---
name: set-favicon
description: "Put your own small brand icon on the site. Check that it is clear in a browser tab."
category: Digital Plumbing
stage: —
definitive_article: GAP — to be written
status: needs-work
---

# Set Favicon

Does your site’s tab still show the host’s icon? This guide helps a site owner add a clear mark for the brand. Start with a real logo or approved photo that works at a small size.

**The path:** Approved mark → Site icon source → Served icon → Small-size check.

**Use this when:** a site has no appropriate icon, still shows a default, or changes its brand asset.

## Inputs
- A rights-cleared brand mark or appropriate real headshot and a square source file. For the source’s WordPress workflow, prepare a 512 by 512 pixel asset.
- The current icon-owning source and supported editing access for this platform or theme.
- Representative public pages and a fresh browser context for checking served declarations and visible tab behavior.

## First-run prompt

> Set the approved site icon through its actual owning source. Check small-size legibility, served icon declarations and fresh desktop/mobile behavior. Keep browser display and Google search eligibility separate.

## Steps
1. Inspect the currently served icon declarations and the CMS’s icon setting. Find which source controls them before adding another setting; different sizes and formats can be intentional rather than duplicates.
2. Choose a simple recognizable element from the approved brand asset. Crop it square and inspect it at roughly tab size. Do not use a busy wordmark or an invented face that ceases to be meaningful when small.
3. Prepare the source image for the actual platform’s requirements. A 512-pixel square is the source task’s WordPress preparation target; it is not a universal Google favicon requirement. Preserve the original and record the export.
4. Set the image in the installed WordPress version’s Site Icon control or the equivalent supported source on another platform. Confirm the actual menu for that version rather than assuming every theme exposes the old Customizer path.
5. Save and inspect ordinary public HTML. Resolve icon references relative to the page URL and check that the intended image loads. A valid CDN or custom file path is allowed; /favicon.ico is not mandatory.
6. Remove or correct a conflicting obsolete declaration at its owning source if it actually overrides the intended mark. Preserve legitimate alternate formats, device icons and app-specific assets.
7. Check the tab in fresh desktop and mobile contexts and inspect bookmark or home-screen appearance where included. Separate a stale browser cache from stale served HTML. Avoid changing a good asset repeatedly to chase a local cached icon.
8. Record the selected asset and source setting. Google has separate crawl and image eligibility rules and chooses when or whether to show the icon in search; a browser pass does not guarantee search-result display.

## Definition of done (QA checklist)

- [ ] The source is an approved brand asset, clear at small size.
- [ ] The active icon declarations resolve to the intended valid files.
- [ ] No obsolete conflicting source overrides the chosen icon.
- [ ] Desktop/mobile checks and any local caching limit are documented.
- [ ] Browser success is separated from search eligibility and unobserved Google display.

## Example(s)

**Fictional teaching example.** Oak Repair has a detailed logo with a long slogan. The lesson uses its approved oak-leaf mark alone in a square export. The site declares a 32-pixel icon and a larger touch icon from that source. Both are legitimate. A stale theme icon pointing to the old host is removed, and a fresh tab shows the leaf. No Google search-display result is claimed.

## Handoff and Content Factory context

Give the brand asset and icon-source location to the site owner. Use [check favicon is set](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=check-favicon-is-set#task-check-favicon-is-set) during future site reviews; a theme change should preserve this setting.

This setup supports the [Content Factory](https://blitzmetrics.com/content-factory/). Produce gathers real source material; Process makes useful assets; Post places and checks them; Promote distributes suitable work within its own scope. This check does not automatically execute all four stages. Use the actual next step above; catalog neighbors are not prerequisites.

## When this runs

Run at site setup or a brand/theme change. No ongoing schedule is required for the icon itself.

## First-run setup and continuity

Open the supplied task file and its linked source. Verify the project’s real inputs, account, access and output folder before work. This Markdown file is a guide; it does not install an app, connect an account, supply a subscription or create a schedule. Carry out work already authorized; do not ask for the same approval again. Keep any unsupplied destination or new action outside that scope clearly pending.

Save source IDs, versions, decisions, checked outputs and next owner in the project tracker. Before a retry, check the saved state and other workers’ changes. A model name does not guarantee memory or a running timer. Repeated work needs an actual configured trigger and durable state; one-off work can be started by the prompt above.

Keep agent media muted with volume zero before playback. If mute cannot be verified, use captions, metadata or still frames. State the limit: silent visual checks do not prove spoken-word accuracy or audio quality. Do not start sound through the user’s speakers unless explicitly asked.

## Write up the real run

For every actual attempt, [write its meta article](https://blitzmetrics.com/meta-article-prompt/) with this recipe and revision, trigger, steps performed, output evidence, measured result, gaps and next owner. Failed, blocked and partial attempts also get a written record. A draft can satisfy writing; publishing it follows the existing job scope.

Keep one stable execution ID across retries and edits. A separately scoped child task may have its own ID linked to its parent. Writing the parent’s meta record is part of that run, not an endless new chain. The [recipe and meta-article guide](https://localservicespotlight.com/meta-articles/) explains this distinction. Teaching examples are not real executions and must not enter the run count.


<!-- factory-layer:start -->

## Factory chain (do not treat this as isolated)

- **Phase:** Gate
- **Importance:** 2/5 `●●○○○` — frequency 2, revenue 2, gating 2 (supporting)
- **Suggested previous station:** —
- **Suggested next station:** —
These stations are generated neighbors, not verified prerequisites or handoffs. Follow the task’s actual Inputs and Handoff sections.
- **Handoff:** Record only the property IDs, access and checks required by this task in the client register. Pass the verified result to the task that needs it.

## Model routing (same factory, any engine)

- **This task's lane:** `script` — No model. Shell, REST, yt-dlp, Descript export, WP application-password publish.
- **Single-engine path:** Use the capable AI app you already have. Check its required tools and access before starting. Pass the actual result and proof to the next task.
- **Optional multi-engine:** A tested local model may draft; a stronger model may review facts and voice. Use supported tools for approved actions. Pick models from observed quality and cost; a model name does not prove it can run this task.
- **Never** store the working state in one vendor's memory. Files in the Content Library are the bridge.

<!-- factory-layer:end -->
## Definitive article & links

- Dedicated canonical article: not mapped in this source record. Use the maintained owned training below until that article gap is reviewed.
- Exact task: [Set Favicon](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=set-favicon#task-set-favicon)
- Writing standard: [Article Guidelines](https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/)
- [Digital Plumbing training](https://blitzmetrics.com/digital-plumbing/)
- [Google favicon guidelines](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/favicon-in-search)

## Review and evidence still needed

The source contributor status is preserved. It is not certification of this draft or proof of account access, completed work or a live outcome. The worked example teaches the method and is explicitly fictional.
- The dedicated article is unmapped. Current WordPress Site Icon documentation could not be fetched in this pass, so the installed platform’s actual control and requirement must be checked at execution.