Website “Smart Copy”

 

One of the most common suggestions I make on website copy is to use proper punctuation marks. Hyphens should not be used in place of dashes, nor inch marks in place of quotation marks, nor foot marks in place of apostrophes, nor vice versa of any of those. Each serves a distinct purpose. To use one in place of the other is simply incorrect – like using a singular verb with a plural subject.

 

Punctuation marks often used incorrectly (such as hyphens, inch marks and foot marks) are called “dumb characters”; whereas, the punctuation marks that should be used (respectively, en or em dashes, quotation marks and apostrophes) are called “smart characters.”

 

To demonstrate the difference in appearance, I’ve constructed a simple sentence that contains quotes and dashes, and have shown the dumb and smart versions.

(Dumb)

 

Set your website apart - demonstrating high quality and attention to detail - by using "smart" characters.

 

(Smart) 

 

Set your website apart – demonstrating high quality and attention to detail – by using “smart” characters.

Most of the time, the dumb characters are used because the website developer doesn’t know how to convert to the smart versions, or doesn't want to take the time to insert the proper symbols. 

 

This is how the dumb and smart versions look in hypertext markup language (HTML).

 

HTML Code Example

 

(Dumb)

 

<p>Set your website apart - demonstrating high quality and attention to detail - by using "smart" characters.</p>

 

(Smart)

 

<p>Set your website apart &#150; demonstrating high quality and attention to detail &#150; by using &#147;smart&#148; characters.</p>

 
You should pay particular attention to these six special characters; they are used widely in standard copy:

 

&#133;

 

 ellipsis ( … )

 
&#146;

 

 apostrophe ( ’ )

 
&#147; opening smart quote ( “ )

 
&#148; closing smart quote ( ” )

 
&#150; en dash ( – )

 
&#151; em dash ( — )

 
Ask your website developer to use the following HTML codes to improve the appearance of your website copy. (Note: Some of the more obscure characters don’t print the same way they look on-screen, and Netscape Navigator interprets them incorrectly on-screen as well. So, be sure to test carefully.)

 

HTML Value Character
&#096; `
&#128; €
&#130; ‚
&#131; ƒ
&#132; „
&#133; …
&#134; †
&#135; ‡
&#136; ˆ
&#137; ‰
&#138; Š
&#139; ‹
&#140; Œ
&#142; Ž
&#145; ‘
&#146; ’
&#147; “
&#148; ”
&#149; •
&#150; –
&#151; —
&#152; ˜
&#153; ™
&#154; š
&#155; ›
&#156; œ
&#158; ž
&#159; Ÿ
&#161; ¡
&#162; ¢
&#163; £
&#164; ¤
&#165; ¥
&#166; ¦
&#167; §
&#169; ©
&#170; ª
&#171; «
&#172; ¬
&#173; ­­
&#174; ®
&#175; ¯
&#176; °
&#177; ±
&#178; ²
&#179; ³
&#180; ´
&#181; µ
&#182;
&#183; ·
&#184; ¸
&#185; ¹
&#186; º
&#187; »
&#188; ¼
&#189; ½
&#190; ¾
&#191; ¿
&#192; À
&#193; Á
&#194; Â
&#195; Ã
&#196; Ä
&#197; Å
&#198; Æ
&#199; Ç
&#200; È
&#201; É
&#202; Ê
&#203; Ë
&#204; Ì
&#205; Í
&#206; Î
&#207; Ï
&#208; Ð
&#209; Ñ
&#210; Ò
&#211; Ó
&#212; Ô
&#213; Õ
&#214; Ö
&#215; ×
&#216; Ø
&#217; Ù
&#218; Ú
&#219; Û
&#220; Ü
&#221; Ý
&#222; Þ
&#223; ß
&#224; à
&#225; á
&#226; â
&#227; ã
&#228; ä
&#229; å
&#230; æ
&#231; ç
&#232; è
&#233; é
&#234; ê
&#235; ë
&#236; ì
&#237; í
&#238; î
&#239; ï
&#240; ð
&#241; ñ
&#242; ò
&#243; ó
&#244; ô
&#245; õ
&#246; ö
&#247; ÷
&#248; ø
&#249; ù
&#250; ú
&#251; û
&#252; ü
&#253; ý
&#254; þ
&#255; ÿ
&#256; Ā
&#257; ā
&#258; Ă
HTML Value Character
&#259; ă
&#260; Ą
&#261; ą
&#262; Ć
&#263; ć
&#264; Ĉ
&#265; ĉ
&#266; Ċ
&#267; ċ
&#268; Č
&#269; č
&#270; Ď
&#271; ď
&#272; Đ
&#273; đ
&#274; Ē
&#275; ē
&#276; Ĕ
&#277; ĕ
&#278; Ė
&#279; ė
&#280; Ę
&#281; ę
&#282; Ě
&#283; ě
&#284; Ĝ
&#285; ĝ
&#286; Ğ
&#287; ğ
&#288; Ġ
&#289; ġ
&#290; Ģ
&#291; ģ
&#292; Ĥ
&#293; ĥ
&#294; Ħ
&#295; ħ
&#296; Ĩ
&#297; ĩ
&#298; Ī
&#299; ī
&#300; Ĭ
&#301; ĭ
&#302; Į
&#303; į
&#304; İ
&#305; ı
&#306; IJ
&#307; ij
&#308; Ĵ
&#309; ĵ
&#310; Ķ
&#311; ķ
&#312; ĸ
&#313; Ĺ
&#314; ĺ
&#315; Ļ
&#316; ļ
&#317; Ľ
&#318; ľ
&#319; Ŀ
&#320; ŀ
&#321; Ł
&#322; ł
&#323; Ń
&#324; ń
&#325; Ņ
&#326; ņ
&#327; Ň
&#328; ň
&#329; ʼn
&#330; Ŋ
&#331; ŋ
&#332; Ō
&#333; ō
&#334; Ŏ
&#335; ŏ
&#336; Ő
&#337; ő
&#338; Œ
&#339; œ
&#340; Ŕ
&#341; ŕ
&#342; Ŗ
&#343; ŗ
&#344; Ř
&#345; ř
&#346; Ś
&#347; ś
&#348; Ŝ
&#349; ŝ
&#350; Ş
&#351; ş
&#352; Š
&#353; š
&#354; Ţ
&#355; ţ
&#356; Ť
&#357; ť
&#358; Ŧ
&#359; ŧ
&#360; Ũ
&#361; ũ
&#362; Ū
&#363; ū
&#364; Ŭ
&#365; ŭ
&#366; Ů
&#367; ů
&#368; Ű
&#369; ű
&#370; Ų
&#371; ų
&#372; Ŵ
&#373; ŵ
&#374; Ŷ
&#375; ŷ
&#376; Ÿ
&#377; Ź
&#378; ź
&#379; Ż
&#380; ż
&#381; Ž
&#382; ž
&#383; ſ
 

 

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