BBCode Tags

Using BBCode to format your text

New users, click here for the official Feature Guide to BBCode tags!
Or keep reading for advanced tips and tricks from our amazing community of power users!

This guide contains a list of all the BBCodes available with an example of what it does. The BBCode can be used to make the structure of the article your own. When done right this can improve readability and your article will look much better!

How to use BBCode tags

A BBCode tag is a code between square brackets (for example, [b]). The code, b in this case, determines the effect of the tag - making the text bold. The tag's effect is applied to anything in between two tags with the same code.
Most tags have an opening and a closing variant. The closing variant always has a forward slash ( / ) right after the opening bracket ( [ ). Make sure to always close all the tags you open as it can be very problematic if you do not. Often this will cause the entire view to be broken.
There are some tags that don't need closing, such as for paragraph breaks or media embeds. Just look at the example provided for each tag to see if there's a closing tag.
Additionally, some BBCode tags have options which are separated with a colon ( : ) from the tag name. Multiple options are usualy separated with the pipe character ( | ).

List of BBCode tags

The following list has all BBCode tags available to free accounts, organized by type. They contain an example and a short explanation when needed.
If you are a Guild Member (that is, you have a paid subscription), don't forget to look at the Guild BBCode list too:

Basic formatting tags

Headers

You can go down to four levels of headings. This is how they look:

Code:
[h1]H1 Example[/h1]

Result:

H1 Example

[h2]H2 Example[/h2]

H2 Example

[h3]H3 Example[/h3]

H3 Example

[h4]H4 Example[/h4]

H4 Example

Font Effects

You can use the usual font effects as in any other text processor.

Code:
[b]Text using bold[/b]

[i]Text using italics[/i]

[u]Text using underline[/u]

[s]Text using strikethrough[/s]

This [redacted:4] is redacted

[small]This is smaller[/small]

This is [sup]superscript[/sup]

This is [sub]subscript[/sub]

Now I can display [noparse][b]BBCode tags[/b] with the noparse tags.[/noparse]

[dc]T[/dc]his is a fancy drop cap to put in the first line of your article. Looks better with a longer paragraph!

Result:
Text using bold
Text using italics
Text using underline
Text using strikethrough
This ████ is redacted
This is smaller
This is ^superscript
This is _subscript
Now I can display [b]BBCode tags[/b] with the noparse tags.
This is a fancy drop cap to put in the first line of your article. Looks better with a longer paragraph!

---

Notes

• The [redacted] generates a number of "redacted squares" (█) equal to the number you input inside the tag. You don't need to close this tag.
• The [noparse] tags tell the system to treat BBCode tags as regular text. Any BBCode tags between the noparse tag will not have any effect and will be displayed in presentation view.

Layout Boxes

These tags wrap text in different kinds of containers with a special layout.

Code:
[quote]This is a quote.|Author[/quote]

Result:

This is a quote.

— Author

[spoiler]This content is hidden (but it can be revealed with a button)|Button label (optional)[/spoiler]

Button label (optional)

This content is hidden (but it can be revealed with a button)

[aloud]This text is to be read aloud[/aloud]

This text is to be read aloud

[code]This text looks like code[/code]

This text looks like code

Tooltips

[tooltip:This text will appear when you mouse over the text]Mouse over this to see the tooltip[/tooltip]

Mouse over this to see the tooltip

Paragraphs & Separators

Use these tags to tweak how paragraphs are separated.

Code:
This is paragraph one.

This is paragraph two. Adding a completly empty line (even without spaces!) will create a paragraph separator.

Result:
This is paragraph one.
This is paragraph two. Adding a completly empty line (NO spaces!) will create a paragraph separator.

This is paragraph one.
[br]
[br]
This is paragraph two. Each "br" is a line break, so this has a wider separation than usual.

This is paragraph one.


This is paragraph two. Each "br" is a line break, so this has a wider separation than usual.

This is paragraph one.
[hr]
This is paragraph two, with a clear visual separation.

This is paragraph one.

---

This is paragraph two, with a clear visual separation.

[in]It is possible to create an indented paragraph. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum.[/in]
Any text after it will be moved to the next line.

It is possible to create an indented paragraph. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum.

Any text after it will be moved to the next line.

Text alignment

Use these tags to choose where the text is aligned.

