Regarding HTML Formatting...

[Madd-D]

The normal HTML code:

<a href="URLHERE">WORDS YOU WANT TO MAKE A LINK</a>

doesn't seem to work on the forums, last I checked. How do I make words link to something? ( Or does that code actual work, and when you preview a post, it doesn't show? )

[SleepingOrange]

This forum like many others allows users to use BBCode rather than HTML to format their posts.

This table should tell you all about any tags you might need and then some. Keep in mind that not all such tags are supported on this forum, but most are.

[kwinse]

Or you can use the list of bbcode provided by the forum itself: http://www.mspaforums.com/misc.php?do=bbcode

[Madd-D]

I've never even heard of BBCoding! Thank you very much. C:

[Madd-D]

Hopefully this will simply link back to this thread.

EDIT: What'd I do wrooooong.

EDIT x2 COMBO: I got it. Sorry for bugging and fussing, haha.

[SleepingOrange]

Oh yeah, we do have that. Thank you for your superior link, kwinse.

In any case, that should be about all you need; if you have any further questions, just ask.

[SleepingOrange]

Whoops, missed your post while I was posting.

You used {brackets} inside your URL tag; you should replace them with quotes or remove them entirely: they're superfluous and your browser is trying to parse them as part of the URL.

[Wesley Foxx]

BBCode is a dozen times smoother and friendlier than html. Sometimes it baffles me why html is still even a thing.

[kwinse]

BBCode is a dozen times smoother and friendlier than html. Sometimes it baffles me why html is still even a thing.

Because sometimes it's faster and easier to directly code one post in html than it is to (wait for the admin to) make bbcode to do the same thing.

[OrangeAipom]

BBCode is a dozen times smoother and friendlier than html. Sometimes it baffles me why html is still even a thing.

Because sometimes it's faster and easier to directly code one post in html than it is to (wait for the admin to) make bbcode to do the same thing.

HTML is also standardized and is capable of more than BBCode.

[BRPXQZME]

The problem lies in security. If you just let any old HTML in, people can write whatever the heck they want (for good or ill—but mostly ill).

I don’t know if any of y’all remember what EZBoard was like ten years ago, but the shenanigans you could get away with were pretty ridiculous (like, you could, if you wanted to, make the posts of everyone who posted after you have a background color of your choosing by ending the HTML table and starting a new one). Next to no security was programmed into that.

In other words, BBCode’s limitations are its strength, because frankly you wouldn’t want spambots being able to insert (also for example) a script that steals users’ passwords. It’s a lot easier for the people who program these things to maintain reasonable security with a small number of functions than it is for them to try anticipating every possibility with a language as feature-laden (and prone to iffy syntax) as HTML. The fact that limited HTML is available on blogging sites is mostly tradition, but it’s kind of deceptive because even on those the functions are limited to a very small set and they might as well have gone with BBCode.

[simon.clarkstone]

Also, if you want to see how any post is produced then you can quote it to find out (unless the post is in a locked thread, in which case you have to perform multi-quote cookie-hacking shenanigans).

[Rincebrain]

The forums have HTML disabled for all of the reasons that were listed above - the HTML tags are purely a specialized version of the code tag to do highlighting for you, not to actually render HTML.

[Isoraqathedh]

Then is it true that this bit in the "Posting Permissions" box is useless?

HTML code is Off

Unless there is at least one other person who can see "On" instead of "Off" it might as well be decoration.

[Rincebrain]

Then is it true that this bit in the "Posting Permissions" box is useless?

HTML code is Off

Unless there is at least one other person who can see "On" instead of "Off" it might as well be decoration.

I believe there presently exists no one for whom that feature is "on", since it has to both be enabled for both the user and the given (sub)forum they're posting on, and all of the above have it firmly set to "off".

[orngjce223]

Then is it true that this bit in the "Posting Permissions" box is useless?

HTML code is Off

Unless there is at least one other person who can see "On" instead of "Off" it might as well be decoration.

This is adequately explained by virtue of vBulletin not being custom software.

[leod]

In other words, BBCode’s limitations are its strength, because frankly you wouldn’t want spambots being able to insert (also for example) a script that steals users’ passwords. It’s a lot easier for the people who program these things to maintain reasonable security with a small number of functions than it is for them to try anticipating every possibility with a language as feature-laden (and prone to iffy syntax) as HTML.

I would like to note, however, that there forums with software that allows near-complete usage of HTML, going as far as allowing users to stylize their posts with so called "layouts" made of html and css (and php to some extent).
Examples for this kind of forum would be any board based on ABXD (AcmlmBoard XD) (for example the dev board "NikoBoard"), and a few other forums running on custom software (for example "SMW Central"), where ABXD seems to be the more secure and easy to use option.

Just saying in case anyone was curious about this sort of thing.