Support for various HTML entities in various browsers and platforms

Windows table key:

WinIE6 = Internet Explorer 6, Windows XP Pro
WinIE5 = Internet Explorer 5, Windows NT 4
WinNS7 = Netscape 7.02 and 7.1, Windows XP Pro
WinNS4 = Netscape 4.5, Windows 98
WinOp7 = Opera 7.23, Windows XP Pro
WinOp5 = Opera 5.11, Windows 98
WinOp3 = Opera 3.51, Windows NT

Sample Entity WinIE6 WinNS7 WinNS4 WinOp7 WinOp5 WinOp3

This is—an em dash.

151 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

This is—an em dash.

8212 Yes Yes unknown Yes Yes unknown

This is—an em dash

mdash Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

This is a single-pixel GIF trick -- with an
 -- alt tag for non-graphical browsers.

[none] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes high line

This is a test ’til death do us part.

8217 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

This is a ‘test’ of single-quotes pointing in ‘both directions.’

8216/8217 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

This is the same kind of ‘test.’

lsquo Yes Yes No Yes Yes No

This is the “same kind” of test, using double quotes.

8220/8221 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

“Double quotes” again

147/148 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes unknown

“Double quotes.”

ldquo Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
"Straight double quotes" quot Yes Yes unknown Yes unknown unknown

This™ is a trademark symbol.

153 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes unknown

This™ is also a trademark symbol.

trade Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Ménage à Trois.

eacute, agrave Yes Yes unknown Yes Yes unknown

π is the Greek letter pi.

pi Yes Yes unknown Yes unknown unknown
ρ is the Greek letter rho. 961            
Soft hyphen; see below shy Yes none - Yes none -

Macintosh and UNIX:

Safari1 = Safari 1.1.1, MacOS X 10.3.1
MacNS6/7 = Netscape 6.2.2, MacOS X 10.1.3; and Netscape 7.02, MacOS X 10.3.1
MacNS4 = Netscape 4.05, 4.5, and 4.73, MacOS 8.5, 8.6, and 9.1
MacOp5 = Opera 5.0b4.498, MacOS X 10.1.3
MacIE5 = Internet Explorer 5, MacOS X 10.1.3
MacIE4 = Internet Explorer 4.01, MacOS 8.5
lynx2 = lynx 2.8.4dev.9, FreeBSD 4.1.1

Sample Entity Safari1 MacNS6/7 MacNS4 MacOp5 MacIE5 MacIE4 lynx2

This is—an em dash.

151 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes double hyphen

This is—an em dash.

8212 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes double hyphen

This is—an em dash

mdash Yes Yes No Yes Yes No double hyphen

This is a single-pixel GIF trick -- with an
 -- alt tag for non-graphical browsers.

[none] Yes Yes Mostly[1] Yes Yes Yes double hyphen

This is a test ’til death do us part.

8217 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

This is a ‘test’ of single-quotes pointing in ‘both directions.’

8216/8217 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

This is the same kind of ‘test.’

lsquo Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes

This is the “same kind” of test, using double quotes.

8220/8221 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

“Double quotes” again

147/148 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

“Double quotes.”

ldquo Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
"Straight double quotes" quot Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

This™ is a trademark symbol.

153 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

This™ is also a trademark symbol.

trade Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Ménage à Trois.

eacute, agrave Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

π is the Greek letter pi.

pi Yes Yes No No Yes No p
ρ is the Greek letter rho. 961              
Soft hyphen; see below shy - none ? none - - Yes

Note [1]: Netscape 4/Mac has a bug that displays this GIF incorrectly if it's the first displayed "character" on a line.

This item was taken out of the above tables for better display:

This­is­a­very­long­hyphenated­phrase­that's­supposed­to­use­soft­hyphens­which­seems­to­mean­it's­supposed­to­put­a­hyphen­at­the­line­break.

The entity name is "shy"; it displays as a "?" on MacNS4, a "-" on MacIE4 and MacIE5 and WinNS4 and Opera3, and correctly on lynx2 (which is to say the soft hyphens are invisible except at the line break, where a single hyphen appears). On Opera5, the entity doesn't display, but the line doesn't break, either; it appears the same way it would if all the ­ entities were removed.

Lynx is remarkably conformant; displays all of the above quite nicely.