diff --git a/web/react/utils/text_formatting.jsx b/web/react/utils/text_formatting.jsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2e1416d1db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/react/utils/text_formatting.jsx
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2015 Spinpunch, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+// See License.txt for license information.
+
+const Constants = require('../utils/constants.jsx');
+const UserStore = require('../stores/user_store.jsx');
+
+export function formatText(text, options = {}) {
+    let output = sanitize(text);
+
+    // TODO autolink @mentions
+    // TODO highlight mentions of self
+    // TODO autolink urls
+    // TODO highlight search terms
+    // TODO autolink hashtags
+
+    // TODO leave space for markdown
+
+    if (options.singleline) {
+        output = output.replace('\n', ' ');
+    } else {
+        output = output.replace('\n', '<br />');
+    }
+
+    return output;
+}
+
+export function sanitize(text) {
+    let output = text;
+
+    // normal string.replace only does a single occurrance so use a regex instead
+    output = output.replace(/&/g, '&amp;');
+    output = output.replace(/</g, '&lt;');
+    output = output.replace(/>/g, '&gt;');
+
+    return output;
+}