Paragraph symbol
But nevermind, did you know you can type paragraph symbol ¶ and section sign § right from your keyboard? I'll show you how to make them by using different techniques depending on your Operating System and tastes.
I will also show you how to access a Character map tool on your system. Charmaps are very handy programs for text symbols. They are installed by default on Windows and Mac systems, aswell as some Linux distributions.
Note: if you aren't interested in writing section and pilcrow text symbols with the use of keyboard - you can always just copy. To find out how to do that and find lots more symbols to copy - view how to copy-paste symbols.
What paragraph means
Paragraph sign (from the Greek paragraphos, 'to write beside' or 'written beside')
is a self-contained unit of a discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea.
Paragraphs consist of one or more sentences. The start of a paragraph is indicated by beginning on a new line. Sometimes the first line is indented. At various times the beginning of a paragraph has been indicated by the pilcrow: ¶.
The pilcrow symbol ¶, also called the paragraph mark, paragraph sign, paraph, or alinea (Latin: a linea, 'off the line'), is a typographical character commonly used to denote individual paragraphs.
The pilcrow can be used as an indent for separate paragraphs or to designate a new paragraph in one long piece of copy, as Eric Gill did in his 1930s book, An Essay on Typography. The pilcrow was used in the Middle Ages to mark a new train of thought, before the convention of physically discrete paragraphs was a common practice.
In some cultures Section sign § is called "paragraph". It still mantains it's meaning. In Ukraine and Russia, for example, section is usually called "paragraph" and paragraph is called "abzats". As I'm Ukrainian, I had to reasearch a bit, before I understood that. Leads to misunderstandings, you know.. =)
Section sign is used to split document into sections. Sections are of several paragraphs which are about some common thing. They are numbered and headered some times.
How to type?
On Windows
Main article
Keyboard symbols on Windows Wonder how to type text symbols with your keyboard? References on Alt-key codes - keyboard shortcuts for special characters on Windows and Shift states. Alt codes
If you're running Windows on your Desktop PC, or Laptop (not Macbook, though) then you can use Alt codes. I'm not sure about Netbooks, but I'd recommend you read and try. Alt codes are keyboard combinations (shortcuts) to type additional symbols not available on standard keyboard layout. You can type practically all frequently used symbols with this shortcut series. Read my reference for more details.
Alt Codes Use Alt codes to make text symbols and special characters from your keyboard, or laptop. Guide for PC and laptop + full list of Alt codes. Windows alt codes and keyboard symbols on Mac and Linux. Pimp your MySpace and Facebook profiles, or create some useful text symbols like umlauts, copyright, trademark, registered sign, euro, pound, etc. right from your keyboard. Here are Alt Codes for pilcrow and section signs. Try them if you know how to make alt codes. You should remember them if you'll want to type paragraphs from your keyboard with this technique again some time later.
| Alt code | Symbol |
|---|---|
| 20 | ¶ |
| 21 | § |
Shift states
This is fastest and easiest to use. You can type any possible character, symbol, or sign from Unicode encoding with shift states. Just like you use Shift key to type capital (UPCASE) letters and special sign, you can assign more symbols to Alt and Ctrl keys.
The only problem is that it takes about 5-15 minutes to make and setup a custom layout with your desired symbols. But it's not a big problem, is it?..
You can easily assign paragraph symbol and any other text characters to your keyboard with this technique. For example, you can assign section sign § to be produced when you press S, or pilcrow when you press P while AltGr (right Alt key) is depressed (hold AltGr, like Shift key).
Shift states for Windows symbols Just like with Shift key, on Windows your computer can type any wanted text symbol when you hold Ctrl, or Alt key and press some other key. Find out how to make and setup custom keyboard layouts. It's the easiest and fastest way of typing symbols. Character map
There is a standard built-in program on Windows called "Character Map", or simply "CharMap". Using it, you can enter any possible symbol installed on your computer. That's a hell lot larger range than you can get with alt codes. Read the reference below to find out how to use it.
MS Windows Character mapType special characters and text symbols with the use of built-in CharMap program on MS Windows. ☯ 웃 ♥ 유 ♫ ♬ ✄ ✂ ✆ ✉ On Mac
Keyboard viewer
To make special characters with your keyboard on Mac computer you'll most likely have to use Keyboard Viewer. The character range (number of different symbols) that it gives to you is pretty wide. You can use it to see the layout of characters on keyboard for any chosen language. For example, if U.S. is selected in the Input menu, you see the characters that appear on a U.S. keyboard in Keyboard Viewer. Also, you can choose to view shortcuts for symbols and signs that are most often used, like "√ ∑ π ∞ ∆ ™ © æ £ ¢", etc.
You can use this method to type pilcrow text symbol on your Mac.
Mac keyboard symbol shortcuts Read what shortcuts you can use to type symbols and special characters from your keyboard on Apple Mac computers. Character palette
If you want to insert any possible text symbol into your writings, such as paragraph ¶, a flat note sign ♭, or heart ♥ in the middle of a sentence, you can use the Mac OS X Character Palette. This utility that lets you select symbols and special characters visually from all the text symbols installed on your computer. It's a really amazing tool, so don't miss your chance and find out how to use it on Apple Mac OS Character Palette.
This applet can really help you. It has got all the symbols, so it's got all the paragraph aswell.
Apple Mac OS Character Palette Find out how you can use Mac's built-in Character Palette to insert special text symbols, characters from other languages, etc. ☀ ☃ ♡ ℃ ℬℯ ℋℰℛℰ On Linux
Keyboard codes
There actually are 3 different ways to type symbols on Linux with a keyboard. And all of them can produce paragraph symbol and section sign. So, please, read more to choose a method that is best for you.
Linux keyboard shortcuts for text symbols Find out about keyboard shortcuts that you can use on Linux OS to type text symbols and Unicode special characters. Somewhat like Alt codes. ♪ ✌ ☠ 웃 ♋ Following are codes required to write the paragraph pilcrow symbol and section sign.
| Unicode hex code | Symbol | Compose key sequence | Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00b6 | ¶ | !p | ¶ |
| 00a7 | § | p! | ¶ |
| 0s | § | ||
| s0 | § | ||
| os | § | ||
| so | § |
Character map
Character map is a program that displays all possible text symbols. You can choose some, and copy them to where you want them to be. It can even help you with the keyboard codes I just wrote about, as you can also look up Unicode symbol codes with it.
Because, Linux has different interfaces, like KDE and GNOME, there are different charmap programs. And you can also download a java CharMap that works everywhere where Java RE is installed. Read about all of them.
Linux OS Character mapsType special symbols and text characters with the use of character map for Linux and Unix OS. ❡✽ ➦ ❥ ✪ GNOME's Gucharmap, KDE's KCharSelect Character Selector and Java character map. In HTML
Pilcrow paragraph sign ¶ and section sign § have got simplified HTML entities.
| HTML entity | Symbol |
|---|---|
| ¶ | ¶ |
| § | § |
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