Guide: BBC Code Guide for Fimfiction V2 (Cleaned up and other updates) - The Writers' Group

CosmicAfro #1 · Feb 15th, 2012 · 48 · ·

Hello, dear reader. Thank you for visiting the BBC code guide for The Writer's Group (and thanks for the shout out on the FaQ!) and getting ready to delve into the magical world of emboldening thoughts, making important statements, ~~correvti~~ correcting mistakes, using stealthy words, and some other neat things. This should teach you how to use those fancy symbols without needing to click on the boxes and pretty soon you’ll be commenting like a professional. But for now, I’m going to assume you know absolutely nothing other than how to type and read. Oh, and breathe.

The very first thing you should know:

Currently, the BBC on Fimfiction runs on brackets [ ]. These are how the site understands you want to do something different with your text. Some websites may use < > or ( ), but we use [ ]. Always use [ ]. BBC works by inputting a certain letter in between the brackets, one bracket pair is for starting the code, and one is for ending the code. The end code should use the backslash ( / ). An example of this is below.

”How to” and “What to do”: Simple mode

Now that you understand you must use brackets, it’s high time you found out what to do with them.

[b]You should put what you want to say inside bracket sets[/b]
You should put what you want to say inside bracket sets.

Don’t fret about me using a bracket set the first time and it not using the intended effect, it was merely a minor trick to disengage the code so I can show you properly. Yes, I will teach you how to do it later.

Here’s a comprehensive list of the simpler codes:
[b][/b]This will embolden the text.
[i][/i]This will italicize the text
[u][/u]This will underline the text
[s][/s]~~This will strike through the text~~
[spoiler][/spoiler]This will hide your text until a mouse hovers over it
[hr] This will make a thin header line. This code does not require a backslash command.

[quote][/quote]

This will quote the text

[center][/center]

This will center the text

[right_insert][/right_insert]

This sends the text to the right

[left_insert][/left_insert]

This sends the text to the left

"How to" and "What to do": Medium mode

You also have the ability to (mis)use colors on Fimfiction. It runs on the code [color=…][/color]. That ellipses there (…) is signifying where your color name or code should go. For example:

If I want my text in red, I should use the code [color=red][/color]. My text should still go in between the bracket sets.
Now I can write in red all day long. But I wouldn’t recommend it; the site has rules against being a jerk in the comments. Please, use your colors sparingly.

While still on the topic of colors, here’s a list available in the Fimfiction color wheel*.
*Note: These are not all of the colors available for BBC, I’ll explain what I mean in a moment.
-red
-silver
-orange
-yellow
-brown
-green
-olive
-cornflowerblue
-cyan
-purple
-pink
However, there is a second option for colors that aren't words, but actual phrases of code that the computer can understand. MaxKodan can explain this a bit more:

The Hex color code is a simple computer language that translates directly into color. You've probably used the R-G-B scales to choose a color before, Red, Green, and Blue. Well, on each of those sliders there are 256 slots(0 to 255). 256 is a big number for computers, and you'll see why in just a second. The hex code, which is used in a lot of things, runs from 0 to f. It's just like counting, but when you hit 9, you start singing the alphabet til you get to f. The highest number you can count to this way in two digits is ff, which is the number 255. Add 00 to that and you get 256 total terms.

The Hex code for colors is 3 sets of 2: Red (ff (used in a prior example)), Green (66) and Blue (fe). That signifies how much of each color is pushed out onto the screen. So to make it darker, lower all the numbers. Brighter, raise them. Less pink and more purple, lower the red and the blue and it'll turn purplish, and eventually a nice violet.

So, in essence, you can create a new color on fimfiction no one else can use Like this. Your new color should look like this in the BBC code: [color=#ooef76]Like this[/color]. That specific number code you see is the lime green I just used. If you have a color wheel program like on Gimp, you can borrow those set of numbers for a color to bring to Fimfiction.

There is the size changing code appropriately named [size=...][/size]. That ellipses (...) is where your number would go.

[size=30][/size] If you want some big text-
Even thirty is some big text. Now I can type in larger volumes all day long! But, I wouldn't recommend it because the site has rules against being a jerk in the comments. Use sizes sparingly.

”How to” and “What to do”: Tough mode

I’ve given you every tool you can use in the comment box without having to leave the page up until now. But, like a bird ready to leave the nest, so should you get ready to learn to post images, embed Youtube videos, and hyperlink. Did I just use hyperlink as a verb? Yeah, I did.

HYPERLINKING!

