When working with HTML, it’s important to ensure that all characters are displayed correctly on web pages. However, some characters have special meanings in HTML and may not be rendered properly if used directly. This is where HTML entities come into play.

What are HTML Entities?

HTML entities are special codes that represent characters that have a special meaning in HTML. These entities allow you to display characters that are reserved for HTML markup, such as angle brackets (< and >), ampersands (&), and quotation marks (“). By using HTML entities, you can ensure that these characters are displayed correctly on your web pages.

Commonly Used HTML Entities

Here are some commonly used HTML entities:

< – represents the less-than symbol (<)
> – represents the greater-than symbol (>)
& – represents the ampersand symbol (&)
“ – represents the quotation mark (“)
‘ – represents the apostrophe (‘)
© – represents the copyright symbol (©)
® – represents the registered trademark symbol (®)
™ – represents the trademark symbol (™)

Using HTML Entities in Your Code

To use an HTML entity, you simply need to replace the character with its corresponding entity code. For example, if you want to display the less-than symbol (<) in your HTML code, you would use the entity code <.

Here’s an example of how to use HTML entities in your code:


<h1>Welcome to my website!</h1>
<p>This is an example of using HTML entities to display special characters.</p>
<p>Here's an example of an entity code: &copy;. This represents the copyright symbol (©).</p>

When the above code is rendered in a web browser, it will display as:

Welcome to my website!

This is an example of using HTML entities to display special characters.

Here’s an example of an entity code: ©. This represents the copyright symbol (©).

Using Numeric HTML Entities

In addition to named entities like ©, you can also use numeric entities to represent characters. Numeric entities are represented by a pound sign (#) followed by a number.

For example, the entity code © represents the copyright symbol (©), and the entity code ® represents the registered trademark symbol (®).

Here’s an example of using numeric HTML entities:


<p>This is an example of using numeric HTML entities: © and ®.</p>

When the above code is rendered in a web browser, it will display as:

Conclusion

HTML entities are essential for displaying special characters correctly on web pages. By using HTML entities, you can ensure that characters with special meanings in HTML are rendered properly. Whether you need to display angle brackets, ampersands, or special symbols, HTML entities provide a reliable solution for maintaining the integrity of your web content.