# Help with HTML encoding

When accessing content from disparete sources such as an RSS feed a technical issue can arise related to "html encoding".&#x20;

### What Encoding Errors Look Like

The most common html encoding error is shown in your email template with odd characters appearing in your content. Here’s an example:

<figure><img src="/files/CLzzEeIihoGi5TixQ7An" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Ensure Encoding is Set in Your Email Template

This type of error is simple to fix, however. All you need to do is ensure you have a specific meta tag at the top of your HTML email template, typically found under the \<head> tag. Here’s what this looks like:

<figure><img src="https://www.feedotter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-19_08h57_46.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Providing this \<meta> tag in your email in your email is the first step in making sure these encoding issues don't happen. If it is missing you can paste the following line into the \<head> section of your email.

```
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
```

### Verify Your RSS Feed Has Encoding Instructions

It is also important to ensure your RSS feed has the correct encoding instructions.  Most CMS systems will automatically set this.  View your RSS feed url in any browser and search for "UTF".  You should see something like this:

```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
```

If you do not see an encoding line please contact your website admin and ask the to help you add "UTF-8" encoding to your RSS feed.  This ensures RSS readers and tools like FeedOtter always encode and decode your special characters correctly.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.feedotter.com/faq/help-with-html-encoding.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
