Code ampersands and brackets saved as HTML entities
Ampersands and angle brackets in highlighted code are saved as HTML entities, so visitors see amp and lt codes instead of the characters.
Tier I · Proven The best-established problems.
6 public reports · first reported 4 February 2019 · last reported 10 September 2025
What's going wrong
Site owners who publish code on WordPress report that ampersands and less-than signs inside highlighted blocks turn into HTML entities after a save or page edit. Visitors then see entity text instead of the original characters, and some report the damage grows with each edit, especially in classic editor blocks and after WordPress or plugin updates. Owners who write tutorials and developer documentation are most affected, because broken examples undermine their credibility. The gap is a reliable way to check and repair encoded code after each edit.
AI-assisted: written with the help of AI from the reports.
Products affected
SyntaxHighlighter Evolved.
Related problems
Who has this problem
1 business found.
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