How can PHP developers ensure that variables passed in URLs are properly formatted for Open Graph meta tags?

When passing variables in URLs for Open Graph meta tags, PHP developers can ensure proper formatting by using the `urlencode()` function to encode the variables. This function will convert special characters in the variable values to URL-friendly format, ensuring that the meta tags are correctly interpreted by social media platforms.

<?php
$variable = "This is a variable value with special characters & symbols";
$encoded_variable = urlencode($variable);
echo $encoded_variable;
?>