I've seen soem UBB 5 forums where if you type some text for a message, then press a ubb button, like Bold, Enter text field will automatically be filled with the highlighted text. Then you can click okay and the text is now UBB Bolded and in the place where you left it.
For an example, see this UBB 5 forum:
http://www.sternfannetwork.com Sorry if this is already posted, I couldn't find it.