[thelist] bbCode or HTML in DB?

[Mark Howells]

> Should I translate the bbCode to HTML *before* storing it in the  
> DB, so that the HTML tags are
> stored in the DB

I'd recommend not saving converted text in the database, unless it  
contains actual HTML tags such as <img />.  (For example, save  
characters such as ä,ö,ü,& and so on as they are. That way, if the  
need arises at some point in the future to export the text for  
another medium - for example XML or raw text for Word - you won't  
need to have a complex HTML conversion process to re-convert all of  
the text.  A system I work on uses this kind of formatting:

A word here is _underlined_ and *this* is bold. I'd like to insert an  
image here:
[i150 400 300 "an image"]

...that makes sure that the input is totally cross-media compliant  
(HTML, XML, Word, Quark, and so on...)

Best regards
Mark Howells
www.permanenttourist.ch