Computersight -

BBB code stands for “bulletin board code” and is basically for use in forums and on bulletin boards online. There are other sites that do use BB code though, even though they don’t essentially have the conventional bulletin board.

Is it HTML?

No, it’s very similar to HTML but it isn’t. There are several types of code webmasters use and BB code is really a simplified, user friendly facility which enables you to utilize the full potential that a website may offer.

So what can I do with BB code?

You can use BB code for a lot of different things but they are predominantly text related. For example, you can embolden or italicize an excerpt of prose.

So how do I do it?

Here are some examples of BB code for an SWF powered forum. If the board is powered by PHBB you will need to search for PHP BB code.

(The star between each parameter indicates your selected text.)

[b]*[/b] This will embolden text like so.

[i]*[/i] This will italicize text like so.

[u]*[/s] This will underline text like so.

[s]*[/s] This will draw a line through the text as though you have crossed it out.

[move]*[/move] This will create a marquee.

[left]*[/left] This will left align the text and respectively:

[right]*[/right] will right align it in addition to:

[center]*[/center] which will centre the text in the page.

[size=10pt]*[/size] This will alter the text size and you can replace the “10” with whichever size you would prefer.

[font=verdana]*[/font] This will enable you to select your own font, providing they are browser friendly.

[color=red]*[/color] This will allow you to select a colour, you must ensure that the board supports the colour you desire before you use it. Also, if you’re English, remember the spelling is American!

[img]*[/img] This will insert an image of your choice providing you insert the exact location of the image e.g. http://www.myimage.com/image.jpg

[url]*[/url] This will allow you to insert a URL e.g. http://www.mysite.com

[email]*[/email] This will allow you to insert your email and once the user clicks on it they should be directed to Microsoft outlook or whichever SMTP account they use.

[quote]*[/quote] This will block quote all text between the brackets.

As you can see BB code is really simple to use and won’t take long to get your head around. I haven’t delved too deeply into the realms of BB code because initially it’s best to learn the basic before you learn the more complex functions like inserting tables.

I would advise you to check that the board supports all of these codes before implementing them. Also ensure that the board is in fact SWF and not PHPBB because there are significant differences between the two codes.

For instance a marquee on a PHPBB will be implemented by coding [MARQUEE]*[/MARQUEE] instead of the SWF version [move]*[/move]. Many of the examples above will differ on a PHPBB so it is best to do a bit of research before you use them. Most boards will display a “powered by” sign at the footer of the page anyway so it won’t be too difficult to work out which code you’re looking for.

Another thing to remember is to type the code exactly as you see it. The English spellings won’t work and you may have difficulties if you try to implement SWF code in CAPS. It is lower case unlike PHPBB and as such it’s best not to tempt fate.

Good luck with your forum posting and I hope you have fun using the BB code!