Code:
[left]This text is aligned to the left (default alignment)[/left]
[center]This text is in the center[/center]
[right]This text is in the right[/right]
[justify]This text is justified on both sides. This visually works best with paragraphs of text and can look fantastic when formatted into columns as demonstrated further on in this guide. Putting justify BBCode around a body of text will automatically stretch the spacing out to fill a space rather than have the edges of a paragraph at different lengths.[/justify]
[concol]This text is in the center with wide margins. This also works best with paragraphs or texts so you can better see the margins[/concol]




[rtl]This text is aligned to be read from right to left. Useful for languages with this writing direction.[/rtl]

Result:

This text is aligned to the left (default alignment)

This text is in the center

This text is in the right

This text is justified on both sides. This visually works best with paragraphs of text and can look fantastic when formatted into columns as demonstrated further on in this guide. Putting justify BBCode around a body of text will automatically stretch the spacing out to fill a space rather than have the edges of a paragraph at different lengths.

This text is in the center with wide margins. This also works best with paragraphs or texts so you can better see the margins

This doesn't work with English, but it's very handy for right-to-left writing systems.

Lists

Lists can be either unordered with bullet-point items, or ordered for a numbered list.

Lists are placed between [ul] [/ul] tags for unoredered lists. Use [ol] [/ol] instead for numbered lists. Each list item inside this tags goes in between [li] [/li] tags.

Code:
[ul]
[li]Item 1[/li]
[li]Item 2[/li]
[/ul]

Result:

• Item 1
• Item 2

Code:
[ol]
[li]Item 1[/li]
[li]Item 2[/li]
[/ol]

Result:

1. Item 1
2. Item 2

You can also nest a list inside another list, both with unordered and ordered lists:

Code:
[ul]
[li]Item 1
[ol]
[li]Sub-item 1[/li]
[li]Sub-item 2[/li]
[/ol]
[/li]
[li]Item 2[/li]
[/ul]

Result:

• Item 1
  1. Sub-item 1
  2. Sub-item 2
• Item 2

Notice how you put the nested list inside the [li] [/li] tags of the item you want the list to be nested under.
For a few quick lists you can use a simplyfied syntax. In order for these to work the hypen has to be at the beginning of the line. Any other character will break it.
You can surround the list items with [ol][/ol] to get an ordered list instead of bullet points.

Code:
- Item 1
- Item 2
-- Item 2.1
-- Item 2.2
- Item 3

Result:

Item 1

Item 2

Item 2.1

Item 2.2

Item 3

Checkboxes

You can use a number of tags to create checkbox icons. Note that, while they are useful to create checklists, they aren't technically considered as such, so you will still need to use line breaks to separate them (or put them inside a regular list).

Code:
[] Empty
[c] Checked
[r] Right chevron
[l] Left chevron
[x] Failed
[+] Plus
[-] Minus

Result:
Empty
Checked
Right chevron
Left chevron
Failed
Plus
Minus

RPG Icons

These BBCode tags can be used to display RPG system specific icons in articles to enrich session reports or skill descriptions.

Pathfinder Action Icons

Code:
[pf:1a]
[pf:2a]
[pf:3a]
[pf:ra]
[pf:fa]
[pf:pa]

Result:

Genesys Dice Symbols

[genesysdice:setback]
[genesysdice:boost]
[genesysdice:difficulty]
[genesysdice:ability]
[genesysdice:challenge]
[genesysdice:proficiency]
[genesysdice:advantage]
[genesysdice:threat]
[genesysdice:failure]
[genesysdice:success]
[genesysdice:triumph]
[genesysdice:despair]

b
b
d
d
c
c
a
h
f
s
t
d

Links

There are different ways of linking in World Anvil, depending on the kind of content you're linking to:

Article links

Code:
@[Guide to BBCode Commands](article:6a1a7029-64c8-468b-9f9a-6b0b367f7601)

Result:
Guide to BBCode Commands

To generate a link to another article within your world, type the @ character and start typing the article name. Then, choose from the drop-down. Take a look at the Guide to Linking and the Mention System for more information.

World links

Code:
[world:7c0fec4d-9436-4325-90f5-cdbfdd3932b6]

Result:
World Anvil Codex

To get the world ID, use the World Widgets panel in the world configuration page.

External links

Code:
[url:https://blog.worldanvil.com]World Anvil Blog[/url]

Result:
World Anvil Blog

Whatever you write in between the tags will be displayed on the article. Clicking it will take you to the URL you entered in the opening tag. There are two options which can be used with the url BBCode.

