Hi,
E. Keown schrieb:
If I add the proper Unicode-related HTML code at the
top, will people get Unicode-compatible text when
they download this?
First, you must make sure that your HTML source is stored in Unicode (preferably: UTF-8) encoding, at all. E. g., in Windows XP, you can compose your page in the Notepad editor, use the menu item "File/Save as", and then choose the "UTF-8" encoding. In Linux, you could use the Yudit editor.
Secondly, you must make sure that your HTML source is properly transferred to your HTTP server. When it is encoded in UTF-8, virually any FTP, or SSH/SCP, client will do it correctly, if you declare your source as "text", or "ASCII" (as opposed to "Binary").
Thirdly, you must make sure that your HTTP server tells the client (e. g. a browser) about the UTF-8 encoding. The usual <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> HTML header is only one way to accomplish this task; it de- pends on your server's settings whether this will work, at all. Some HTTP servers require particular filename extensions to signal the encoding, you may have to store your source in a particular directory, the above-mentioned HTML line may suffice, you may have to provide particular configuration settings in an additional file (e. g. .htaccess), or it even may be just impossible to serve UTF-8 files from your server; ask your server's administrator for the actual conventions applying in your environment. In any case, you should include the above-mentioned line with your HTML header, so the page will display correctly if no HTTP server is involved, e. g. locally on your own workstations before you have uploaded the source.
Is there a limit to how many separate writing systems one can do this way?
This is not a question of "how many", rather one of "which ones".
The only limits are in capabilities of the browser your audience is using (e. g. it may not be able to process RTL text), and in the fonts available to said browser. - In your HTML source, use only characters from the WGL4, cf. <http://www.microsoft.com/OpenType/OTSpec/WGL4.htm>; in your style sheet, ask for modern, WGL4-conforming fonts, cf. <http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/fonts.html#wgl4>. - Test your page with several browsers, as recommended by other posters in this thread. - I also recommend to test your page with the three W3C validators: <http://validator.w3.org/>, <http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator>, and <http://validator.w3.org/checklink>.
Good luck, Otto Stolz
