Are there any specific PHP functions or libraries that can simplify the process of showing user input previews in a guestbook application?

When creating a guestbook application, it's important to sanitize and display user input securely to prevent any potential security vulnerabilities. One way to simplify the process of showing user input previews is by using the htmlentities() function in PHP. This function converts special characters to HTML entities, ensuring that user input is displayed safely on the page.

<?php
// Get user input from form submission
$user_input = $_POST['user_input'];

// Sanitize user input using htmlentities function
$sanitized_input = htmlentities($user_input);

// Display sanitized user input in a preview
echo "Preview: " . $sanitized_input;
?>