How to escape indicator characters (i.e. : or - ) in YAML

Question

In a config file, I have a key to which I wish to assign a URL. The problem is that YAML interprets : and - characters as either creating mappings or lists, so it has a pro

Answer 1

What also works and is even nicer for long, multiline texts, is putting your text indented on the next line, after a pipe or greater-than sign:

text: >
    Op dit plein stond het hoofdkantoor van de NIROM: Nederlands Indische 
    Radio Omroep

A pipe preserves newlines, a gt-sign turns all the following lines into one long string.