So on a thread page it says at the bottom:
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You may edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG]code is Off
Then it says: HTML code is Off
But[/img]
Italic is an HTML command, so is
Color and
URL. These commands are very similar if not the command codes for .html
Comments
"<i>" is HTML.
"" is BB code.
Not the same.
I've moved this to the Academy forum.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Yes, yes, forgot all about academy, but it seemed general.
Anyways, whats the use for BB code anyways? HTML does the same stuff.
I am in no way a coder, nor do I have any knowledge of it, but I'm gonna take a stab at this.
With BB you type []. With HTML, you type <>. Maybe it's just because brackets are easier to press than captial , and .?
Obviously forum owners don't want regular posters to have the freedom to do everything that HTML allows within their posts. It could mess up the site formatting (as one of the least undesirable results).
By using BB code, they allow us to use a limited number of functions which they're happy for us to use and which they know are compatible with the forum software.
I suspect that the reason it uses [] rather than () is because [] are less often used in typed sentences, and therefore are unlikely to be used by accident. It also gives the code a familiar feel to those familiar with HTML syntax.
-K
I wanted to post user guides in the forum, formatted properly. Sadly it wasn't possible.
Adjust and make do
Heck, you could even force the browser charset to use UTF-7 (unsafe, usable for certain attack vectors) against UTF-8 (safer).
BBcode was introduced in 1998 and has been in use ever since. Gives the ability to edit your markup within certain limits. Everything that out of these bounds usually get removed before these tags get converted (program-wise).
It's lightweight and safe. You can find more info over here.
I call it, the Stoutes paradox.
Yeah that's pretty much the gist of it. It is a standard that is used on almost all Internet forums to allow users some simple message formatting while disallowing users from adding malicious code.
Joined January 2009
LOL, the good old days. BBCode may have been introduced in '98, but I remember it taking a while for all the various web forum hosts and software packages to adopt it. In the meantime, a lot of them were still accepting straight HTML without sanitizing it. You could just drop a </table> into your post, and watch the chaos ensue.