Code:
[url:https://blog.worldanvil.com|tab]World Anvil Blog (Opens in new tab)[/url]

Result:
World Anvil Blog (Opens in new tab)

Code:
[url:https://blog.worldanvil.com|parent]World Anvil Blog (Opens in parent frame)[/url]

Result:
World Anvil Blog (Opens in parent frame)

Key-Values

Key-Values can be used to create a custom definitions list. Some usecases might be to list the scientific classifications of a species, or a stats or equipment list for a Character article. This format is the same as many of the pre-defined Sidebar fields in several templates.
Examples:

Genus

Homo

STR

16

Code:
--The Key::The Value--

Result:

The Key

The Value

Media and widgets

This section deals with all sorts of embedding, from images to licenses and world content.

Pin icons

You can use BBCode to embed any pin icon that can be used in a map. You can see all pins and copy their codes by pressing Alt+Enter while editing a map.

Code:
[pin:flat_black_alchemist]

Result:

Tables of contents

Uses these tags to generate automatic tables of contents on different levels.

Code:
[toc]

Result:

Spoiler button bbcode not shown
[articletoc]

Button added due to articletoc's length - Click to Expand

Breadcrumb

You can automatically generate the path to that article using the article's category organization.

Code:
[breadcrumb]

Result:

World Anvil Codex    Tutorials    Editing on World Anvil      BBCode Tags

Lists of tagged articles

You can generate automatic lists of all articles with a specific tag using the [tagged:TAG|TYPE|TITLE] BBCode. Each of the parts in UPPERCASE is a different parameter you can set:

Code:
[tagged:#BBCode|block|Articles Tagged with #BBCode]

Result:

Articles Tagged with #BBCode

[tagged:#BBCode|list|Articles Tagged with #BBCode]

Articles Tagged with #BBCode

BBCode: Dice Roller

Embed 3D 360° Scenes

[tagged:#BBCode|list|none]

BBCode: Dice Roller

Embed 3D 360° Scenes

[tagged:#BBCode|list]

BBCode

BBCode: Dice Roller

Embed 3D 360° Scenes

Take a look at the Guide to the Tagging System for more information on how this works.
A similar function exists for tagged RPG blocks:

Code:
[taggedblocks:#test-tag|Example Block List]

Result:

Example Block List

• TestSheet1
• TestSheet2

Article blocks

Instead of the regular linking methods explained above, you can also embed an article with better formatting:

Code:
[articleblock:dc2144d5-abc1-4553-81a5-b9c62f723cc9]

Result:

The ID is the same ID you use to link to the article using the regular mention linking system. For more information, take a look at the Articleblocks guide.

Categories

There are four options to embed or link to categories:

Code:
[category:6fba5523-5ebd-49c8-b659-81e3d7352f6a]

Result:

Code:
[category:6fba5523-5ebd-49c8-b659-81e3d7352f6a]Custom title[/category]

Result:

Code:
[toc:6fba5523-5ebd-49c8-b659-81e3d7352f6a]

Result:

Code:
[toc:6fba5523-5ebd-49c8-b659-81e3d7352f6a|horizontal]

Result:

Code:
[book:6fba5523-5ebd-49c8-b659-81e3d7352f6a]

Result:

All of these tags can be copied from the settings page of the category you want to link to.

Maps

Use these tags to embed maps into your articles.

[map:d359e84b-f549-4fd4-8999-a8566e491c41|737|460|200]
The first two numbers after the ID (737 and 460) are the X and Y coordinates of the default center point for this embed. The third number (200) is the zoom level.
These three numbers are optional, so you can also embed a map without them, as such:
[map:d359e84b-f549-4fd4-8999-a8566e491c41]

Map Features Showcase

Open full size

Check out the Guide to Maps for more information on maps.

RPG blocks

If you're using RPG features, use these tags to embed RPG blocks in your articles:

Code:
[blocklink:84]

Result:
Grappler

[block:84]

For some character sheets, you can also add tracking or badge as parameters (of example, [block:id|tracking] or [block:id|badge]. A badge sheet contains a summary of the most important character stats. The tracking sheet lets you (or anyone with access to the article) to edit the sheet from presentation mode.

Grappler

Strength 13 or higher

You’ve developed the skills necessary to hold your own in close--quarters Grappling. You gain the following benefits:

You have advantage on Attack rolls against a creature you are Grappling.

