BBCode to HTML Converter

About BBCode to HTML

The BBCode to HTML converter rewrites forum-style tags such as bold, quote, list and url into their HTML equivalents. Tags can nest and run across many lines, and text is HTML-escaped so a post cannot inject markup. It is aimed at people migrating posts off an old message board, or rendering stored BBCode in a template.

How to use it

1. Paste your forum markup into the BBCode box.
2. Click Convert to HTML. An error notice appears if the box is empty.
3. Read the converted markup in the HTML Result box.
4. Click the copy icon above the result to put the HTML on your clipboard.

A multi-line quote followed by a list

[quote=Ann]
Buy [b]milk[/b] & eggs
[/quote]
[list]
[*]One
[*]Two
[/list]

<blockquote><cite>Ann wrote:</cite>Buy <strong>milk</strong> &amp; eggs</blockquote><ul><li>One</li><li>Two</li></ul>

When to use it

• Moving years of posts from a retired phpBB-style forum into a new CMS.
• Rendering stored user comments that were saved as BBCode.
• Checking what markup a particular tag combination produces before writing your own parser.
• Turning a forum announcement into HTML for a newsletter.

Questions about BBCode to HTML

Which tags are supported?

Bold, italic, underline, strike, size from 1 to 7, color, font, left, center and right alignment, quote with an optional author, code, list in plain, numbered and lettered forms, list items, url, img and email.

Can a tag pair span several lines or nest?

Yes. Quotes, code blocks, lists and formatting tags can run across lines and contain each other. The newline right inside a block tag or right after its closing tag is dropped, and other line breaks become br tags.

How are list items handled?

Each star item becomes an li element and ends at the next star or at the closing list tag, so the last item no longer swallows the closing tag. A list equal to 1 gives ol, a gives an ol with type a, and a plain list gives ul.

Is the output sanitized?

Text is escaped, so raw HTML in the post is shown as text. Link and image addresses must be http, https, mailto, ftp or relative, and color, size and font values are checked. A javascript address drops the link and keeps its text.

What happens to unknown or unclosed tags?

They stay in the output as literal text, so a stray closing tag or a forgotten close is visible instead of silently lost. Tags closed out of order are repaired so no HTML element is left open.

Why do I see strike and font tags?

Those are the direct equivalents of the BBCode s and size tags, but HTML5 has deprecated them. Swap them for a del element and a CSS font-size rule if you want current-standard markup.

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