can someone tell me why HTML is not accepted in so many forums please?
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Because people could 1) use it to exploit the foum if JS is allowed and 2) break the layout of the forum completely if tables, divs , td and tr are allowed..

bbcode lets people do anything they would normally do with html, if thier intentions are good.

It could also be used for further exploits if embedded objects were allowed, as well as vbscripts that made use of the <script> tag.

In other words...as st0x pointed out, it's to stop the scumbag contingent.