The Full Bulletin Board Code (BBCode) Reference Guide To Markup Your Posts

[Chip (OP)]

NB: The basics are in https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Category:Bulletin_Board_Code

Dopetalk's Complete BBCode Reference Guide

This section demonstrates the standard BBCodes supported by Simple Machines Forum (SMF).


Text Formatting

Bold

Example:
[b]Bold Text[/b]

Result:

Bold Text

---

Italic

Example:
[i]Italic Text[/i]

Result:

Italic Text

---

Underline

Example:
[u]Underlined Text[/u]

Result:

Underlined Text

---

Strike-through

Example:
[s]Deleted Text[/s]

Result:

Deleted Text

---

Monospaced

Example:
[tt]Monospaced Text[/tt]

Result:

Monospaced Text

---

_Subscript

Example:
H[sub]2[/sub]O

Result:

H₂O

---

^Superscript

Example:
x[sup]2[/sup]

Result:

x²

---

Font Size

Example:
[size=24pt]Large Text[/size]

Result:

Large Text

---

Colours

Example:
[color=red]Red[/color]

Result:

Red

---

Fonts

Example:
[font=Courier New]Courier New[/font]

Result:

Courier New

---

Alignment

Example:
[center]Centered Text[/center]

Result:

Centered Text

---

Lists

Example:
[list]
[li]Apple[/li]
[li]Orange[/li]
[li]Banana[/li]
[/list]

Result:

• Apple
• Orange
• Banana

---

Ordered List

Example:
[list type=decimal]
[li]One[/li]
[li]Two[/li]
[li]Three[/li]
[/list]

Result:

• One
• Two
• Three

---

Quotes

Example:
[quote author=Andrew]
Hello World!
[/quote]

Result:

Hello World!

---

Code

Example:
[code]
echo "Hello World";
[/code]

Result:

Code: [Select]

echo "Hello World";

---

Preformatted Text

Example:
[pre]
Column 1     Column 2
123          456
[/pre]

Result:

Column 1     Column 2
123          456

---

Links

Example:
[url=https://www.example.com]Visit Example[/url]

Result:

Visit Example

---

Email

Example:
[email]someone@example.com[/email]

Result:

someone@example.com

---

Images

Example:
[img]https://example.com/image.jpg[/img]

Result:



---

Tables

Example:
[table]
[tr]
[td]A1[/td]
[td]B1[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]A2[/td]
[td]B2[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

Result:

A1	B1
A2	B2

---

Horizontal Rule

Example:
[hr]

Result:


---

Abbreviations

Example:
[abbr=World Health Organization]WHO[/abbr]

Result:

WHO (World Health Organization)

---

Glow

Example:
[glow=red,2,300]Glow Text[/glow]

Result:

Glow Text

---

Shadow

Example:
[shadow=gray,left]Shadow Text[/shadow]

Result:

Shadow Text

---

Move

Example:
[move]Moving Text[/move]

Result:

Moving Text
---

Insert / Delete

Example:
[ins]Inserted[/ins]
[del]Deleted[/del]

Result:

[ins]Inserted[/ins]

[del]Deleted[/del]

---

Time

Example:
[time]2026-07-06[/time]

Result:

July 05, 2026, 10:00:00 PM

---

Nested BBCodes

Example:
[b][color=blue][size=18pt]Styled Heading[/size][/color][/b]

Result:

Styled Heading

---

Example:
[url=https://www.example.com][b]Bold Link[/b][/url]

Result:

Bold Link

---

Example:
[quote]
[b]Important:[/b]

[list]
[li]Point One[/li]
[li]Point Two[/li]
[/list]
[/quote]

Result:

Important:

• Point One
• Point Two

❌ THE NON-STANDARD SMF BBCODES WE USE:

These are NOT part of SMF core and come from mods, themes, or custom parser extensions:

📎 Attach system (modded in SMF 2.x usage layer)

attach

attachment

NB: An image needs attaching first


ChatGPT-2-8603022f-e2da-4bfd-a829-9ec38e9c7f88.png (2762.22 kB . 1024x1536 - viewed 1 times)

attachmini
attachthumb
attachurl

To be added later ...

🎬 Media embeds (all custom/mod)

audio

[audio=https://forum.drugs-and-users.org/private/100115 Feisty v Rollins Q Ball Mix.mp3]Feisty v Rollins Q Ball Mix[/audio]

Feisty v Rollins Q Ball Mix

instagram

[instagram]DGL61o9ThDP[/instagram]

video

[video=https://forum.drugs-and-users.org/YottoNYC.mp4]Yotto at New York City[/video]

Yotto at New York City

🧠 Role / permission-based BBCode system (custom)

you

I am Guest

okay

[okay]text[/okay]

text

only_admin

Admin only

info

[info]text[/info]

text

warning

[warning]text[/warning]

text

error

[error]text[/error]

text

🧾 UI / layout framework (custom BBCode pack)

bg

[bg=http://forum.drugs-and-users.org/xmas.jpg][color=red] My
long
text
over
a
few
lines
[/color][/bg]

My long text over a few lines

black
blue
green
red
white

self-explanatory color settings

colorbox

[colorbox]#FF0000[/colorbox]
[colorbox]#00FF00[/colorbox]
[colorbox]#0000FF[/colorbox]

#FF0000 R
#00FF00 G
#0000FF B

dot

[dot]underline me with dots[/dot]

underline me with dots

icode

[icode]inline code[/icode]

inline code

smallcaps

[smallcaps]turn me into small capitals[/smallcaps]

turn me into small capitals

spoiler

[spoiler]hide me[/spoiler]

Spoiler: show

hide me

blink

[blink=7]blink for 7 seconds[/blink] ... [blink]blink for the 2 second default[/blink]

blink for 7 seconds ... blink for the 2 second default

hover

[hover=THIS MESSAGE BOX WILL POP UP SO THERE IS NO NEED TO TAKE A LINK - IT CAN BE QUITE LONG]try me by hovering over this text[/hover]

try me by hovering over this text

highlight (defaults to yellow)

[highlight=pink]xxx[/highlight]

xxx

bouncy

[bouncy]text to bounce[/bouncy]

text to bounce

s Strikeout

[instagram][s]strike me out[/s][/instagram]

strike me out

Notes:

* [s] is core, but our system likely overrides styling
* colour-name tags (black/blue/etc.) are NOT SMF core

🌐 External integrations (custom link wrappers)

imdb

[imdb]The Wire[/imdb]

IMDb: The Wire

wiki

[wiki]Mark Alsop[/wiki]

Mark Alsop^Wiki

iurl

Like [url] but doesn't open a new tab and links in the current tab:

[iurl]https://www.simplemachines.org[/iurl]

https://www.simplemachines.org

⚙️ Advanced / dangerous / system-level (custom/mod)

html   ⚠️ not core SMF and Admin only
php    ⚠️ mod-only / high risk
pdf    custom PDF viewer
flash  legacy / disabled in modern SMF

# ⚠️ Important clarification

Even though SMF includes:

* [shadow]
* [glow]
* [move]

In our forum they behave like:

> theme-enhanced or mod-extended versions, not guaranteed stock behaviour.