Difference between revisions of "HTML/entity"

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==Overview==
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<hide>
[[category:computing terminology]]An [[HTML entity]] is a combination of characters which will be displayed within an [[HTML]] browser as a single character. All HTML entities begin with "&amp;" (ampersand) and end with ";" (semicolon). Many entities have mnemonic names (such as "&amp;amp;", which displays an ampersand); any possible character can be displayed as an entity by using the format "&amp;#<u>number</u>;" where <u>number</u> is the output character's [[ASCII]] value in decimal.
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[[page type::article]]
 
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[[page type::reference]]
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[[thing type::character format]]
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[[category:computer terminology]]
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</hide>
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==About==
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An [[HTML entity]] is a combination of characters which will be displayed within an [[HTML]] browser as a single character. All HTML entities begin with "&amp;" (ampersand) and end with ";" (semicolon). Many entities have mnemonic names (such as "&amp;amp;", which displays an ampersand); any possible character can be displayed as an entity by using the format "&amp;#<u>number</u>;" where <u>number</u> is the output character's [[ASCII]] value in decimal.
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==Pages==
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* [[/list]]: list of some of the most useful entities
 
==Reference==
 
==Reference==
 
* {{wikipedia|Character entity reference}}
 
* {{wikipedia|Character entity reference}}
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** see also: {{l/wp|Percent-encoding}}
 
* [http://htmlhelp.com/reference/html40/entities/ HTML 4.0 entities]
 
* [http://htmlhelp.com/reference/html40/entities/ HTML 4.0 entities]
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* [https://developers.whatwg.org/named-character-references.html#named-character-references Named character references], in alphabetical order, including newer ones not supported by most browsers
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* [https://www.freeformatter.com/html-entities.html HTML Entity List]: "Complete list of HTML entities with their numbers and names. Also included is a full list of ASCII characters that can be represented in HTML (i.e. printable characters)."
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==Questions==
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* Do search engines resolve html entities when indexing web pages? That is, if I spelled a word (e.g. "schmerglefrotz") entirely using html entities, would someone be able to find that page by typing "schmerglefrotz" (after the site had been spidered, of course)? (As a test, I will spell a completely different word using HTML entities, and try Googling it later: '''&#70;&#82;&#69;&#76;&#71;&#75;&#76;&#79;&#84;&#90;''')
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** '''2007-07-15 answer''': Yes, it does find it (though it took several months at least before this page got indexed).
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** '''2016-11-28 answer''': Searching for the word in question no longer produces any results. Neither does searching for "schmerglefrotz".
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==Note==
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* '''2017-11-11''' MediaWiki 1.28.0 apparently no longer supports the "&amp;#d;" style of entity; you now have to use named entities.
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* '''2020-05-23''' This seems to have been fixed?

Latest revision as of 16:14, 6 February 2025

About

An HTML entity is a combination of characters which will be displayed within an HTML browser as a single character. All HTML entities begin with "&" (ampersand) and end with ";" (semicolon). Many entities have mnemonic names (such as "&amp;", which displays an ampersand); any possible character can be displayed as an entity by using the format "&#number;" where number is the output character's ASCII value in decimal.

Pages

  • /list: list of some of the most useful entities

Reference

Questions

  • Do search engines resolve html entities when indexing web pages? That is, if I spelled a word (e.g. "schmerglefrotz") entirely using html entities, would someone be able to find that page by typing "schmerglefrotz" (after the site had been spidered, of course)? (As a test, I will spell a completely different word using HTML entities, and try Googling it later: FRELGKLOTZ)
    • 2007-07-15 answer: Yes, it does find it (though it took several months at least before this page got indexed).
    • 2016-11-28 answer: Searching for the word in question no longer produces any results. Neither does searching for "schmerglefrotz".

Note

  • 2017-11-11 MediaWiki 1.28.0 apparently no longer supports the "&#d;" style of entity; you now have to use named entities.
  • 2020-05-23 This seems to have been fixed?