HTML Special Characters Helper

Author:Scott Reilly
Version:1.5
Last update:15 July 2009
Compatibility:WP 2.6+, 2.7+, 2.8+
Comments:go here
Download:[ zip ]
Description:

Admin widget on the Write Post page for inserting HTML encodings of special characters into the post.

Extended Description

The admin widget is labeled “HTML Special Characters” and is present in the admin Write Post and Write Page pages. Clicking on any special character in the widget causes its character encoding to be inserted into the post body text field at the current cursor location (or at the end of the post if the cursor isn’t located in the post body field). Hovering over any of the special characters causes a hover text box to appear that shows the HTML entity encoding for the character as well as the name of the character.

Note that when used in the visual editor mode the special character itself is added to the post body. Also note that the visual editor has its own special characters popup helper accessible via the advanced toolbar, which depending on your usage, may make this plugin unnecessary for you. In truth, the plugin is intended more for the non-visual (aka HTML) mode as that is the mode I (the plugin author) use.

Screenshots

  • The HTML Special Characters helper box in its default state
    screenshot 1
  • The HTML Special Characters helper box when “Toggle More” is clicked to display more special characters. Note all characters are categorized into labeled sections
    screenshot 2
  • The HTML Special Characters helper box after “Help?” is clicked
    screenshot 3
  • The HTML Special Characters helper box when the mouse is hovering over one of the special characters. The hover text that appears shows the HTML entity encoding for the character as well as the name of the character
    screenshot 4

Installation

  1. Download the file html-special-characters-helper.zip and unzip it into your wp-content/plugins/ directory.
  2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ admin menu in WordPress.
  3. An admin widget entitled “HTML Special Characters” will now be present in your write post and write page forms. Simply click on any character that you would like inserted into your post.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Q: How do I use the “HTML Special Characters” helper box to insert special characters into other post fields (such as the post title)?

    A: You can’t. The plugin only inserts the HTML character encodings into the post body. However, you can certainly hover over the character you want to use to see the HTML encoding for it (it’ll start with an ampersand, &, and end with a semi-color, ‘;’) and type that into the field.

  • Q: I’ve activated the plugin and don’t see the “HTML Special Characters” helper box when I go to write a post; where is it?

    A: It is in the sidebar, most likely at the sidebar’s bottom.


Release Log


Copyright & Disclaimer

Copyright © 2007-2009 by Scott Reilly (aka coffee2code)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.


Acknowledgements

Thanks to all those who have contributed feedback and support!