BBCode File Format (.bbcode)

A BBCode file holds forum post text marked up in BBCode, the square-bracket tag syntax forum software such as phpBB and vBulletin uses in place of raw HTML.

.bbcodeDocuments

BBCode at a glance#

Full name	Bulletin board code
File extension	.bbcode
Category	Documents
First released	1998
Compression	Uncompressed
FileFlip support	FileFlip writes this format but cannot open one

What a .bbcode file can hold#

These are the things a BBCode file either supports or does not, and they are what decides whether a conversion keeps everything or quietly drops something.

Selectable text	Yes
Human readable	Yes

Strengths and limitations of BBCode#

What BBCode does well

Square-bracket tags like [b], [url] and [quote] can't execute scripts the way raw HTML can, which is why forums adopted it instead of letting members post HTML directly
Still readable as plain text before it's rendered, since the tags sit around the words rather than replacing them
Supported in some form by nearly every major forum platform, including phpBB, vBulletin, MyBB and SMF

Where BBCode falls short

No single specification defines it, so a tag like [code] or [spoiler] behaves differently, or doesn't exist at all, from one forum to the next
Limited to whatever tags the host forum's parser implements; there's no way to add a new one from inside a post
Forum software is what renders it, so a BBCode file on its own has no standard viewer outside a text editor

Write BBCode when posting formatted text into a forum that doesn't accept HTML or Markdown.

Convert content to BBCode when the same text, originally written in Markdown or another format, needs to be posted to a forum.

How to open a .bbcode file#

A .bbcode file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on.

Platform	Programs that open it
Windows	Any text editor
macOS	Any text editor
Linux	Any text editor

BBCode questions people ask#

What is a .bbcode file?

A .bbcode file holds text marked up in BBCode, the square-bracket tag syntax used by forum software. It's a plain text file; opening it in an editor shows the raw tags, since BBCode only renders once it's posted into a forum that understands it.

Does every forum use the same BBCode tags?

No. BBCode has no formal specification, so while basics like [b], [i] and [url] are near-universal, tags for things like spoilers, code blocks or embedded media vary between phpBB, vBulletin and other forum software, and a post written for one doesn't always render correctly on another.

Why do forums use BBCode instead of HTML?

BBCode's tags can't execute scripts or break a page's layout the way arbitrary HTML posted by a user could, which is the reason forum software introduced it in the first place instead of letting members post raw HTML.

Converting BBCode files#

FileFlip cannot open a .bbcode file, so there is nothing to convert it into here. It appears on the site as something other formats can be converted to.

Every conversion runs inside your browser. The file is read from your disk, the work happens on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded. How FileFlip works names the engine behind each family and how to verify that for yourself.