Generally, messages on the forum are mostly plain text, however on occasion you may want to add some formatting to your text, such as making certain words bold, italics, etc...

Since in most cases the admin does not permit you to use HTML inside your posts, you can use BBcode, which is a special set of tags that allows you to apply certain formatting to your text. BBcode is very easy to use and is a lot more secure than HTML.

URL Hyperlinking

BBcode	Result
http://cvs.prohost.org	http://cvs.prohost.org

Explanation: forum will automatically pick up URLs and convert them to valid URLs.

BBcode	Result
[url]http://www.myhomepage.com[/url]	http://www.myhomepage.com

Explanation: You also can define URLs with BBcode, this is an simple example of its use.

BBcode	Result
[url=http://www.myhomepage.com] My Homepage [/url]	My Homepage

Explanation: You can use BBcode to make URLs with a self-chosen caption.


Email Hyperlinking

BBcode	Result
supportrIrIprohostrIrIorg	supportrIrIprohostrIrIorg

Explanation: forum will automatically convert email links into working hyperlinks.

BBcode	Result
[email=supportrIrIprohostrIrIorg] Click here to email our tech support [/email]	Click here to email our tech support

Explanation: You can use BBcode to make email links with a self-chosen caption.

Text Styling

BBcode	Result
[b]bold[/b]	bold

BBcode	Result
[u]underlined[/u]	underlined

BBcode	Result
[i]italicized[/i]	italicized

BBcode	Result
[sub]subscript[/sub]	subscript

BBcode	Result
[sup]superscript[/sup]	superscript

BBcode	Result
[color=red]red text[/color]	red text

BBcode	Result
[size=4]big text[/size]	big text

BBcode	Result
[font=courier]text[/color]	text

BBcode	Result
[b][u][i][color=red][size=4][font=courier] Formatted Text [/font][/size][/color][/i][/u][/b]	Formatted Text

Explanation: You can use as much text styling tags together as you like.


Text Alignment

BBcode	Result
[align=center]centered text[/align]	centered text

BBcode	Result
[align=right]right aligned[/align]	right aligned

BBcode	Result
[align=left]left aligned[/align]	left aligned

Various Lists

BBcode	Result
[list] [*]list item [*]list item [/list]	list item list item

BBcode	Result
[list type=1] [*]list item [*]list item [/list]	list item list item

BBcode	Result
[list type=a] [*]list item [*]list item [/list]	list item list item

Adding Images

BBcode	Result
[img] http://www.churchitech.com/theme/my_skin/images/mylogo.png [/img]

BBcode	Result
[url=http://www.prohost.org] [img] http://www.churchitech.com/theme/my_skin/images/mylogo.png [/img] [/url]

Explanation: You can use BBcode to create linked images by enclosing the [img][/img] tag with the [url][/url] tag.

Wrap text around images

BBcode	Result
[imgr] http://www.churchitech.com/theme/my_skin/images/mylogo.png [/imgr] Some text to the left.	Some text to the left.

Explanation: You can use BBcode to wrap text smoothly around images by enclosing the image url within [imgl][/imgl] "image left" or [imgr][/imgr] "image right" tags. These may also be used in conjunction with other text alignment and styling tags.

Quoting other messages

BBcode	Result
[quote]Hello World[/quote]	Quote: Hello World

Pre-formatted Text

BBcode	Result
[pre] $fp = fopen('somefile', 'w'); if ( !$fp ) { exit('no such file!'); } else { fwrite($fp, 'hello world'); fclose($fp); } [/pre]	$fp = fopen('somefile', 'w'); if ( !$fp ) { exit('no such file!'); } else { fwrite($fp, 'hello world'); fclose($fp); }

Explanation: This tag produces the text exactly as it was typed maintaining the formatting.


PHP Code

BBcode	Result
[php] function hello() { echo "Hello World!"; } hello(); [/php]	function hello() {         echo "Hello World!"; } hello(); ?>

Explanation: The [php][/php] tag allows to post PHP-code with automatic syntax highlighting by the forum.


Non-PHP Program Code

BBcode	Result
[code] $fp = fopen('somefile', 'w'); if ( !$fp ) { exit('no such file!'); } else { fwrite($fp, 'hello world'); fclose($fp); } [/code]	$fp = fopen('somefile', 'w'); if ( !$fp ) { exit('no such file!'); } else { fwrite($fp, 'hello world'); fclose($fp); }

Explanation: The [code][/code] tag works pretty much the same way as the [pre][/pre] tag but it puts a visually identifiable box around the text.


No Tag
Explanation: The [notag][/notag] tag allows you to have the text inside the tags not be parsed by the forum's tag parser. This allows you to give examples of BBcode and not have them converted to equivalent HTML.