You can use your action to try to pin a creature Grappled by you. To do so, make another grapple check. If you succeed, you and the creature are both Restrained until the grapple ends.

Note that you can also embed blocks inside other blocks (such as character sheets). This is useful to keep track of resources like spells, equipment, and more.
Check out the Guide to Blocks for more information.

Timelines

Use these tags to embed timelines and historical events:

Code:
[timeline:a49239bc-b632-4a22-97c7-1e2cadee8b57]Check out this timeline![/timeline]

Result:
Check out this timeline!

[history:7f2ff33c-ea09-4a68-abec-c0f5d1f792e2]And also this historical event![/history]

And also this historical event!

Check out the Guide to Timelines for more information.

Dice roller

Use this to embed a virtual dice roller anywhere:

Code:
[roll:1d6+4]

Result:
1d6+4

This tag accepts the several dice roller expressions. Check out the BBcode: Dice Roller page for more information.

Follow button

Use this to add a button anywhere that, when clicked, will make the user follow your world:

Code:
[follow:ondo]

Result:

Code:
[follow:7c0fec4d-9436-4325-90f5-cdbfdd3932b6]

Result:

The number after follow is the world's unqiue identifier. To get it, use the World Widgets panel in the world configuration page.

World meta

If you have used the world meta feature (accessible from the world dashboard) you can use the [worldmeta] tag to embed sections of it, using this syntax:

[worldmeta:ID|SECTION]

The ID is the world id (you can get it in the World Widgets panel of the configuration page). SECTION can be imagery, music, literature, or otherinspiration to embed any of these sections.

Current date

You can embed the current world date anywhere on your world using the following tags. The current date is set from the world configuration, Date & Time tab. You can copy the current date widget code from the same page, in the World widgets right panel.

Code:
[currentdate:7c0fec4d-9436-4325-90f5-cdbfdd3932b6]

Result:
(this is the default "current display date"; not available in the Codex)

[currentdate:7c0fec4d-9436-4325-90f5-cdbfdd3932b6|full]

2021-6-10

[currentdate:7c0fec4d-9436-4325-90f5-cdbfdd3932b6|year]

2021

Creative Commons Licenses

There is a set of BBCode tags that generate the different Creative Commons license icons:

Code:
[licence:cc-by]

Result:

[licence:cc-by-sa]

[licence:cc-by-nd]

[licence:cc-by-nc]

[licence:cc-by-nc-sa]

[licence:cc-by-nc-nd]

More information on what these license mean can be found in the Creative Commons Foundation web site.

Tip: If you are a guild member and want to license your world with a CC licence, you can put it in the copyright footer (in the Guide to World Configuration). Whatever licence you put in this field, it will be displayed at the bottom of all pages in your world.

Images

Use the Images & Files page to get the code for an image:

Code:
[img:8082]

Result:

[imgblock:222269]

This tag adds the image with its name, credit, and description in a formatted block.
Both tags have options to tweak different settings such as size, alignment, and background color. Check the guide to images for more information:

Dimitris Announcement Chibi (small)

by 10TenArt

Chibi Dimitris has something to tell you!

Important! Always credit the artist of the images you use, even if you are the artist! Articles with uncredited art will not be featured and is not elegible to win challenges and competitions.

User tags

You can easily link to World Anvil user profiles or even display a small panel with the user's basic profile.

Code:
[user:Ondo]

Result:
Ondo

[usercard:ondo]

Forgemaster Ondo

 

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.

Embedding media players

World Anvil allows embeds from several external websites: Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, LibSyn, BandCamp, PodBean, Kuula, and Discord.

Code
[spotify:spotify:track:1TfpkyDqRkZj2bVHlG22e0]
[spotify:spotify:playlist:1TfpkyDqRkZj2bVHlG22e0]

Result:

[youtube:https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qo-tJIRkeHI]

[tiktok:7250663727593295131]

[soundcloud:https://soundcloud.com/lanuem-amero/beyond-the-probable]

[libsyn:15062627]

[bandcamp:2027891814]

[podbean:https://www.podbean.com/media/player/ja3xg-95d3b74-dir]

[anchorfm:https://anchor.fm/projectshadow/embed/episodes/World-Building-with-Wonderdraft-and-World-Anvil-e52gi6/a-alf678]

[sketchfab:643dba89571f44f59ca2d49d09ab96a1]

A 3D preview of the embedded SketchFab page would appear here, but it has been removed to prevent long pageload times.

