BBCode (Bulletin Board Code) is a lightweight markup language used in many internet forums. This tool converts XML data into BBCode table format that works with phpBB, vBulletin, MyBB, and other forum software.

Table Styles

Simple: Basic table with [table], [tr], [th], and [td] tags
Bordered: Table with border=1 attribute for visible borders
Striped: Alternating row colors for better readability

Features

Multiple Styles: Choose from simple, bordered, or striped table formats
Cell Alignment: Left, center, or right alignment for all cells
Header Support: Optional header row with [th] tags
Special Character Escaping: Properly escapes [ and ] characters
Forum Compatible: Works with phpBB, vBulletin, MyBB, IPB, and more

BBCode Tags Used

[table] - Table container
[tr] - Table row
[th] - Table header cell
[td] - Table data cell
[center] - Center alignment
[right] - Right alignment

Example

Input XML:

<products>
  <product>
    <name>Laptop</name>
    <price>$999</price>
  </product>
</products>

Output BBCode:

[table]
[tr]
[th]name[/th]
[th]price[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Laptop[/td]
[td]$999[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

Compatible Forums

phpBB (all versions)
vBulletin
MyBB
Invision Power Board (IPB)
Simple Machines Forum (SMF)
XenForo (with BBCode addon)

FAQ

Q: Why are square brackets escaped in the output?
A: Any literal [ or ] inside your data is converted to HTML entities so it does not conflict with BBCode tags, which also use square brackets.
Q: Which table style should I choose?
A: Use Simple for maximum compatibility, Bordered when your forum’s theme supports borders on [table border=1], and Striped when you want alternating background colors on rows.
Q: Does alignment work on all forums?
A: Most modern forums support [center] and [right] tags, but some custom BBCode implementations may differ. If alignment does not render as expected, switch back to left alignment.
Q: What if my forum uses a different BBCode table syntax?
A: You can still use this tool as a starting point and then perform a simple find/replace on the tags (for example, converting [table] to a custom table macro).
Q: Is there a row limit for generated tables?
A: The converter itself does not impose a limit, but extremely large tables may be hard to manage in forum posts. Consider splitting huge datasets into multiple posts or summarizing them.