HTML Character Entities
Some
characters like the < character, have a
special meaning in HTML, and therefore
cannot be used in the text.
To
display a less than sign (<) in HTML, we
have to use a character entity.
Character Entities
Some characters have a
special meaning in HTML, like the less than
sign (<) that defines the start of an HTML
tag. If we want the browser to actually
display these characters we must insert
character entities in the HTML source.
A character entity has
three parts: an ampersand (&), an entity
name or a # and an entity number, and
finally a semicolon (;).
To display a less than
sign in an HTML document we must write: <
or <
The advantage of using a
name instead of a number is that a name is
easier to remember. The disadvantage is that
not all browsers support the newest entity
names, while the support for entity numbers
is very good in almost all browsers.
Note
that the entities are case sensitive.
Non-breaking Space
The most common character
entity in HTML is the non-breaking space.
Normally HTML will
truncate spaces in your text. If you write
10 spaces in your text HTML will remove 9 of
them. To add spaces to your text, use the
character entity.
The Most Common Character
Entities:
Result |
Description |
Entity Name |
Entity Number |
|
non-breaking
space |
|
  |
< |
less than |
< |
< |
> |
greater than |
> |
> |
& |
ampersand |
& |
& |
" |
quotation mark |
" |
" |
' |
apostrophe |
' (does not
work in IE) |
' |
Some Other Commonly Used
Character Entities:
Result |
Description |
Entity Name |
Entity Number |
¢ |
cent |
¢ |
¢ |
£ |
pound |
£ |
£ |
¥ |
yen |
¥ |
¥ |
§ |
section |
§ |
§ |
© |
copyright |
© |
© |
® |
registered
trademark |
® |
® |
× |
multiplication |
× |
× |
÷ |
division |
÷ |
÷ |
|