If you use "special characters" on a daily basis, there’s good news. HTML-Kit Tools comes with several features that makes it easier to view, insert and convert HTML entities, which are sometimes referred to as special characters or extended characters.

Inserting HTML entities

To insert the HTML entity for a special character, or to browse the list of available entities, select "View > Actions Bar > Channel 3″ from the main menu. Clicking number 3 on the Actions Bar is another way to quickly change to this channel. This brings up the HTML-Kit Tools HTML Entity Window.

You can hold the mouse pointer over a character for more information, such as a larger view of it, the HTML entity name, hex / decimal codes, and a brief description of the character.

Clicking a character in the HTML entity window inserts the named HTML entity for that character into the currently open document.

Viewing HTML entities

If you ever forget which character is represented by an HTML entity, simply hold the mouse pointer over it. HTML-Kit Tools will display the native character along with additional information.

Converting special characters to HTML entities

If you have a block of text that contain special characters and if you’d like to convert them to HTML entities:

1. Select the text to convert
2. Right click inside the selection (note that the mouse pointer has to be inside the selection)
3. Pick "TextTools > Convert special characters to HTML entities" from the menu

If you find yourself using this feature more and more, you can get to the "TextTools" menu more quickly by holding the Shift key down while right clicking the selection.

Pasting text while converting to HTML entities

When pasting text that contain special characters, select "Edit > Paste Plus > Convert special characters to HTML entities" from the main menu. If there are any special characters in the text being pasted (the text could be copied from HTML-Kit or from another program), HTML-Kit Tools will convert them to proper HTML entities.

Creating a new document with converted special characters

Click the down arrow for "New from Clipboard" icon. It’s located on "Actions Bar > Channel 1." Select the menu option for "Convert special characters." A new document will be created with the converted text.

Converting to HTML entities as you type

HTML-Kit Tools is also able to convert keyboard characters to HTML entities as you type. To enable this feature, select "HTML Safe Characters" from the "View > Editor > Typing Mode" menu. This setting is maintained for the duration of the current document. For faster access, you can use icons in the "Actions Bar > Channel 1 > Edit > Shortcuts" section.

Check your documents and convert at the same time

The default HTML Tidy configuration converts any special characters to HTML entities. So "Tools > Tidy > Default" is another option that can be used to convert special characters, all the while checking the current document for any errors.

HTML entity plugins

Even though HTML-Kit Tools has a built-in HTML entity window, you can still use a plugin such as Gary’s gmExtCharas plugin. You may be familiar with this popular plugin if you’re upgrading from HTML-Kit 292.

As you see, HTML-Kit Tools provides many options for working with special characters. It’s up to you to pick the right option for the job at hand.