What Unicode character do you use in your website? (instead of image icons)
stackoverflow.com used to use "●" (U+25CF BLACK CIRCLE) for badges.
There are tons of useful characters in Unicode:
- ✆ U+2706 TELEPHONE LOCATION SIGN
- ✉ U+2709 ENVELOPE
- ☎ U+260E BLACK TELEPHONE and ☏ U+260F WHITE TELEPHONE
- ✎ U+270E LOWER RIGHT PENCIL
- ⌛ U+231B HOURGLASS
- ⌨ U+2328 KEYBOARD
To find useful symbols, I have two great resources:
http://shapecatcher.com
Allows you to draw a shape, which it then searches for similarly shaped unicode symbols.
https://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/block/index.htm
Lists unicode by the character blocks (using an embedded unicode font to maximize compatibility for display) and has a "display a certain block with images" functionality that allows you to review symbol blocks.
Both are quite useful though I often end up using shapecatcher these days just because it's a fun break just to be able to draw the shape that you want and have the site pull it up for you. At least, sometimes it will put it up.
Misc. Symbols Blocks
http://shapecatcher.com/unicode/block/Miscellaneous_Symbols_And_Pictographs is also a great category of unicode symbols, though as with all unicode, you may have to test compatibility.
https://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/block/miscellaneous_symbols/images.htm is the block of the miscellaneous symbols, for comparison.
- ⌚ U+0231A WATCH
- ⌛ U+0231B HOURGLASS
- ♟ U+265F SOLID CHESS PAWN
- ⚷ U+26B7 CHIRON
- ★ U+2605 SOLID STAR
- ✓ U+2713 CHECK MARK
- ☑ U+2611 SQUARE CHECKBOX
- ✕ U+2715 MULTIPLICATION X
- ☒ U+2612 SQUARE X-ED BOX
- ⚠ U+26A0 WARNING SIGN
Are also good symbols to add to the list.
Edit: In 2019 I would now recommend using a robust icon pack, either in svg form or font-file form, the presentation of unicode is often less controllable for web developers.
Why not just peruse the whole list?
← ↑ → ↓ ↔ ↕ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙
just to name a few...