Character Entities for HTML
Because the symbols " & < > (double quotationmark, ampersand, lessthansymbol and greaterthansymbol) are integral to HTML code itself, you should be replacing all instances of " & < > (double quotationmark, ampersand, lessthansymbol and greaterthansymbol) that are used for anything other than the code itself.
recommended for encoding | standard characters | extended characters | cautionary tale about extended characters | encoding examples
It is also useful to employ character entities to replace characters in e-mail addresses that are entered on your webpages. This helps greatly in preventing robots from mining e-mail addresses for spam purposes. In your HTML coding, replace the character with &#numberofcharacter; (ampersand, hashmark, numberofcharacter, semicolon). Instead of &, you would type &. There are examples of HTML code using character entities at the bottom of the page.
ASCII stands for "American Standard Code Information Interchange". The numbers of the characters can be found by referring to the character map on your computer. The characters numbered from #032 to #126 are common to all keyboard systems. (#032 is the spacebar and is not the recommended character entity to depict a non-breaking space.)
Recommended for Encoding
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characters to be replaced with entities
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Name & Character Character Entity _____________________________________ ampersand & & lessthan < < greaterthan > > quotationmark " " at @ @ Copyright © © Use to indicate a nonbreaking space in HTML.encoding examples using some of the above characters |
Standard Characters
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standard charactersThese characters will look the same from computer to computer.(Use a fixed-width font for ASCII-art and charts) Courier,FixedSys, Monaco and the generic monospace are examples of non-proportional or fixed width fonts and are used for drawing ASCII-art and making charts. Times New Roman, Times and Symbol are examples of proportional width fonts and are not used for drawing ASCII-art or making charts. |
  SP 3 3 F F Y Y l l
! ! 4 4 G G Z Z m m
" " 5 5 H H [ [ n n
# # 6 6 I I \ \ o o
$ $ 7 7 J J ] ] p p
% % 8 8 K K ^ ^ q q
& & 9 9 L L _ _ r r
' ' : : M M ` ` s s
( ( ; ; N N a a t t
) ) < < O O b b u u
* * = = P P c c v v
+ + > > Q Q d d w w
, , ? ? R R e e x x
- - @ @ S S f f y y
. . A A T T g g z z
/ / B B U U h h { {
0 0 C C V V i i | |
1 1 D D W W j j } }
2 2 E E X X k k ~ ~
#032 is the space bar.
Some people like to use named character entities rather than numbered.
" or " " quotation mark & or & & ampersand < or < < less than > or > > greater than |
Extended Characters - A Cautionary Tale
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The characters numbered from #127 to #255 are not common to all keyboard systems and can look quite different on different operating systems. Please bear that in mind when you use these characters.
Here is an example using the character #188. These will look different depending on whether you are viewing this page on a Mac or a PC or a....
#188 in "Symbol" font: ¼
(On my PC, I see a "..." symbol)
"TimesRoman", "Roman" or "serif" #188: ¼
"Arial", "Helvetica" or "sans-serif" #188: ¼
(In both those cases, on my PC, I see a "1/4" symbol, but depending on your OS, you might be seeing an asterisk, or the symbol for Pi, or ???)
"WingDings" or "Zapf Dingbats" #188: ¼
(On my PC, I see a "clock" symbol)
If you really want the characters you use on your website to be viewed relatively globally, it's a very good idea to follow the guidelines at www.w3.org. If you plan on using extended characters, it may be a good idea to use images rather than entities unless you know categorically that your viewers will be able to see them.
Extended Characters
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Extended CharactersYou may see something entirely different, depending on your character set. Some people feel that named character entities are safer to use than numbered. I have shown both in the following table. However, some browsers may not render the named character entities. For instance, Windows95 (yes, yes, Win95 is an ancient system but there are still a few floating around) does not render the circumflex ˆ with ˆ (one sees the character entity rather than the character) but it does render ˆ using ˆ. Windows95 does not render tilde ˜ with ˜ but does render ˜ using &732;. (Those last sentences may look like nonsense to you because your system does render