HTML Entities

HTML Entities are special codes used to represent characters that have specific meanings in HTML or characters that cannot be easily typed using a standard keyboard. They ensure that browsers correctly display characters, especially those that might conflict with HTML syntax or might not render properly due to encoding issues. This guide provides a detailed explanation of HTML entities, their types, usage, and best practices.

Table of Contents

1. Commonly Used HTML Entities

Here’s a single, comprehensive table of commonly used HTML entities, including reserved characters, special symbols, mathematical symbols, and punctuation marks for easy reference:

Character	Description	Entity Name	Entity Number
`<`	Less-than sign	`<`	`<`
`>`	Greater-than sign	`>`	`>`
`&`	Ampersand	`&`	`&`
`"`	Quotation mark	`"`	`"`
`'`	Apostrophe	`'`	`'`
	Non-breaking space	` `	` `
`©`	Copyright symbol	`©`	`©`
`®`	Registered trademark	`®`	`®`
`™`	Trademark symbol	`™`	`™`
`€`	Euro symbol	`€`	`€`
`£`	Pound sterling symbol	`£`	`£`
`¥`	Yen symbol	`¥`	`¥`
`¢`	Cent symbol	`¢`	`¢`
`§`	Section symbol	`§`	`§`
`¶`	Paragraph symbol	`¶`	`¶`
`•`	Bullet point	`•`	`•`
`…`	Ellipsis	`…`	`…`
`–`	En dash	`–`	`–`
`—`	Em dash	`—`	`—`
`±`	Plus-minus sign	`±`	`±`
`×`	Multiplication sign	`×`	`×`
`÷`	Division sign	`÷`	`÷`
`√`	Square root	`√`	`√`
`∞`	Infinity symbol	`∞`	`∞`
`≠`	Not equal to	`≠`	`≠`
`°`	Degree symbol	`°`	`°`
`µ`	Micro symbol	`µ`	`µ`
`α`	Greek letter alpha	`α`	`α`
`β`	Greek letter beta	`β`	`β`
`∑`	Summation symbol	`∑`	`∑`
`♥`	Heart symbol	`&hearts;`	`♥`
`★`	Star symbol	`&star;`	`★`

2. Why Use HTML Entities

HTML entities are essential for the following reasons:

Reserved Characters: Characters like <, >, &, etc., have special meanings in HTML. To display them as text, you must use their corresponding HTML entities.
Special Symbols: Symbols like ©, €, ™, etc., may not be available on a standard keyboard or may not render correctly in all browsers.
Non-Keyboard Characters: Characters like non-breaking spaces () or accented letters (e.g., é, ñ) can be represented using entities.
Character Encoding Issues: Ensures compatibility across different browsers and platforms, especially when dealing with special characters.

3. Syntax of HTML Entities

HTML entities can be written in two ways:

a. Using Entity Name:

   &entity_name;

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Example: < for <.

b. Using Entity Number:

   &#entity_number;

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Example: < for <.

4. Types of HTML Entities

a. Reserved Characters

These are characters that have special meanings in HTML and must be represented using entities to avoid conflicts with HTML syntax.

< → < or <
> → > or >
& → & or &
" → " or "
' → ' or '

Example:

<p>Use < and > to create HTML tags.</p>

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b. Other Characters

These include special symbols, currency symbols, and other characters that are not part of the standard keyboard.

© → © or © (Copyright symbol)
® → ® or ® (Registered trademark)
€ → € or € (Euro symbol)
£ → £ or £ (Pound sterling symbol)
¥ → ¥ or ¥ (Yen symbol)
¢ → ¢ or ¢ (Cent symbol)

Example:

<p>Copyright © 2023 My Company.</p>
<p>Price: €50.</p>

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c. Non-breaking Space

A non-breaking space () is used to prevent browsers from breaking a line at that space. It is represented by   or  .

Example:

<p>This is a non-breaking space.</p>

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Output:

This is a non-breaking space.

d. Combining Diacritical Marks

Diacritical marks are used in combination with base characters to create accented letters. These are often used in languages like French, Spanish, and German.

é → é or é
ñ → ñ or ñ
ö → ö or ö

Example:

<p>Cliché (Cliché)</p>
<p>Señor (Señor)</p>

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5. Best Practices for Using HTML Entities

Use Entities for Reserved Characters: Always use entities for <, >, &, ", and ' to avoid conflicts with HTML syntax.
Use Entities for Special Symbols: Use entities for symbols like ©, €, ™, etc., to ensure consistent rendering across browsers.
Avoid Overusing Non-breaking Spaces: Use non-breaking spaces ( ) sparingly. Overusing them can make your HTML code harder to read and maintain.
Use UTF-8 Encoding: Use UTF-8 encoding in your HTML documents to handle most special characters without needing entities. Add the following meta tag in the <head> section:

   <meta charset="UTF-8">

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Prefer Entity Names Over Numbers: Entity names (e.g., ©) are more readable than entity numbers (e.g., ©). Use entity names whenever possible.
Test Across Browsers: Always test your HTML documents across different browsers to ensure that all entities are displayed correctly.

6. Complete Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>HTML Entities Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>HTML Entities Demo</h1>
    <p>Less-than sign: <</p>
    <p>Greater-than sign: ></p>
    <p>Ampersand: &</p>
    <p>Quotation mark: "</p>
    <p>Non-breaking space: Hello World</p>
    <p>Copyright symbol: ©</p>
    <p>Euro symbol: €</p>
    <p>Cliché (Cliché)</p>
    <p>Señor (Señor)</p>
</body>
</html>

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Output:

HTML Entities Demo
Less-than sign: <
Greater-than sign: >
Ampersand: &
Quotation mark: "
Non-breaking space: Hello World
Copyright symbol: ©
Euro symbol: €
Cliché (Cliché)
Señor (Señor)

Conclusion

HTML entities are a powerful tool for ensuring that your content is displayed accurately and consistently across all platforms and browsers. By following best practices and using entities appropriately, you can avoid rendering issues and improve the readability and maintainability of your HTML code. Whether you’re dealing with reserved characters, special symbols, or non-keyboard characters, HTML entities provide a reliable solution for displaying them correctly.