Re: Em Dash & Bullets

Lauren:

> Is there a tried and true method that *works on all browsers* to >get the
em
> dash and bullet characters on an HTML page?

To put it simply ... No!!!

The problem is that some of those browsers are forced to work in a
non-Windows environment. And even though HTML Character Entities are
supposed to work--as you already know--they sometimes don't--Windows
notwithstanding.

I know that at least two or three will mention "correct" HTML and / or
"validation" but as we all know--that's no guarantee that "every" browser,
on "every" operating system, will display them.

Using either Dreamweaver or FrontPage, an em dash is Alt+0151 and both
programs insert bullets automatically. For a "hand" bullet, most use
Alt+0140.

However, like everything else connected to fonts--the viewer's machine must
agree to all this and MUST have the font loaded that will display the symbol
you want to use. And of course, a lot of them won't.

According to Adobe, even using PDF, a lot of "fancy" fonts will get
converted to Helvetica by the Acrobat Reader on the host machine unless
those fancy fonts are present on that particular recipient's machine.
(Source: Acrobat Reader Help Files) So what's a poor browser to do??

I too--share your fondness for em dashes. ( I profess to be a writer of
novels.) And--As I use FrontPage, I simply type Alt+0151 and promptly bury
my head in the sand. So far, so good except it's sort of hard on my comb.

(Of course--you can do as we do for this list, and use a double dash.
Remember that old and ancient historical "office" gizmo called a
typewriter???)

Best wishes
Ted Temer
Temercraft Designs Redding, CA
temer(at)c-zone.net
www.temercraft.com/novels/
www.newsredding.com/
www.ramac-rc.org/


> Hi Everyone,
>
> Is there a tried and true method that *works on all browsers* to get the
em
> dash and bullet characters on an HTML page? I know about the "HTML
Character
> Entities" page and it's no help. If you know the secret, what is it?
>
> Thanks,
> Lauren, who likes em dashes...
>
>

HTML: hwg-basics mailing list archives, maintained by Webmasters @ IWA