RJ Wattenhofer

Tech writing, 3D model building and game design.

March 19, 2024

Bulletin Board Codes

How to use bb code for popular forums like Simple Machines & phpBB

Here is a list of BB codes used in most bulletin board applications, including the ever popular Simple Machines and phpBB. You can combine tags in one section of text by placing the child tags within the parent tags, as in this example:

[iurl][b]http://rjwattenhofer.com[/b][/iurl]

Notice how both the open and closed bold tags are located within the [iurl][/iurl] tags. Another thing to be mindful of is that text-formatting tags must be placed within text-alignment tags if you are planning to use them together, like in this example:

[left][b]This text is bold and justified to the left[/b][/left]

When you see an 'N/A' in the results column this simply means that, due to table formatting, the example code is not able to be displayed correctly or is not necessary.

Tag Description Example Result
[anchor] Creates an anchor link within the post anchor=link_here]Place anchor text here[/anchor] N/A
[acronym] Ability to mouse over acronym and see full title [acronym=Minecraft]MC[/acronym]

MC

[b] Make text bold [b]This is bold text[/b] This is bold text
[br] Text break This text is [br]on two lines This text is
on two lines
[center] Centers text [center]This is centered text[/center] This is centered text
[code] Fix width or output a piece of code [code]echo "some example code";[/code] N/A
[color] Define the text color [color=blue]This text is blue[/color] This text is blue
[email] Creates an email hyperlink [email]info@rjwattenhofer.com[/email] mailto:info@rjwattenhofer.com
[flash] Embeds flash in the post [flash=300, 375]http://examplefile.swf[/flash] N/A
[font] Sets the font style [font=Georgia, Helvetica, Times New Roman]This text has a custom font[/font] This text has a custom font
[ftp] Creates an ftp hyperlink [ftp=ftp://exampledomain.com]bb code or text here[/ftp] N/A
[glow] Make text glow a specific color [glow=blue,3]This is glowing text[/glow] This is glowing text
[hr] Creates a divider line [hr]
[html] Embed HTML code [html]Code goes here[/html] N/A
[i] Makes italic text [i]This is italicized text[/i] This is italicized text
[img] Embed an image in your post [img width=25]http://rjwattenhofer.com/images/avatar.jpg[/img] invader zim profile
[iurl] Create a plain hyperlink [iurl]http://rjwattenhofer.com[/iurl] http://rjwattenhofer.com
[left] Justifies text to the left [left]This text is to the left[/left] This text is to the left
[list] Create an unordered (bulleted) list [list][*]First list item[*]Second list item[/list] bb code 04
[move] Moving marquee text [move]This text moves[/move] This text moves
[nobbc] Removes bulletin board formatting code [nobbc][i]This should be italic but it's not[/i][/nobbc] This should be italic but it's not
[php] Embed php code [php]Code goes here[/php] N/A
[pre] Use this instead of [code] for preformatted text [pre]echo "some example code";[/pre] N/A
[quote] Place your text in a quote box [quote]This is relevant[/quote]
This is relevant
[right] Justifies text to the right [right]This text is to the right[/right] This text is to the right
[s] Strikethrough [s]This text is not relevant anymore[/s] This text is not relevant anymore
[shadow] Embed php code [shadow=blue,right]This has a shadow[/shadow] This has a shadow
[size] Defines the text size [size=x-large]Extra-large text[/size] Extra-large text
[sub] Creates subscript Standard text and[sub]Subscript[/sub] bb code 01
[sup] Creates superscript Standard text and[sup]Superscript[/sup] bb code 02
[table] Creates a table in your post [table]
[tr][td]First table item[/td]
[td]Second table item[/td][/tr]
[/table]
An example of a table is this entire BB code list
[time] Embed and covert a Unix timestamp [time]1409080237[/time] 26 Aug 2014 19:10:37
[tt] Fixed-width teletype font [tt]Your text or code[/tt] bb code 03
[u] Underlines the text [u]This text is underlined[/u] This text is underlined
[url] Create a text hyperlink [url=]http://rjwattenhofer.com]RJ Wattenhofer[/url] RJ Wattenhofer
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