When you write text for a topic or a comment, the edit window offers ways to style your text using the toolbar shown below.

However, the result may not be what you expect. Perhaps you try to make some text bold by selecting some text and clicking the B icon on the toolbar. Instead of seeing some text you see [b]some text[/b]. The reason is that the forum does not use a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. Don’t worry, submit your topic or comment; the tags inserted by the editor will give you the correct styling.

While the editor does not allow you to write in styled text, it does let you preview the styled text. Click on one of the two preview icons in the red oval:

A preview will open beside or below the edit window.

The editor inserts tags for security reasons. They are in Boardcode (also called BBcode) and if you are curious you can learn all about them at http://www.bbcode.org/. However, you do not need to understand them. Don’t let them put you off styling your text. Create a new topic in the Sandbox and try styling text there if you feel hesitant to style your text in a “real” topic.