the letter entities.) accented letters | copyright symbols | mathematical symbols | editorial symbols | arrows | currency symbols | more extended characters These are arranged with the numbered entities to the left of the symbol and named entities to the right. The number entities on the left are supported by NS4+ and IE4+. Some letter entities on right are NOT supported by older OS. If the character used has a number entity greater than #255, it may be advisable to use a numbered entity rather than named entity. When using named entities, bear in mind that they are case-sensitive. Using the wrong case can produce an unintended result. Note the difference that an uppercase D can make:
When using the following codes, please let copy and paste be your friend. copyright symbolsaccented letters | copyright symbols | mathematical symbols | editorial symbols | arrows | currency symbols | more extended characters © © © Copyright ® ® ® Registered Trademark ™ ™ ™ Trademark editorial symbolsaccented letters | copyright symbols | mathematical symbols | editorial symbols | arrows | currency symbols | more extended characters   nonbreaking space « « « left double angled quote » » » right double angled quote ‘ ‘ ‘ left single quote ’ ’ ’ right single quote ‚ ‚ ‚ low single quotation mark “ “ “ left double quote ” ” ” right double quote „ „ „ low double quotation mark ‹ ‹ ‹ left single angled quote › › › right single angled quote ¡ ¡ ¡ inverted exclamation mark ¦ ¦ ¦ Broken Vertical Bar § § § Section ¨ ¨ ¨ Umlaut ­ ­ Soft Hyphen ´ ´ ´ Accute Accent ¶ ¶ ¶ Paragraph · · · Middle Dot ¸ ¸ ¸ Cedilla ¿ ¿ ¿ Inverted QuestionMark ˆ ˆ ˆ circumflex ˜ ˜ ˜ tilde – – – en dash — — — em dash … … … horizontal ellipses † † † dagger mark ‡ ‡ ‡ double dagger mark • • • bullet arrowsaccented letters | copyright symbols | mathematical symbols | editorial symbols | arrows | currency symbols | more extended characters ← ← ← left arrow ↑ ↑ ↑ upwards arrow → → → right arrow ↓ ↓ ↓ downwards arrow ↔ ↔ ↔ leftright arrow mathematical symbolsaccented letters | copyright symbols | mathematical symbols | editorial symbols | arrows | currency symbols | more extended characters ¬ ¬ ¬ Not ¯ ¯ ¯ Macron ° ° ° Degree ± ± ± Plus or Minus ¹ ¹ ¹ Superscript One ² ² ² Superscript Two ³ ³ ³ Superscript Three ª ª ª Feminine Ordinal º º º Masculine Ordinal µ µ µ Micro ¼ ¼ ¼ One Quarter ½ ½ ½ One Half ¾ ¾ ¾ Three Quarters × × × Multiplication symbol ÷ ÷ ÷ Division symbol ‰ ‰ ‰ per thousand currency symbolsaccented letters | copyright symbols | mathematical symbols | editorial symbols | arrows | currency symbols | more extended characters | more extended characters ¢ ¢ ¢ cent £ £ £ Pound Sterling ¤ ¤ ¤ currency ¥ ¥ ¥ Yen ƒ ƒ ƒ forte, florin € € € Euro (not on older OS) accented lettersaccented letters | copyright symbols | mathematical symbols | editorial symbols | arrows | currency symbols | more extended characters À À À UpperCase grave accent A Á Á Á UpperCase acute accent A    UpperCase circumflex A à à à UpperCase tilde A Ä Ä Ä UpperCase umlaut A Å Å Å UpperCase ring A Æ Æ Æ UpperCase AE ligature à à à LowerCase grave accent a á á á LowerCase acute accent a â â â LowerCase circumflex a ã ã ã LowerCase tilde a ä ä ä LowerCase umlaut a å å å LowerCase ring a æ æ æ LowerCase ae ligature Ç Ç Ç UpperCase cedilla C ç ç ç LowerCase cedilla c Ð Ð Ð UpperCase ETH ð ð ð LowerCase eth È È È UpperCase grave accent E É É É UpperCase acute accent E Ê Ê Ê UpperCase circumflex E Ë Ë Ë UpperCase diuresis E è è è LowerCase grave accent e é é é LowerCase acute accent e ê ê ê LowerCase circumflex e ë ë ë LowerCase diuresis e Ì Ì Ì UpperCase grave accent I Í Í Í UpperCase acute accent I Î Î Î UpperCase circumflex I Ï Ï Ï UpperCase diuresis I ì ì ì LowerCase grave accent i í í í LowerCase acute accent i î î î LowerCase circumflex i ï ï ï LowerCase diuresis i Ñ Ñ Ñ UpperCase tilde N ñ ñ ñ LowerCase tilde n Ò Ò Ò UpperCase grave accent O Ó Ó Ó UpperCase acute accent O Ô Ô Ô UpperCase circumflex O Õ Õ Õ UpperCase tilde O Ö Ö Ö UpperCase umlaut O Ø Ø Ø UpperCase slash O Œ Œ Œ UpperCase OE ligature œ œ œ Lowercase oe ligature ò ò ò LowerCase grave accent o ó ó ó LowerCase acute accent o ô ô ô LowerCase circumflex o õ õ õ LowerCase tilde o ö ö ö LowerCase umlaut o ø ø ø LowerCase slash o Þ Þ Þ UpperCase Thorn þ þ þ LowerCase thorn ß ß ß sz ligature (double S) Š Š Š UpperCase caron hacek S š š š LowerCase caron hacek s Ù Ù Ù UpperCase grave accent U Ú Ú Ú UpperCase acute accent U Û Û Û UpperCase circumflex U Ü Ü Ü UpperCase umlaut U ù ù ù LowerCase grave accent u ú ú ú LowerCase acute accent u û û û LowerCase circumflex u ü ü ü LowerCase umlaut u Ý Ý Ý UpperCase acute accent Y Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ UpperCase diruesis Y ý ý ý LowerCase acute accent y ÿ ÿ ÿ LowerCase diuresis y Ž Ž Ž UpperCase caron hacek Z ž ž ž LowerCase caron hacek zYour system may show that character #128 is the Euro sign. This sign will likely appear as an empty box or different character altogether in other OS. Please see currency symbols for the correct entity. The same goes for characters #142 and #158. You may see Z's with carons but other OS very likely will not. Please see accented letters for the correct entity. |
