diff --git a/lib/sharedFunctions.sh b/lib/sharedFunctions.sh
index 0731798..d9d3e82 100755
--- a/lib/sharedFunctions.sh
+++ b/lib/sharedFunctions.sh
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ function readFile() {
 # ------------------------------------------------------
 # usage: var=$(escape "String")
 # ------------------------------------------------------
-escape() { echo $@ | sed 's/[]\.|$(){}?+*^]/\\&/g'; }
+escape() { echo "${@}" | sed 's/[]\.|$(){}?+*^]/\\&/g'; }
 
 # needSudo
 # ------------------------------------------------------
@@ -520,6 +520,12 @@ htmlDecode() {
   echo "${1}" | sed -f "${SOURCEPATH}/htmlDecode.sed"
 }
 
+htmlEncode() {
+  # Encode HTML characters with sed
+  # Usage: htmlEncode <string>
+  echo "${1}" | sed -f "${SOURCEPATH}/htmlEncode.sed"
+}
+
 
 urlencode() {
   # URL encoding/decoding from: https://gist.github.com/cdown/1163649