BBCode and search engines

does the search engine bots read forum bbcode the same as html?

[webfool]

I have a phpbb forum I have installed, and was wondering whether or not it would be beneficial for me to allow more html code to be used. However, I am presently sticking with the BBcode.

My question is, do the se bots read BBcode the same as html, especially as it pertains to links?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[Receptional Andy]

BB code is converted to HTML by your forum software when it is displayed in the browser - so the output is no different from regular HTML and thus has the same effect on search engines. It's intended to be both an easier way for non-developers to format their posts, and also restrict what formatting is permitted.

[webfool]

Thanks!

[thecoalman]

On a side note if you have intentions of using phpbb3 direct HTML input is no longer supported and the conversion script does not convert the HTML in previous posts to BBcode.

It will be displayed as plain text after the conversion. There are few mods that I've seen mentioned for converting the HTML but I have no idea how well they work.

HTML support was dropped for security reasons, that's why BBcode is used to begin with.