Let’s talk about hyperlinking since it’s the easiest to start off with. You know when you’ve seen something like this where you click on it and it takes you someplace? That’s a hyperlink. Don’t worry, the links you see below take you back to The Writer’s Group homepage.

Now, there are two ways to hyperlink: the ugly way, and the awesome way. Thankfully, the little anchor looking icon on the top of your comment box/ fanfiction sets it up the awesome way. But, for the sake of universal use, I shall teach you both methods. For starters, copy The Writer’s Group address listed below if you want some practice.

http://www.fimfiction.net/index.php?view=group&group=50

[url] [/url] http://www.fimfiction.net/index.php?view=group&group=50

If you set it up like this, you can see the website name. It’s fine, you know exactly where you’re going, but it’s ugly. So how do we fix this?

[url=…]Like this![/url] Like this!
See that ellipses (…) in front of the equal sign? That’s where you’ll put the actual web address. By putting the address in front of an equal sign and using url, that tells the computer where you want it to go, but not necessarily what you want to have it say.

Posting Images/ Gifs:

There are a few ways to post images with a lot of them being relatively the same. Images use the [img][/img] code set; on Fimfiction, the image box you can click on will ask for a Url so let's start with that first. I'll be using Google images, Photobucket, and Deviant Art to show the differences.

Google Images:

I'm watching you learn how to post images

Ok, two things you should know. The first and foremost being that you should keep your pictures to a reasonable size unlike my example above. The second is which Url you should get your image from if you're doing it via Google Images.

The picture I posted is from Google Images. The process is simple:

Go search something on Google such as "Pinkie Pie" as I did. Find an image you'd like to post and click on said image. When you come to the screen that shows you the picture and the website it came from, go to the right of the screen where you see the words "Full-size Image" and click it. When you're on the screen that only shows the image, that's the url you copy and paste into the IMG code. Anything else from Google will give this result:

Do you see that nothing? Yeah, that's a good nothing, isn't it? You get nothing for doing it wrong, as life should be.

Deviant Art:

I'm going to borrow an image by Cosmic Waltz to show how to post a ~~Pinkie Pie~~ image using Deviant Art. First and foremost, like Google, go find an image you like. Click on it and go to the image's page. Do not post the website's address for you'll receive:

Look at that nothing. It's gorgeous isn't it?

To the right, there is a "download image" button. Click on it and a screen should pop up with a url at the top of the... pop up. Copy and paste that url into the IMG code and you'll get:

Photobucket:

Photobucket has one of the easier set-ups available and is one of my personal favorites to use. Find a picture you want to post (or one you've uploaded since Photobucket does that too) and click on it. To the right, it should say "Image Links". There is an "Email&IM" option, a Direct Link, an HTML image code and the IMG code all set and ready to go. Just click on the IMG code and your computer will automatically copy it for you so all you have to do is paste the code into the comment box. It's that easy, it's why I love Photobucket.

Using Youtube

What? Pictures aren't enough for you!? Very well, here's how you do videos.

[youtube=VideoID]

"So I just slap the website address and I'm done?"
Nope, you need the Video ID. For example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay_1IZGxMaA It's the string of gibberish after the "v="
[youtube=Ay_1IZGxMaA]
[youtube=Ay_1IZGxMaA]

Last but not least, there are those faces you sometimes see in the comment box. Honestly…just click the face you want and it’ll appear in the box. The only difference between the faces and the BBC code is the execution. Instead of brackets, they use colons. But thankfully, for this site, that doesn’t matter. Just click the face, it’s much easier than memorizing the specific names.

All right, so, now we’ve covered all the options you can do in just the comment box. When you’re writing a fanfiction, you have a few other options like aligning your lines (whether it’s center, left, or right), adding a small header, or having a google doc upload. Using the knowledge you have already learned, I’m sure you can figure it out. Look at you go with your bad self.

I hope that covers everything you need to know about BBC Code! If you have any questions, then I obviously failed at making this guide…but I’ll answer them just the same. Also be sure to tell me what to clarify so that this guide is just as useful for the next person.

Edit: POST ALL THE PICTURES YOU WANT HERE! SHOW OFF YOUR BBC SKILLS YOU JUST LEARNED!

Cheers
~Cosmic

Bonus:

How to cancel BBC to show BBC

Put an empty set of code inside of a bracket set (typically bold will do well) and the computer will not be able to read it properly.

[b[b][/b]]

[/b[b][/b]]

Distrance

Group Contributor