How to use BBCodes to make your post more professional looking. -Hughes

What is BBCode?

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BBCode is a special implementation of HTML. Whether you can actually use BBCode in your posts on the forum is determined by the administrator. In addition, you can disable BBCode on a per post basis via the posting form. BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML: tags are enclosed in square brackets [ and ] rather than < and > and it offers greater control over what and how something is displayed. Depending on the template you are using you may find adding BBCode to your posts is made much easier through a clickable interface above the message area on the posting form. Even with this you may find the following guide useful.




How to create bold, italic, underlined and striked text.

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BBCode includes tags to allow you to quickly change the basic style of your text. This is achieved in the following ways:

To make a piece of text bold enclose it in:

Code:

 [b]Hello[/b]

Result: Hello

For underlining use:

Code:

 [u]Hello[/u]

Result: Hello

To italicise text use:

Code:

[i]Great![/i]

Result: Great!

To strike some text:

Code:

 [strike]test[/strike]

Result: test





How to change the text colour or size.

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To alter the color or size of your text the following tags can be used. (Keep in mind that how the output appears will depend on the viewers browser and system):

To change your text color, you can specify a known color (ex: red, blue, yellow, etc.), or an hexadecimal color code (ex: #FFFFFF, #000000):

Code:

[color=red]Red color (red)[/color] or [color=#FF0000]Red color (#FF0000)[/color]

Result: Red color (red) or Red color (#FF0000)

To change your text size, you must specify the text size in pixel, from 1 (so small you won't see it) to 29 (very huge):

Code:

[size=9]SMALL[/size] or [size=24]HUGE[/size]

Result: SMALL or HUGE

To change the font, you must specify a recognized font (ex: Verdana, Arial) if the user hasn't got the font, a default one will be displayed :

Code:

[font=Arial]Arial font[/font] or [font=Comic Sans Ms]Comic sans MS font[/font]

Result: Arial font or Comic sans MS font






Can I combine formatting tags?

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Yes, of course you can; for example to get someones attention you may write:

Code:

[size=18][color=red][b]LOOK AT ME ![/b][/color][/size]

will give : LOOK AT ME !

Although, we recommend you not to use much text as above ! Remember that it's your task to correctly shut the tags. The following example is incorrect:

Code:

[b][u]This is incorrect[/b][/u]

The correct form is :

Code:

[b][u]This is correct[/u][/b]

Quoting text in replies.

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There are two ways you can quote text: with a reference or without.

The reference example, to quote a post wrote by Mr. Blobby, you must enter:

Code:

[quote="Mr. Blobby"]The text wrote by Mr. Blobby must be placed here[/quote]

Result :

Mr. Blobby wrote:The text wrote by Mr. Blobby must be placed here

Remember that you must include the quotation marks "" around the name you are quoting -- they are not optional.

The second method allows you to blindly quote something. To use it :

Code:

[quote]Blind quote[/quote]

Result :

Blind quote

Outputting code or fixed width data.

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If you want to output a piece of code (HTML or other) or in fact anything that requires a fixed width with a Courier-type font, you must use the following BBCode :

Code:

[code]echo "This is some code";[/code]

Result :

Code:

echo "This is some code";

This is exactly what we use in this FAQ to show you all the BBCodes you can use.




Add a flash animation to a message.

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You've got two methods to insert a flash animation in your message.

First method with the flash BBcode:

Code:

[flash(200,40)]http://illiweb.com/fa/i/forumotion.swf[/flash]

Result :


Second method with the embed-flash BBcode :

Code:

[embed-flash(200,40)]http://illiweb.com/fa/i/forumotion.swf[/embed-flash]

Result :


Don't forget to indicate the flash animation's width and the height between the brackets of the used BBcode tag.





Create a frame in a message.

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The BBCode to insert a frame in a message is identical to the tags used in HTML. To create a frame, you need to start by creating a frame 'table' then insert a 'tr' lign. This lign can contain one or several cells 'td', well as a frame can contain several 'tr' ligns.

For an example, to create a two ligns and three columns frame, you need to proceed as following :

Code:

[table][tr][td] Lign 1 - Cell 1 [/td] [td] Lign 1 - Cell 2 [/td] [td] Lign - Cell 3 [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Lign 2 - Cell 1 [/td] [td] Lign 2 - Cell 2 [/td] [td] Lign 2 - Cell 3 [/td][/tr][/table]

Result :

Lign 1 - Cell 1	Lign 1 - Cell 2	Lign - Cell 3
Lign 2 - Cell 1	Lign 2 - Cell 2	Lign 2 - Cell 3

You can also add arguments in the BBcode 'table'. These last ones are identical as those used for HTML. You can for an exemple add a bound to the frame above thanks to the 'border' attribute.

Code:

[table border=1] [tr][td] Lign 1 - Cell 1 [/td] [td] Lign 1 - Cell 2 [/td] [td] Lign 1 - Cell 3 [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Lign 2 - Cell 1 [/td] [td] Lign 2 - Cell 2 [/td] [td] Lign 2 - Cell 3 [/td][/tr][/table]

Result :

Lign 1 - Cell 1	Lign 1 - Cell 2	Lign 1 - Cell 3
Lign 2 - Cell 1	Lign 2 - Cell 2	Lign 2 - Cell 3

Other available attributes are for an example: cellspacing, cellpadding, width, etc.
The frames need to be manipulated with caution, please respect the BBcodes opening and closure. If an opening or closure error is made, you may not obtain what you want.





Make a message scroll horizontally.

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If you wish to make a text scroll horizontally, you need to use the following BBcode :

Code:

[scroll]My message[/scroll]

Result : My message






Effects with BBCodes.

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Four BBcodes producing effects on your messages are at your disposal. Although, this codes are only compatible under Internet Explorer with a phpBB2 forum.

The first is a vertical mirror effect (Vertical symmetry) on the text :

Code:

[flipv]Vertical mirror effect[/flipv]

Result :Vertical mirror effect 

The second is a horizontal mirror effect (horizontal symmetry) on the text :

Code:

[fliph]horizontal mirror effect[/fliph]

Result : horizontal mirror effect 

If you wish a blur effect in your text, you can use this BBcode :

Code:

[blur]Blurred message[/blur]

Result : Blurred message

The last BBcode effect is the fading :

Code:

[fade]Fading effect[/fade]

Result : Fading effect