HTML to Text Converter

HTML tags mark structure, and scripts and styles are code rather than visible copy. Plain text is what a reader sees. Counting words on the tags themselves inflates a draft, so this converter drops them first.

Tags is one of the values HTML to Text Converter puts on screen. Tags mark structure. They are removed, not counted. A tag name will not appear as a word.

Styles answers a narrower question than the headline number. Style blocks are CSS. They are dropped with scripts. Class names inside tags go away with the tags.

The Whitespace line is worth a full stop. Tags often leave gaps. The converter collapses whitespace. Read the paragraph breaks. They may be flatter than the page.

If you remember one sequence from HTML to Text Converter, remember the fields in the order they change a decision. Tags matters because Tags mark structure. In practice, They are removed, not counted. The mistake to avoid is this: A tag name will not appear as a word. Scripts matters because Script blocks are code. In practice, The whole script element is dropped. The mistake to avoid is this: A tracking snippet will not enter the word count. Styles matters because Style blocks are CSS. In practice, They are dropped with scripts. The mistake to avoid is this: Class names inside tags go away with the tags. Entities matters because Entities stand for characters. In practice, A common set such as amp, lt, gt, nbsp, and quotes is turned back into characters. The mistake to avoid is this: Unusual numeric entities may remain if they are outside that set. Whitespace matters because Tags often leave gaps. In practice, The converter collapses whitespace. The mistake to avoid is this: Read the paragraph breaks. They may be flatter than the page. After that, the checks are simple. The input is HTML you already have, not a URL. Scripts and styles are gone from the result. Ampersands were checked. The text was read before it was used as a description. A word count, if needed, was done on the plain text.

Final notes for HTML to Text Converter, written as decisions rather than as a table. When Tags is in front of you, decide using this: Tags mark structure. A tag name will not appear as a word. When Scripts is in front of you, decide using this: Script blocks are code. A tracking snippet will not enter the word count. When Styles is in front of you, decide using this: Style blocks are CSS. Class names inside tags go away with the tags. When Entities is in front of you, decide using this: Entities stand for characters. Unusual numeric entities may remain if they are outside that set. When Whitespace is in front of you, decide using this: Tags often leave gaps. Read the paragraph breaks. They may be flatter than the page. Then apply the checks without skipping one. The input is HTML you already have, not a URL. Scripts and styles are gone from the result. Ampersands were checked. The text was read before it was used as a description. A word count, if needed, was done on the plain text.

HTML includes menus, scripts, and style blocks that are not the article. Counting words on the tags inflates a draft. This converter removes script and style blocks, drops tags, and turns a few common entities such as & back into characters.

Read Scripts on its own before you mix it with the other rows. Script blocks are code. The whole script element is dropped. A tracking snippet will not enter the word count.

Treat Entities as a label with a specific job. Entities stand for characters. A common set such as amp, lt, gt, nbsp, and quotes is turned back into characters. Unusual numeric entities may remain if they are outside that set.

Paste the source you already have. The tool does not download a page. Layout that depended on tags, such as a table, becomes a run of words. Read the result before you use it as a meta description.

The worked example for HTML to Text Converter, read as one scene, is this. Paste <h1>SEO checklist</h1><p>Fix titles &amp; links.</p><script>alert(1)</script>. The plain text is SEO checklist Fix titles & links. The script is gone and the entity is an ampersand. Copy that text into the word counter. The count is the words a reader sees, not the tag names.

Keep HTML to Text Converter as this step only. When the job moves on, the Text to Speech Converter is the next page: Text to Speech Converter speaks text you type or paste using the browser’s speech voices. The Readability Checker covers a different piece of the same work: Readability Checker scores pasted text with Flesch reading ease and labels it easy, standard, or difficult.