inserting text into text area button

[icb01co2]

Hi all,

Ok i've got a problem and im gonna confuse you cause i dont know how to explain it.

I'm creating a content managment system for a site. I have a button that allows users to add paragraphs to a page. This works by bringing up a text area whereby the user enters there paragraph and it is then stored in a database table.

i.e. very similar to how this site posts a question.

I have also added buttons, as this site does to input styles into the text form.

i.e. within the add paragraph section there is the main text area a small text box. everything typed into the main text area has a set style. if the user types something into the small text box and clicks the 'bold' button then what ever was in the textbox is displayed in the text area within tags.

ok with me so far?

my problem is that i dont want the user to see HTML tags in the text area i'd rarther they see something like, <BOLD SECTION> <BOLD SECTION ENDS>.

But at the same time i want the tags to be passed through to the database table.

Wow, i confused myself royally there, hope you can understand what im saying better than me :).

Thanks, Chris.

[kender]

Well, you could create a file, similar to BBCode..
then have the page look to that file for formatting, and have the buttons print [BOLDED TEXT][END BOLDED TEXT] as what you defined as bold in your file

a little more in the advanced for scripting.. but doable..

just not by me.. but i understand the theory