Display Feed Favicons

By red.october — Last update Dec 6, 2011 — Installed 4,524 times.


Script Summary: Displays site favicons for each feed in Google Reader (incompatible with OS X skin)

This is a modified version of the script found at http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/24371. The problem with the original version is that it doesn't work for feeds/sites which don't store their favicon in the root directory using the default name (i.e., at top-level-url-of-site/favicon.ico). My version corrects this issue, and can find the favicon for any site/feed which actually has one (for those which don't, the script uses the default one provided by Google Reader).

Let me know of any problems or suggestions, especially if you find sites which have favicons that my script can't retrieve.

Screenshot:


Version History

[December 6, 2011]:
  • Updated to work with the latest Google Reader
[November 10, 2011]:
  • Updated to work with the redesigned Google Reader
[April 30, 2011]:
  • Updated to work with the latest version of Google Reader
[March 18, 2011]:
  • Updated to work with the latest version of Google Reader
  • Apparently my script wasn't robust enough :)
[Jan. 27, 2011]:
  • Updated to work with the latest version of Google Reader
  • Simplified the code - it will hopefully be more robust against future changes in Google Reader
  • The favicons will disappear if you have something other than a feed selected, go to Settings and then come back. Hopefully I will have a fix for it in the next few days
[Jan.14, 2010]:
  • Just a compatibility update, since Google changed their Reader site in the last few days (both English and non-English)
  • Fixed a few bugs where the script didn't automatically refresh the favicons. It isn't perfect yet but getting there.
[Nov.10, 2009]:
  • If your language for Google Reader is English, then YOU DO NOT NEED THIS UPDATE!
  • It seems that Google Reader has a slightly different interface for English than for non-English languages (this is hopefully temporary). In any case, I've uploaded a new version which adds some support for non-English languages. The support isn't perfect (i.e., sometimes you'll have to refresh the page to get the favicons back), but its better than nothing. Thanks to Endor for bringing this to my attention.
[Oct.23, 2009]:
  • There was an update to Google Reader that broke my script. This has now been fixed.
  • If you unsubscribe from a feed through the main page, the favicons will disappear. Please refresh the page to make them appear again. I will work on fixing this bug soon.
  • In general, if the favicons disappear, try refreshing the page.
[Oct.12, 2009]:
  • My code is now able to handle certain RSS feeds that are generated by Google Reader. Thanks to Ise for discovering the bug and helping to solve it.
  • I will hopefully fix those instances where the favicons will not re-draw themselves properly for the next update
[Aug.23, 2009 - 1 hour later]:
  • removed debugging code
[Aug.23, 2009]:
  • fixed a function call bug (was calling a non-existent function)
  • fixed a regular expression (now even more sites should work)
  • fixed a bug that would lead to an infinite loop of favicon requests
  • will now re-draw favicons when adding feeds via the "Add a subscription" button
  • I'm aware of some instances where the favicons will not re-draw themselves properly, and I will fix this for the next update
[Aug.18, 2009]:
  • Added support for more sites, removed possible flickering
[Aug.15, 2009 - 20 minutes later]:
  • Added a much-needed optimization. Sigh, that's the problem with hacky code.
[Aug.15, 2009]:
  • Previously, after you re-arranged the feeds by drag-and-dropping or returned from the Settings page, the favicons would disappear (and you would have to reload the page to get them back). They now re-draw themselves. This update is a bit hacky, so let me know if there are problems.
[Aug.14, 2009]:
  • Added support for folders

Advanced Stuff (i.e., do only if you are semi-computer literate)

My script stores the location of each feed's favicon as a preference that you can modify. For example, you want to use a different favicon because you don't like the site's favicon or the site doesn't have a favicon.

Steps:
  1. Open a tab in Firefox and type "about:config" in the address bar. Hit Enter.
  2. There may be a warning - just ignore it and continue.
  3. Type "greasemonkey" into the "Filter:" box. You will now see all the Greasemonkey preferences stored by various scripts.
  4. These preferences have the following naming scheme: greasemonkey.scriptvals.[namespace]/[name-of-the-script].[url-of-the-feed]. Its easiest if you look for the preferences with a name that contains the "Display Feed Favicons" (i.e., the script name). The value of the preferences should be URL's for your favicons (most of them should end in favicon.ico).
  5. Choose the preference corresponding to the feed whose favicon you want to change. For example, lets say you wanted to change the favicon for your CNN feed. You would locate the preference called greasemonkey.scriptvals.red.october/Display Feed Favicons.http://www.cnn.com. Now, right-click it and click "Modify". In the dialog box that pops up, supply it with the URL of the favicon you wish to use.
  6. After making the changes, go to Google Reader (or refresh an existing Google Reader page). If you did it properly, the new favicon should show up.
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