Intro to HTML

What in the world is an "&" command? Ampersand commands ("&" is pronounced "ampersand") are quite useful, especially to me. I use them all over these HTML tutorials to create the characters not found on the keyboard or to make command characters show up on the page.

What I Mean

Let's say you want a copyright insignia. Well, there isn't any copyright on the keyboard. That means you'll need to either create it as a graphic or use an "&" command to place it. Have you also noticed that all over my pages I show HTML commands like <HTML>? Don't you find that strange seeing as if I enclose HTML in < > brackets that it shouldn't show up on the page?

What I am doing is using an "&" command to create the greater-than and less-than sign.

Here's How It Works

Your browser reads commands inside of greater-than and less-than brackets. But did you know it also reads commands inside of an "&" and ";" (semicolon) insignia? Well, it does.

Those who create the HTML code have created a slew of these commands that sit inside of an "&" and a ";". All you need to know is the little three- or four-letter code that goes between the "&" and the ";" and you'll be placing little insignias all over your page.

Here They Are

Below is a chart showing as many "&" commands as I could find. Remember: You do not place these codes inside of < and > commands. These just sit as they appear in the chart below. They always begin with an "&" and end with a ";".

Each chart cell is set up with the "&" command, as it should appear on your page, and then what the command created below. Like so:

Capitalization Counts Here!

< <	> >	& &	" "	(A Space)	Ç Ç
&ccdil; ç	Ñ Ñ	ñ ñ	Þ Þ	þ þ	Ý Ý
ý ý	ÿ ÿ	ß ß	Æ Æ	Á Á	Â Â
À À	Å Å	Ã Ã	Ä Ä	æ æ	á á
â â	à à	å å	ã ã	ä ä	Ð Ð
É É	Ê Ê	È È	Ë Ë	ð ð	é é
ê ê	è è	ë ë	Í Í	Î Î	Ì Ì
Ï Ï	í í	î î	ì ì	ï ï	Ó Ó
Ô Ô	Ò Ò	Ø Ø	Õ Õ	Ö Ö	ó ó
ô ô	ò ò	ø ø	õ õ	ö ö	Ú Ú
Û Û	Ù Ù	Ü Ü	ú ú	û û	ù ù
ü ü	-	-	-	-

Here are a few more that I found listed that are part of the HTML+ commands. That means you have to have a very high level browser to run them. I'm only listing their "&" command and writing what they should do because my guess is that on many browsers they won't work. Give 'em a try yourself. See if they fly.

® Circle R	± Plus/Minus sign	µ Micro sign	¶ Paragraph	· Bullet
¢ Cent	£ Pound	¥ Yen	¼ 1/4	½ 1/2
¾ 3/4	¹ Superscript 1	² Superscript 2	³ Superscript 3	¿ Inverted Question Mark
° Degree	¦ Broken Vertical Bar	§ Section sign	« Left Quote mark	» Right Quote mark

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