Well you can use a WYSIWYG editor or paste it into a code editors design mode e.g. Dreamweaver. This should remove all the characters that may be interpreted as HTML.
Or you can use what is called a ‘paste bin’ that will allow you to paste in your code and it will display the code with lines numbered and code hinting applied.
You could also use a ‘syntax highlighter’ e.g. http://alexgorbatchev.com/SyntaxHighlighter/
Paste Bins
List of paste bins:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_pastebins
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/freebies/paste-share-code-snippets/comment-page-1/#comment-87188
Opinion
- Tiny paste, pastebin = no good
- All have big links or frames on them that are distracting and unprofessional
- They use javascript to pull in and embed the code. As you may already know Search Engines cannot read Javascript! Basically all the code you embed will not be read.
- Quick Highlighter http://quickhighlighter.com/index.php?lng=php
- The best paste bin by far
- No javascript pull ins
- No frames or big advertising links
- Easy to use – just copy paste the source code into your site
- Highly, Highly recommended
Syntax Highlighters
List of Syntax Highlighters
http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/11-syntax-highlighters-to-beautify-code-presentation/
Opinion
- Geshi http://qbnz.com/highlighter/index.php
- fast, 200+ languages
- php based
- wordpress plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-syntax/screenshots/
- Syntax Highlighter http://alexgorbatchev.com/SyntaxHighlighter/
- Slower
- Strong support and community
- Very widely used & popular
- Easy to use and very customizable
- WordPress plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/syntaxhighlighter/
Displaying code on wordpress posts (advice from wordpress codex)
http://codex.wordpress.org/Writing_Code_in_Your_Posts
Lists of WordPress syntax highlighter plugins
http://speckyboy.com/2009/02/19/12-wordpress-plugins-to-display-and-highlight-code-within-your-blog/
What We Use
We use the syntax highlighter wordpress plugin http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/syntaxhighlighter/ .
Example of its output:
<div id="wrapper">
<div id=”header”>
</div>
<div id="main">
<div id="content">
<p>Content</p>
</div>
<div id="right">
<p>Right Side Bar</p>
</div>
</div>
<div id=”footer”>
</div>
</div>