How to Pass HTML Elements Through res.render in Node.js with EJS

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Understanding the Problem

In the provided example, the user attempted to render HTML content from a MongoDB database and ended up with a string containing many unwanted escape characters. This leads to confusion and frustration, especially when the HTML should be processed and displayed accurately on the webpage.

The Solution: Render HTML Using EJS

To properly render the raw HTML from the database, we need to use the unescaped output feature of EJS. Instead of using <%= htmlVariable %>, which escapes HTML, we can use <%- htmlVariable %> in our templates. Here’s how you can do this step by step.

Step 1: Fetch the HTML Content

In your route, where you retrieve the blog content, you’ll typically fetch MongoDB documents like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Here, htmlContent is the property that contains your HTML string, which you want to render directly as HTML.

Step 2: Render the HTML in the EJS Template

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Important Considerations

Security: While using unescaped output can be useful for rendering HTML content, it opens your application to potential XSS attacks if the HTML content is not sanitized. Always ensure that the content being pulled from the database is safe to render.

Performance: If dealing with large HTML strings, consider the performance implications, particularly if you're rendering complex structures.

Conclusion