and make it more understandable since everyone assumed I was talking about Favicons/Bookmark Icons....
As for it being a Windows 7 issue and not a Firefox one... if it were just a Windows 7 issue I wouldn't be able to change other application icons or filetype icons on the Windows platform using FileTypes Manager. Firefox, from what I've been able to gather, is not one that can be changed. If I change the filetype icons for Word Documents any other extension (like .mp3/.mp4/.avi/.mkv), I get the changed icon I wanted. However, when you try to change the Firefox .html/.htm filetype extension icons, it doesn't work. Have you tried going through changing your icon filetypes using FileTypes Manager to see this issue? If it were a Windows or FileType Manager issue, then I'd have trouble changing other icons on that platform, no? So what I'm asking with my question is why this is. Why, if you use FileTypes Manager to change Windows7 icons, is Firefox's icons the only ones that won't be changed? Doesn't this fall under Firefox's problem if their icons are under the 'can't be changed' category under Windows? And using shortcut icons is no good for me. When I browse a folder of .html files, I want to see the icons I changed it to, not make a shortcut to every .html file I have just to have a better-looking Visual Style. Defeats the purpose, doesn't it? As for clicking on Properties to change it... Windows 7 doesn't allow this feature anymore, which is why I've been using FileType Manager to change all filetype extension icons.
Hope that helps clear things up a bit, though I have a feeling I'm just confusing everyone more with what is a simple question/problem....
"Right click on the desktop icon, choose properties, click on the Web Document tab (correcti0n), click on Change icon... " ... so you can still change the icon within the limitations.
I changed it to a great big question mark, since I didn't want to hunt through everything available on my system. If on the other hand the complaint is the wide border you can simply change within the choice of three Mozilla icons. That only affects what you see on the Windows desk top.
When I see a folder of html files, I expect to see the website favicon, if talking about a folder of bookmarks. If talking about a folder of files in Windows Explorer then I expect to see application icons.
What is your purpose of putting html shortcuts on desktop anyway. I have no problems using Firefox bookmarks, and I can assign keyword shortcuts to Firefox bookmarks to make them even easier to use.
I understand arcanetheorem completely, I have been trying to do the same. I'll throw url shortcuts to the desktop for a project I'm currently working on. (I will eventually throw them out. Kind of like my actual desktop when I'm working on something. I don't file away my notes, I don't bookmark these url's.) When I throw them to the desktop, I would like the icon to be of my choosing and I don't want to go through the trouble of changing each one individually. I want to change the default icon for firefox url shortcuts. This does not seem to be an easy task. Ive gone through the same methods as arcanetheorem.