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[blazing glory]

and can i use them to move lava?

[Telgin]

Fort mode or adventure mode?

In fort mode, moving lava is a definite no.  Buckets are used automatically by dwarves for a few jobs.  The job you're probably thinking of is retrieving water from a pond / river / pool, which is only done as needed for bringing water to injured dwarves or for filling designated ponds.  There are a few problems with moving lava / magma in fort mode this way.  First off, there's no equivalent job for filling magma ponds, so there's no way to tell dwarves to do it.  Second, the temperature would kill them anyway.  If you want to move a lot of magma in fort mode, there are ways to do it with mine carts if you want to avoid pumps, but I don't know the details and have never tried it.

I don't know about adventure mode, but I think you can put magma in a bucket if you can get to it as an adventurer and have one on hand.  You'll be killed by the heat unless you've modded the game somehow, though.

[Snaake]

Try something like this method?. You fill up minecarts in magma, have them derail into a stockpile, your dwarves can then carry them into another stockpile while they're still full. You can then use dumping track stops to controlledly place the magma where you need it. Or store it as ammo for a minecart double shotgun, I guess.

Main issue (for the simpler version I quote in the linked post) is powering the rollers that are submerged in the magma, which is why I suggest trying to get it to work with the impulse ramp version in that post. I've only just found magma on my current save, so haven't yet worked on getting this functional.

[WanderingKid]

Not to derail horribly, but from what I've seen posted impulse ramping out of magma has been inconsistent at best.  Dry runs are useless, so you need to savescum each design after including magma to your tweaks.  I've had systems that 8 times in a row could get magma out only to jam on the 9th.  It's finicky.

OP: Typically you use a pumpstack or minecarts to move magma around.  Both are overkill if you just want a small area with magma for a few forges. 

Easy Method (I know, I know, but really, it IS the easiest):
Build a few magma proof minecarts.  Iron/steel/whatever.
Get yourself a couple of magma proof mechanisms and an iron chain for some rollers. 
Use up a few logs, build a Dwarven Water Reactor.  Should only need a one-wheel reactor for this.
Dig trench near magma, install roller at high speed to push cart back out.  Hook gears up to roller and DWR.  Make sure you have power.
Let magma into trench.
Assign a route for a cart.  Have it pushed into the magma and stop at some wall that the roller kicks it out to.  Give it no leave conditions from the second stop.  Unassign the cart from the route.
Assign a one stop route next to the pit you want the magma in on top of a Track Stop made to dump towards the hole.  Assign the same cart to this route.  It'll go to the dump stop, dump magma in hole.

Repeat x2.

Disassemble Track Stop when the hole is full to 6/7, build forge.

Repeat Last three items for other forges.

Disassemble DWR and above magma gears.  Floor over magma channel.

[blazing glory]

don't like minecarts and i suppose you don't take into account that i have a volcano in the area

(not that i mentioned it)

[Larix]

don't like minecarts and i suppose you don't take into account that i have a volcano in the area

(not that i mentioned it)

Heh, that's a bit like asking about goblin defence without mentioning the goblins in question are in your meeting hall

The main challenge in magma logistics _without_ a volcano is moving the stuff up 100+ z-levels. With a volcano, that issue disappears in a puff of red golden mist. Magma from a volcano is easiest to move by channel. You dig out paths from where the magma is to where you want it, install magma-proof plumbing to ensure it _only_ goes where you want it and connect it up to the volcano itself. I heartily recommend using pumps in your magma installations. Those speed up transport of the stuff quite impressively.

I'm not aware of a way to load lava/magma into buckets for transportation, buckets are only used for water, lye and milk.

[WanderingKid]

don't like minecarts and i suppose you don't take into account that i have a volcano in the area

(not that i mentioned it)

You asked half a question.  You didn't imply usage, nor did you describe the target.  Fair enough, you just wanted to know about buckets, so that's valid.  I attempted to extrapolate from your question the easiest method I know.

As Larix mentioned above, channel to the top magma layer.  Dig out your pathing for your forges.  Make sure you plan your forges +1 z from the magma top.  Drop in two fortifications to keep out magma crabs and fire imps, and channel the hole into the volcano.

Floor off this hole so you don't get uninvited guests, then channel into your -1z runner for your forges wherever you want to place them with the darkened X (unpassable) over the channel point.  That should get you reasonably close magma forges to your main fort.

Caveat: I recommend getting comfortable with minecarts.  They are amazing efficient provided you're willing to work with their limitations.  See my sig for a few links to how to make them less painful. 

[blazing glory]

okay thanks for the help!