How to Format Symbols on a Web Page

Use symbols to represent marks or words that do not appear on a keyboard, or to add mathematical entries to your web page. Adding symbols (also known as character entities) requires a basic knowledge of HTML.

Instructions

1. Open the page in a text editing program, such as EditPad or Notepad. Place the cursor where the symbol will appear.

2. Type the code for the symbol exactly as it appears on the listing.

3. Save the page and open it in a browser to view it. If the code is correctly entered, you will see the symbol; otherwise, you will see the text of what you typed.

Tips & Warnings

• All symbols have a numeric code, while some entities have both a text code and numeric code. For example, the copyright symbol can be either entered as © or ©.

• All entities begin with an ampersand (&) and end with a semi-colon (;).

• Numeric entity codes always begin with an ampersand and a numeric pound (#) symbol.

• Some older browsers will not recognize character entities. Viewers will simply see the code text.