But before doing that, you should read the following FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) because it will prove very useful for you:
How many fonts do I have to download and install?: Two. Their names are: "Gentium" and "Sanskrit 2003".
What kind of characters do they show?: Gentium is used for showing transliterated Sanskrit, i.e. Sanskrit in Roman characters instead of the original signs. And the transliteration via Gentium is in IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration). Sanskrit 2003 shows original Sanskrit, i.e. signs. As the text, whether in the transliteration or in the original Sanskrit, is fully Unicode, you will always see characters (I explain this later on in the present document). Anyway, I "strongly" recommend you download and install the two fonts to behold Sanskrit in "its full glory".
Is the Gentium font being used on all pages at present?: Not yet, but it is spreading throughout the entire site little by little. In due course, all pages will use Gentium for transliterating Sanskrit. Be warned that the dropdown menu you can see on top of this page uses Gentium as its main font too. Thus, downloading/installing Gentium is a must.
How do I know which pages are using Gentium right now?: Look for the phrase "This page uses the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST)" at a bottom of a particular page. If you see that, Gentium is "generally" there (with very few exceptions).
What is a unicode font?: It is a font designed according to the Unicode standard. Visit Unicode.org for more information about unicode and non-unicode fonts, please.
Are Gentium and Sanskrit 2003 Unicode fonts?: Yes indeed!
What happens if I do not install any of the two abovementioned fonts?: It is not reasonable at all, but if you wish to do so because of a kind of font-phobia or who knows, it is up to you, hehe (just kidding!). Anyway, new visitors might experience this till they finally download and install the fonts. Well, as I am using UTF-8 as the character set (do not ask what UTF-8 is, please, or this FAQ will be so lengthy as the Bible, haha), if Gentium is not installed, you will see text transliterated in IAST for sure, but it will look somewhat little and difficult to read regarding the rest of the text [e.g. ṣ, ṭ or "iṣṭa" (wished, desired, etc.), with Gentium OFF, instead of ṣ, ṭ or "iṣṭa", with Gentium ON (note how the transliteration looks now clear and more solid/stylish)]. If you have not installed the Gentium font yet, you cannot check the difference right now, obviously. Finally, if you do not install the Sanskrit 2003 font, the operating system you own will use the default one (if there is any) to show the signs in Devanāgarī script somehow. Windows uses the Mangal font to do so. Of course, the text will look "poor" as Mangal is poor in comparison with the Sanskrit 2003 font, but you will see Sanskrit signs though. Wrapping it up: you will see transliteration/signs even though you do not install the fonts, but in a poor way for the most part. Clear enough, I think.
You said that the dropdown menu appearing on top of the pages uses Gentium as its main font. Would you kindly explain to me what you meant, please?: Ah yes, the dropdown menu ("Accessible Website Drop Down Menu" is the proper name by the way... there is a link to the author's site at the bottom of this very page) has been set up by me so that it supports three fonts, in this order: 1) "Gentium", 2) "Arial Unicode MS", 3) "Sans-serif". If you do not have Gentium installed, the second font will become operative, viz. Arial Unicode MS. This font will show transliterated Sanskrit properly, no doubt about it. However, if you do not have even Arial Unicode MS installed, the menu will use Sans-serif, which you have surely installed as it is a basic font. Sans-serif will show transliterated Sanskrit in a decent way, but the text will very likely look unharmonious according to the browser you are using.
Just curious, why did you choose "Arial Unicode MS" as one of the three fonts for the dropdown menu?: Because it comes with Microsoft Office since the version 2000. A lot of people use the well-known Microsoft's software and they probably have it installed already. If you are a Microsoft Office user and do not have it installed, check the Office help whether offline (in the program itself) or online (e.g. "Install the universal font for Unicode" is a good online resource).
Anything else?: Yes, when you go to the "Font download/installation page", firstly download the two fonts and afterward read carefully the detailed instructions according to your operating system, please. I have put plenty of helpful information there so that you have no problems at all. In any case, if you need personal help, just contact me via e-mail.
