When you type, word processing programs
generally create the standard characters you see on your keyboard.
These include the straight double quote ["], straight
single quote ['], straight apostrophe (same as straight
single quote), and hyphen [-]. If you want a proper (curly)
double open quote [“] and double close quote [”],
single open [‘] and single close quote/apostrophe
[’], en dash [–], em dash [—],
or other special character, you must create it with a special
code. Fortunately, this is not difficult.
Caveat
Some programs, such as Microsoft Word,
can be configured to convert a quote keystroke into a curly
quote automatically. Word calls this feature “smart quotes,”
though in fact it isn't always so smart about implementation.
This is fine for print, but if you cut text from a Word document
into Dreamweaver, you might 1) lose the special character or
2) carry other formatting (font face and size, etc.) that you
don't want on your Web page. So copying special characters from
other programs isn’t a dependable method.
Another method that seems promising on first blush is using
a font that includes the special characters you want. This definitely
won’t work on the Web, because you never know what fonts
are available to someone reading your page. So you want to stick
to the standard set of characters available in HTML.
Procedures
DREAMWEAVER METHOD 1 (WINDOWS AND MAC) First, place the cursor at the point
where you want the special character inserted. With the mouse
or keyboard, activate the Insert menu, then select Special
Characters. A list of commonly used special characters will
pop out:
If this list contains the character
you're looking for, choose it with the keyboard or mouse. The
character will appear in your text, selected. Press the right-arrow
key or click the mouse pointer to the right of the character
to unselect it. Otherwise, your next keystroke will overwrite
it.
If you need a character not on this list, choose Other.
A chart will appear:
Click on the character you want (its
code will appear in the “Insert:” window), and click
on “OK.” The chart will disappear, and the special
character will appear in your text, selected. Press the right-arrow
key or click the mouse pointer to the right of the character
to unselect it. Otherwise, your next keystroke will overwrite
it. DREAMWEAVER METHOD
2 (WINDOWS) If you need a character that is not
shown on the chart, use this method. In fact, this is actually
a faster way to insert commonly used characters (you’ll
simply have to remember a few codes).
First, make sure your Num Lock is on. Windows machines generally
turn the num lock by default, and most keyboards have an indicator
light to show its status (light on=Num Lock on). If it’s
off, press the Num Lock key. Then place the cursor at the point
where you want the special character inserted.
Now hold down the Alt key and type a four-digit code on the
numeric keypad, then release the Alt key. To get an double
open quote, for example, hold down Alt, type 0147, and release
Alt. The character will then appear in your text, unselected.
Note that you must use the numeric keypad (the “calculator”
keypad, normally to the right of the regular keys); the numbers
above the letter keys won’t work. Also, don’t forget
to enter the leading zero, if there is one.
For a full list of standard special characters, see the special
characters chart, but here are the codes for a few common
ones not found on most keyboards:
Name
Character
Key Code
Double open quote
Double close quote
Single open quote
Single close quote
(apostrophe)
Em dash
Bullet
Dagger
Double dagger
Degree
Ellipsis
You will find that this method also
works with other word processing programs. DREAMWEAVER METHOD 3 (MAC) From the Apple menu, choose Key
Caps. From the Key Caps’ Font menu, choose a commonly
used browser font such as Times New Roman, Arial, Courier, Helvetica,
Georgia, or Geneva.
Press and hold the Option key. Most
or all of the characters on the keyboard image will change.
Now hold down Option and Shift. Another set of characters will
appear. You can also get different characters by holding Option
and Command (Apple).
Once you see the character you want, you can press the corresponding
key or click on the key image with the mouse pointer. The special
character will appear in the Key Caps window. You can type one
character or a string of them. Now select the character(s) and
copy to the clipboard.
Go back to Dreamweaver, make sure the
cursor is where you want to insert the character(s), and paste.
You don’t need to use Key Caps if you know the combination
for the special character you want. Just put the cursor where
you want the character inserted, and type the key combination.
Here are the combinations for a few common special characters:
Name
Character
Key Combination
Double
open quote
Double close quote
Single open quote
Single close quote
(apostrophe)
Em dash
Bullet
Dagger
Double dagger
Degree
Ellipsis
“
”
‘
’
—
•
†
‡
º
…
Opt
Opt
Opt
Opt
Opt
Opt
Opt
Opt
Opt
Opt
Shift
Shift
Shift
Shift
Shift
[
[
]
]
-
8
t
7
8
;
You will find that this method also
works with other word processing programs. Caution
There is one limitation that Dreamweaver
users should be aware of: You cannot do a search-and-replace
within Dreamweaver to change, for example, straight quotes to
curly quotes.
This is because Dreamweaver is smart enough to convert the actual
special character into the HTML code for that character, in
the format ampersand-letter-letter-letter-letter-semicolon [&abcd;]
or ampersand-pound-digit-digit-digit-semicolon [{].
For example, if you look at the code inside these brackets [“],
instead of seeing an actual open quote, you’ll see the
HTML code for that character: [“]. Meanwhile, when
you type a straight quote in design mode, what’s actually
recorded is the HTML code for a straight quote: ["].
So when you’re in design mode and you try to search for
a straight quote, the Dreamweaver Code Inspector will pop up,
having selected an actual straight quote within an HTML tag.
You should never make a change inside a tag unless you’re
comfortable programming HTML, and you should never change a
straight quote to a curly quote inside a tag anyway. So forget
the search-and-replace.
Creative Thought Matters.
Skidmore College · 815 North Broadway · Saratoga Springs, NY · 12866
