Entities are variables used to define shortcuts to standard text or special characters. In Xport, we will be concerned primarily with character entities. Character entities represent special characters in (x)html documents. There are multiple reasons to use character entities. In many cases, the character represented by the entity might not be available to type in on a keyboard. Another reason to use character entities is because they may interfere with the parsing of the (x)html document, as with the character '<'.

Character entities can be represented in two ways, by using a numeric entity reference, or by using a named entity reference. In both cases, the entity reference begins with an & (ampersand) and ends with a ; (colon). When using a numeric entity refrence, a # (pound sign) is placed after the & and before the entity number.