There are two common reasons why Discus formatting tags may not show up properly. Both are the result of user error (either in entering the tags or in configuring the board). Here are examples, explanations, and workarounds for each of these common situations:

1. "Allow Arbitrary HTML" option is enabled

If you have enabled "Allow Arbitrary HTML" in your Options Manager, then Discus formatting tags are disabled in all interfaces (this includes image and attachment uploading). The administration instructions for Options Manager document this situation -- with this option on, your input is not scanned for formatting tags.

You will see the Discus formatting tags exactly as you have entered them when you are being affected by this problem. For example, you may see:

\c{\clipart{board_logo}}

where the board logo should be on the topics page.

The solution to this "problem" is to un-check the "Allow Arbitrary HTML" box in your Options Manager. If you need further incentive to do so, in addition to re-enabling formatting tags, please read this document as well.

2. Tags being entered incorrectly

Occasionally, users do not enter formatting tags incorrectly. For example, forward slashes are used rather than backslashes, resulting in a display similar to the following:

/b{Why isn't this text bold} and /green{why is this not green}?

The tags are correctly entered with backslashes as follows:

\b{This will be bold} and \green{this will be green}!

See also the formatting documentation, distributed with your Discus board, for other common formatting errors.