Horizontal Line Tag

BBcode	Result
[hr]

Explanation: The [hr] tag produces a horizontal line, it is an equivalent to the

---

HTML tag.


Spoiler

BBcode	Result
Visible part of the message [spoiler] Hidden part of the message [/spoiler] More visible text.	Visible part of the message Toggle Spoiler Hidden part of the message More visible text.

Explanation: The [spoiler][/spoiler] tag allows you to hide a portion of message from being displayed. To see the hidden portion the users must click a link that will display the hidden portion of the text. Internally this is accomplished by JavaScript so the page is not actually reloaded, instead a hidden layer is made visible.


Acronym

BBcode	Result
[acronym=Fast Uncompromising Discussion Forum] forum [/acronym]	forum

Explanation: The [acronym][/acronym] tag allows you to identify the text as an acronym and provide a full name when the user moves their mouse over the tag.


Wikipedia

BBcode	Result
[wikipedia=en]forum[/wikipedia]	forum

Explanation: The [wikipedia][/wikipedia] tag allows you to create a reference to a wikipedia page based on the subject. To use the tag, surround the term with [wikipedia] tags, if you want to link to a particular wikipedia mirror you can use [wikipedia=ca] format for openning the tag, where ca is the prefix of the mirror.

Smilies are small icons that you can insert into your message to convey various emotions & feelings. If smilies are enabled, a list of smilies supported by the forum will be listed above the message box where you type your message. Clicking on a smiley, will insert that smiley into your message.

Common smilies may automatically be replaced with their equivalent images, if you do not wish for that to happen, click on the Disable smilies in this message checkbox.

In certain forums you may have the ability to include polls inside your messages. Polls allow you to ask a question and provide a number of answers other forum members may choose from. For the sake of accuracy only registered users may cast in their votes.
When you click on the CREATE POLL link, located on the post page a pop-up will appear allowing to create a poll with several potential multiple choice answers. When you are done, simply click on the Update button and you will be taken back to the post page and then poll you've created will be attached to the message.
You can edit an existing poll, by clicking on the EDIT link, or you can remove the poll entirely by click on the DELETE.

You will only have one opportunity to vote in a poll, so make your decision carefully, you will not be able to change it at a later point.

If allowed by administrator, you may attach one or more files to your normal as well as private messages. This ability is determined on a forum by forum basis, so while you may be able to attach files in one forum you may not be able to do so in another.
The post form will list three rules which apply to your file attachments:

Allowed File Types - a list of file types that you may attach to your message. ex. jpg, gif, png
Maximum File Size - the maximum size of each file that you may attach to your message
Maximum Files per Message - the number of files you can attach to your message.

To attach a file to a message, click the Browse button at the bottom of the post page. In response your browser will open a dialog window allowing your to select a file you wish to upload from your hard drive. Once you've selected a file, click on the Upload File button to attach the file to your message.
If you wish to remove any attached files, simply click on the Delete located to the right of the file.

Post icons are small images that you can choose to show beside your messages. They are most commonly used to indicate the nature of your message or the feeling your are trying to convey. If you do not see those icons on the post form, it means the administrator has disabled this feature.

If you are a registered member, you may be able to edit messages that you have previously posted. This option may be time-limited, so it is possible that you'll be able to edit your recent posts, while unable to edit posts made a while ago.
If you edit your post, a small note will be prepended to your message, showing that this message was edited by you and indicate the time & date of editing.
If a moderator or an administrator have edited your message you may or may not, depending on the forum settings see a note identifying the fact that this message was edited.

Moderators are "super users" who generally oversee one or more forums. They have the ability to edit, delete, approve messages as well as make forum announcements. These are the people to contact if you see something inappropriate being done in a forum they are moderating. You may also address moderators if you have any questions in regard on how to use the forum.

Administrators are the controllers of the forum, they can do ANYTHING, so be polite when talking to them ;-). Administrator in addition to being able to do everything a moderator can do, also can approve Avatars, assign & remove custom tags, block users and respond to various forum questions. If you encounter any bugs with the forum, Administrator is the person to contact.

The administrator may choose to censor certain words, those words would be replaced by the administrator's chosen alternative. Censorship is forum wide, so the same things you cannot see, other people will also not be able to see.

When you post a new topic or make a reply to an existing topic, you may choose to be notified via email of the replies. You can also subscribe to a topic without posting a reply, by clicking on the Subscribe link at the top of the page or if you want you can subscribe to a forum, so that whenever a new topic is made in that forum you will receive a notification about it.

If you choose to stop receiving notifications from a topic or forum, you can click on the Unsubscribe link, while viewing that topic or forum. Or go to the Subscriptions tab in your profile and remove the topic or forum from that list.

The ability to receive notifications is limited to registered users.