HTML/PHP encoding, special characters work on one server for not another

Question

I'm having problems understanding why one server running PHP/Apache is formatting special characters properly and another one isn't.

the meta tag i am using is;

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">

I have also tried;

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

the server that is correctly is running;

Apache/2.4.9 (Win64) PHP/5.5.11

the one that is incorrectly formatting, and replacing characters with a black diamond with a question mark inside it, is running;

Apache/2.4.10 (Win32) OpenSSL/1.0.1i PHP/5.6.3

I'm assuming its a config issue, Where? I don't know. Perhaps its a difference in default behavior. it cant be the code because it is identical on both servers.

could be the code.. as there is another PHP version installed... — Mihai Matei, Apr 23 '15 at 08:13
How to change the default encoding in apache: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/913869/how-to-change-the-default-encoding-to-utf-8-for-server — Mihai Matei, Apr 23 '15 at 08:14
@MateiMihai, I have a meta tag. Does this not actually do anything? — glend, Apr 23 '15 at 08:16
The meta tag sets the encoding on client side.. you must set the encoding on server side as well — Mihai Matei, Apr 23 '15 at 08:16
@MateiMihai, That had no effect. I tried both utf-8 and iso-8859-1. — glend, Apr 23 '15 at 08:24
I suppose you restarted apache after setting that directive? — Mihai Matei, Apr 23 '15 at 08:35
@Matei "Setting encoding server side" doesn't have a whole lot of meaning. What does the server do with that set encoding? — deceze, Apr 23 '15 at 08:39

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 23 '15 at 08:29

The HTML meta tag only has secondary significance for signalling the encoding; the HTTP Content-Type header takes precedence if present. One server is setting that header, the other isn't (or is setting the wrong one).

Either set your default charset appropriately in Apache, or explicitly output that header yourself in PHP:

header('Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1');

HTML/PHP encoding, special characters work on one server for not another

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