other character entitiesmay not be rendered by older OS |
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With the extended characters on this chart, it may be a good idea to use images rather than entities unless you know categorically that your viewers' OS support these character entities. more mathematical symbolsmathematical symbols | Greek alphabet | card suits | other extended characters please note that these characters may not be displayed on older OS′ ′ ′ prime, minutes, feet ″ ″ ″ double prime, seconds, inches ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ fraction slash ∂ ∂ ∂ partial differential ∏ ∏ ∏ n-ary product, product sign ∑ ∑ ∑ n-ary summation √ √ √ square root, radical sign ∞ ∞ ∞ infinity ∩ ∩ ∩ intersection, cap ∫ ∫ ∫ integral ≤ ≤ ≤ less-than or equal to ≥ ≥ ≥ greater-than or equal to − − − minus ≈ ≈ ≈ almost equal to, asymptotic to ≠ ≠ ≠ not equal to ≡ ≡ ≡ identical to, equivalent ◊ ◊ ◊ lozenge other mathematical symbols | Greek alphabet | www.w3.org - more complete list Greek alphabetmathematical symbols | Greek alphabet | card suits | other extended characters For use in technical documents employing the occasional Greek character - please note that these characters may not be displayed on older OS
Α Α Α Uppercase Alpha
Β Β Β Uppercase Beta
Γ Γ Γ Uppercase Gamma
Δ Δ Δ Uppercase Delta
Ε Ε Ε Uppercase Epsilon
Ζ Ζ Ζ Uppercase Zeta
Η Η Η Uppercase Eta
Θ Θ Θ Uppercase Theta
Ι Ι Ι Uppercase Iota
Κ Κ Κ Uppercase Kappa
Λ Λ Λ Uppercase Lambda
Μ Μ Μ Uppercase Mu
Ν Ν Ν Uppercase Nu
Ξ Ξ Ξ Uppercase Xi
Ο Ο Ο Uppercase Omicron
Π Π Π Uppercase Pi
Ρ Ρ Ρ Uppercase Rho
Σ Σ Σ Uppercase Sigma
Τ Τ Τ Uppercase Tau
Υ Υ Υ Uppercase Upsilon
Φ Φ Φ Uppercase Phi
Χ Χ Χ Uppercase Chi
Ψ Ψ Ψ Uppercase Psi
Ω Ω Ω Uppercase Omega
α α α lowercase alpha
β β β lowercase beta
γ γ γ lowercase gamma
δ δ δ lowercase delta
ε ε ε lowercase epsilon
ζ ζ ζ lowercase zeta
η η η lowercase eta
θ θ θ lowercase theta
ι ι ι lowercase iota
κ κ κ lowercase kappa
λ λ λ lowercase lambda
μ μ μ lowercase mu
ν ν ν lowercase nu
ξ ξ ξ lowercase xi
ο ο ο lowercase omicron
π π π lowercase pi
ρ ρ ρ lowercase rho
ς ς ς lowercase final sigma
σ σ σ lowercase sigma
τ τ τ lowercase tau
υ υ υ lowercase upsilon
φ φ φ lowercase phi
χ χ χ lowercase chi
ψ ψ ψ lowercase psi
ω ω ω lowercase omega
Card Suitsmathematical symbols | Greek alphabet | card suits | other extended characters please note that these characters may not be displayed on older OS♠ ♠ ♠ spade suit ♣ ♣ ♣ club suit, shamrock ♥ ♥ ♥ heart suit ♦ ♦ ♦ diamond suit |
Encoding Examples
recommended for encoding | standard characters | extended characters | cautionary tale about extended characters | encoding examples
The following example shows how to encode some characters on an HTML page - note the extra space between "address" and the e-mail address itself. (The characters displayed with character entities are in bold).
HTML code using numbered entities for[e-mail address <alias@ip.com>]
e-mail address   <<a href="mailto:alias@ip.com">alias@ip@com</a>>
Here it is again using named entities. (The equivalent named entities for #046; and #064; are not supported by all OS.)
HTML code using named and numbered entities for[e-mail address <alias@ip.com>]
e-mail address <<a href="mailto:alias@ip.com">alias@ip.com</a>>
Here is another example using named character entities.
HTML code for[¾ English & ¼ français]:
¾ English &¼ français
Here is another chart with named entities. Also of interest is HTML Special Characters and Browser Compatibility.
It may also be a good idea to identify (with a meta tag) what character system you are using in the head section of your page. For this page, the following is placed just before </head>:
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
Other character sets can be found at www.w3.org - Internationalization page.
recommended for encoding | standard characters | extended characters | cautionary tale about extended characters | encoding examples
