Firefox users: does changing "showpost" to "showthread" work for you?

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1

Here’s what I’m talking about.

When you link to a post by copying and pasting the url in the post number in the upper right corner off the post, you get a page displaying only that post.

That url contains the string “showpost”. If you just change it to “showthread”, that shows the entire page of the thread that post is in, positioned to that post.

Here are those two urls parsed.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9640665&postcount=169

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9640665&postcount=169

This method doesn’t work quite correctly for me with Firefox. I have to scroll down one screen to see the intended post. IE works fine.

I’m running XP, Firefox 2.0.0.13.

I’m asking about this because Gfactor said it works fine for him on Firefox. Does it work for you or do you have the same problem? Please include OS and Firefox version.

One more note: this is a clever and handy trick. But it’s undocumented, and vBulletin has a documented method for linking to a post in context: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/misc.php?do=bbcode#post

2

It works for me.

You have to wait a few seconds before it will go to that post, but it does get there.

This is the method I have always used when desiring to link to a certain post.

3

Here’s the OP

And a link that should focus on the third post.

OS 10.4.11
Firefox 2.0.0.13

ETA: second one doesn’t seem to work; even cleared my cache. It’s
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9655911&postcount=3

Which should work, right?

4

Interesting - I’m getting what you are getting. It seems to be positioning me to the post immediately before the one in question, and since that post takes up most of a screen I, like you, have to scroll down most of a screen to get to the correct one.

5

Me too…and it works correctly.

6

Canadjun, thanks! I was beginning to think it was just me.

Apparently positioning the page happens at or very near the completion of loading the page. I think that’s the source of the delay.