Hi Kevin
thanks very much for the reply. you are right im using the plugin.. and i am quite confused. 
ill hang on a bit – and post on the buddypress forum rather than this one then for this problem.
thanks all for the answers
Paul
		
	 
	
	
	
 
		
			
	
	
		
		Hi Ck 
thanks for reply – how would i alter the magic quotes settings if they are on – (im on a shared server)
paul
		
	 
	
	
	
 
		
			
	
	
		
		Hi Chris 
thanks for reply – yes seems to work ok here. its located at http://www.byte.org.uk – i have buddypress with forum capability which is run by bbpress. it seems to be stripping out all the  from the posts. i know there was a previous problem by the look of the forums about backslashes showing where they shouldnt – this may be in part due to the fix…
it might as you say be a buddy press issue – ive stuck a post on their forum too but have not had a reply as yet.
Paul