[kuula:7ktnS]
Check the Guide to Embedding 360º Images for more information

A 3D preview of the embedded SketchFab page would appear here, but it has been removed to prevent long pageload times.

[discord:348060277989965844]
Read Embedding the Discord Widget for more information

Advanced formatting

Anchors

You can use anchors to link to specific parts of an article; usually a header, but you can place an anchor anywhere on an article.

Header anchors

Code:
[h3|anchor-example]Anchor example[/h3]

Result:

Anchor example

You can add an anchor to all header types, not just H3.

Non-header anchors

Code:
[anchor|not-a-header]

Result:
(it's invisible, but it's here!)

Linking to anchors

Header and non-header anchors work the same:

Code:
[url:#anchor-example]Header anchor example[/url]
[url:#not-a-header]Non-header anchor example[/url]

Result:
Header anchor example
Non-header anchor example

If you want to link to an anchor from a different article, you need the full article URL. For example, [url:https://www.worldanvil.com/w/WorldAnvilCodex/a/bbcode#anchor-example]Link to external anchor[/url] (note the last part of the URL, which is the anchor name with the # character).

Tables

World Anvil has three kinds of tables. Block tables are explained in the Guide to Blocks, and interactive tables (Guild-only) are explained in the Guide to Tables. This explains the third kind, BBCode tables.

Code:
[table]
[tr]
[th:20]Name[/th]
[th:40]Description[/th]
[th:20]Damage[/th]
[th:20]Notes[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td:20]Longsword[/td]
[td:40]Big Pointy Stick[/td]
[td:20][roll:1d8][/td]
[td:20]Sharp[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

Result:

Name	Description	Damage	Notes
Longsword	Big Pointy Stick	1d8	Sharp

The whole table needs to be between [table] [/table] tags. Additionally, each row individually is between [tr] [/tr] tags, and the cells are set from left to right (that is, the top-most cell you write is the left one).
There are two cell types: Cells in [th] [/th] are header cells and have a highlighted style. Cells in [td] [/td] are regular cells. Both kinds of cells accept a number in the opening tag (as in the example), which is a percentage to set their width.
It's recommended to use a BBCode table generator, such as this one, to create BBcode tables.

Columns

Use columns to divide your text in two (or more) parallel sections.

Code:
[row]
[col]This is the left column.[/col]
[col]And this is the right column![/col]
[/row]

Result:

This is the left column.

And this is the right column!

[row]
[col3]This is the left column.[/col3]
[col3]This is the middle column.[/col3]
[col3]And this is the right column![/col3]
[/row]

This is the left column.

This is the middle column.

And this is the right column!

You can put rows inside rows to get, for example, four columns. Always remember to add the [row] [/row] tags to avoid formatting issues in your articles!

Grandmaster and Sage users have access to containers as well, and can create more flexible column arrangements without nesting rows. Check out the containers article for more information!

Guild Features

This feature is available to all guild members.

If you are a Guild Member, you have all these BBCode tags at your disposal plus the ones in this other list:

Check this video for a quick and basic introduction to the World Anvil BBCode system:

Contents

• Basic formatting tags
  • Headers
  • Font effects
  • Layout Containers
  • Tooltips
  • Paragraphs & Separators
  • Text alignment
  • Lists
  • Checkboxes
  • RPG Icons
  • Links
  • Key-Value
• Media and widgets
  • Table of Contents
  • Breadcrumb
  • List of tagged articles
  • Article blocks
  • Categories
  • Maps
  • RPG blocks
  • Timelines
  • Dice roller
  • Follow button
  • World meta
  • Current date
  • Creative Commons licenses
  • Images
  • User tags
  • Embedding media players & external content
• Advanced formatting
  • Anchors
  • Tables
  • Columns

Tips & Tricks

• The BBCode Reference panel is available to the side of all articles for easy access and has a list of useful examples.
• You can use BBCode in the sidebar panel content, footnotes and even in your own notes in worldanvil!
• It's important to consider visual hierarchy in your articles, so try and make the things you want people to look at first bigger and bolder.
• Most resources created in WorldAnvil can be added to an article with a BBCode. You can always copy these codes where you created these resources.
• If you need further help with formatting, hop on the WorldAnvil discord and ask an in the help channel for assistance!

Navigation

Community YouTube tutorial

You can also check this unofficial tutorial by Grace Gittel Lewis:
And this quick BBCode reference by SoulLink: