Chinese characters appear instead of...

User 458923 Photo


Registered User
3 posts

Hello all.

I am a novice web designer who is trying to get the hang of the latest HTML Editor (version 12, build 375).

The newest problem i am having is that when i try to link my new website to my facebook page (as a post), instead of the usual thumbnail and short description i get chinese characters and gobbldy gook. It works fine for Google+, but for facebook it does this on all browsers.

Searching the net for a solution i see at least one other person who has had this exact problem, and they were using Coffeecup software as well. Here is the link to their issue, if it helps:

http://www.codingforums.com/showthread.php?t=224430

It is not clear to me whether their problem was solved, but my code is not the exact same as theirs so i don't know how to use the responses to their question to specifically fix my own.

My website is http://louismaistros.com

Thanks for any help or suggestions,
Louis Maistros
User 458923 Photo


Registered User
3 posts

Here is a solution to this problem from a web-genius buddy of mine -- for those who may also have this issue:

"Not-really-long-story-short, you need to use specifically these following two tags on your current pages:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
(instead of any similar variation), and
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
(instead of any similar variation)

"I think the main issue was the content type tag, but also using 4.01 Transitional instead of Strict will cut down on a lot of code errors. There are still a bunch of errors, but about 1/3 of what there used to be by simply tweaking the doctype."

If this fix doesn't work immediately, it is because Facebook stores a cache image of the original attempted post, so give it a good 24 hours for it to clear up and look normal again.
User 103173 Photo


VP of Software Development
0 posts

Hey, I figured that out for you! Unless I am the web genius you are referring to. ;)
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User 458923 Photo


Registered User
3 posts

ha! your fix was slightly different, but you are a web genius too, and i appreciate the time you put into it. thanks, scott!

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