BBCode

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  For more information, see BBCode on Wikipedia. BBCode (bulletin board code) is a collection of formatting tags that are used to format users' posts in the Scratch Forums and the Text Based Games Forums. BBCode is based on the same principle as, and is similar to, HTML. It can be used for things such as colored text, underlined text, pictures, and links.

Because of how BBCode works, content surrounded with a right-facing and left-facing square bracket will become invisible, but adding [] into the area can cancel-out the invisibility.

There is a BBCode Help Guide on the Scratch Forums, created by Create-Scratch101.

Basic BBCode

The following are the basics of BBCode.

Text Style

• [b]Bold[/b] — Shows as Bold

• [i]Italics[/i] — Shows as Italics

• [u]Underline[/u] — Shows as Underline

• [color=#FF0000]Red text[/color] — Shows as Red text (Note: #FF0000 is the hexadecimal color code for red).

• [color=blue]Blue text[/color] — Shows as Blue text (A list of color names that can be put in there can be found here)

• [big]Big[/big] — Shows as Big

• [small]Small[/small] — Shows as Small

• [s]Strikethrough[/s] — Shows as Strikethrough

Text Alignment

[center]Centered text[/center]

Centered text

[p]Paragraph 1[/p][p]Paragraph 2[/p]

Paragraph 1

Paragraph 2

Links and Images

Using BBCode, Scratchers can add links and images to their posts. New Scratchers cannot post links outside of Scratch, and cannot post images.

Links

[url]https://en.scratch-wiki.info/wiki/Scratch_Wiki[/url] — Shows as https://en.scratch-wiki.info/wiki/Scratch_Wiki

[url=https://en.scratch-wiki.info/wiki/Scratch_Wiki]Scratch Wiki[/url] — Shows as Scratch Wiki

Images

[img]https://en.scratch-wiki.info/w/images/Scratch_Cat-cropped.svg[/img] or [img=https://en.scratch-wiki.info/w/images/Scratch_Cat-cropped.svg] — Shows as

Scratch accepts images only from supported hosts. A full list can be viewed here.

Wiki Links

[wiki]Scratch Wiki[/wiki] — Shows as Scratch Wiki

[wiki=Scratch Wiki]link text[/wiki] — Shows as link text

Wikipedia Links

Links to the specified title on Wikipedia.

• [wp]Scratch[/wp] — Shows as Scratch

• [wp=Scratch]link text[/wp] — Shows as link text

Google Links

Links to the specified title on the Google search engine.

• [google]Scratch[/google] — Results in Scratch

• [google=Scratch]link text[/google] — Results in link text

Dictionary Links

Links to the specified title on http://dictionary.reference.com

• [dictionary]Scratch[/dictionary] — Results in Scratch

• [dictionary=Scratch]link text[/dictionary] — Results in link text

• [dict]Scratch[/dict] — Results in Scratch

• [dict=Scratch]link text[/dict] — Results in link text

Quotes and Code

Scratchers can quote others or display code using these tags.

Quotes

[quote]This is an anonymous quote[/quote]

Creates an anonymous quote, with no name:

This is an anonymous quote

---

[quote=A_Scratcher]I'm being quoted![/quote]

Creates a quote box that starts A_Scratcher wrote:

A_Scratcher wrote:

I'm being quoted!

Code

[code]This is some code.[/code]

This is some code.

If it is long enough, it will have a scrollbar, like this:

This is a long piece of code. This code is so long it is going to need a scroll bar. A scroll bar will make sure the long piece of code doesn't go on the next line.

BBCode does not work in code boxes.

Coding languages such as Python can be shown in code tags like this:

[code=python3]print("Coding in Python")[/code]

If the wanted language is not specified, it will not work and instead just look like generic text. But if the language is specified in the tag, it will work and be colored according to the programming language chosen.

print("Coding in Python")

Lists

[list]
[*]First item
[*]Second item
[*]Third item
[/list]

• First item
• Second item
• Third item

[list=1]
[*]First item
[*]Second item
[*]Third item
[/list]

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item

Emojis

Not to be confused with Scratch Emojis.

Scratchers may want to add emoticons to their posts. Here is what can be created:

• :) or =) —

• :| or =| —

• :( or =( —

• :D or =D —

• :O or :o —

• ;) —

• :/ —

• :P —

• :lol: —

• :mad: —

• :rolleyes: —

• :cool: —

Those emojis can be prevented by putting the emoticon within [color] blocks; an example of how to do this is [color=currentcolor]:)[/color], or by simply placing a tag in between the emoticon; for example :[b][/b]).

Blocks

Main article: Block Plugin/Syntax

Scratchers can show Scratch scripts on the forums using the scratchblocks tag. Before the forum update on January 7, 2012, Scratchers could still show scripts by using an old system of forum blocks with the [blocks] and [/blocks] tags. There were many problems caused by a lack of updates, such as 34 blocks missing and 5 that needed to be removed. Writing [scratchblocks]when green flag clicked[/scratchblocks] in the forums will produce the blockwhen green flag clicked.
The Official Guide to Scratchblocks, by han614698 can be found here.

Advanced BBCode

Some BBCode can be used to make certain effects:

• [color=Ivory] — Equivalent to [color=#fffff0], makes text almost impossible to see

• [color=FloralWhite] — Equivalent to [color=#fffaf0], makes text in quotes almost impossible to see

• [color=#ffffff] or [color=white] — Makes text completely invisible on normal posts, though it can still be viewed if highlighted

• [color=#f7f7f7] — Makes text completely invisible in quotes, though it can still be viewed if highlighted

• [color=transparent] — Makes all text completely invisible, no matter where it is, although it does not work on Internet Explorer 8 and below

• [b][color=black] — Even bolder than [b]

• Putting BBCode inside other BBCode tags makes the BBCode show up instead of the output; for example, [i[b][/b]] would show as "[i]"

• Putting a word in a BBCode tag that begins with a BBCode tag followed by a space will use that BBCode tag. For example, [I love Scratch]text[/I love Scratch] would show as "text".

• Putting brackets inside other brackets escapes the bracket; for example, [[]i] would show up as "[i]"

• [url=page url][img]image url[/img][/url] — Creates a linked image

• Links and images do not need the http:// prefix, the forum adds it automatically

• Links cannot contain any URI schemes other than http:, https:, or data:, such as javascript:, about: or chrome:.

• [url=link][color=color] — Colored link, but the underline stays purple

• [url=link][color=color][u] — Colored link, with colored underline

Suggestions

The following are some of the most popular suggestions for BBCode:

• Text alignment
• Fonts
• Sizes — added in 2.0
• Strike-through — added in 2.0
• Highlight

It had also been suggested that the blocks only show up when the [blocks] tags are used.

A Scratch Team Member has said the following about some BBCode suggestions:

“	Good ideas! I would certainly like to see some new functionality in BB code - I could really use that font setting code.	”
– Paddle2See, ar-post:622104

Spam

Sometimes, BBCode has been used to spam the forums. This is most often done using blocks and is often referred to as blockspam. Other spam includes posting irrelevant images, dangerous links, random smiles, and hard to read text.

Examples

BBCode is usually combined to make text unique. Here are some examples:

Welcome To Earth Games

or

[color=tan][b]Welcome To Earth Games[/b][/color]


[quote][b][u]Application:[/u][/b]

Username:

Nickname:

Most Wanted Position:

2nd Most Wanted Position:

SWC/SDS/MIF/SST curator?:

Past FPC?:

Time on Scratch:

Status:

References?:

Other:

Activity per Day: /10

Experience: /10

How Would You Help?:
_____________________________________
_____________________________________[/quote]