# Cannot distinguish reply to previous post vs reply to original post **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [May 5, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannot-distinguish-reply-to-previous-post-vs-reply-to-original-post/941439 "2021-05-05T14:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 77
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannot-distinguish-reply-to-previous-post-vs-reply-to-original-post/941439/77 "2021-05-16T17:39:55Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And while codinghorror is the author of Discourse, he is just an ordinary poster here. He’s not our employee. He’s not even an admin for this site. He doesn’t owe the SDMB anything. Any changes he’s made, any advice he’s offered, he’s done out of generosity. Thanks for writing this, **puzzlegal**. It’s beautifully written. I’ll bookmark it for the next thread like this one. As I see it, there are two issues discussed in this thread. One can be fixed in the admin control panel and one can’t. The issue with Discourse deleting the entire previous post if it’s quoted in its entirety can be fixed in the admin control panel. See [here](https://meta.discourse.org/t/bug-when-making-a-quote/150755/3) on Discourse Meta. One admin who turned off the feature soon realized how repetitive the site became. The other issue is that Discourse doesn’t distinguish between replying to the OP and replying to the post above. That needs a change in code or a plug-in. The issue is discussed on Discourse Meta [here](https://meta.discourse.org/t/question-suggestion-about-arrow-icon-referencing-replied-to-post/117516/13). It’s pretty clear from that thread and this one that changing that feature is not a priority for the Discourse team since there are so many easy ways to make the communication clearer by quoting and context. > **[Question/suggestion about arrow/icon referencing replied to post](https://meta.discourse.org/t/question-suggestion-about-arrow-icon-referencing-replied-to-post/117516/11)** > > If Jeff believed this was useful to core discourse and a priority then the team would pick up the work internally. For now I would work on the assumption that you aren’t going to get a PR into Discourse, and would instead be talking about having a... In both cases, any change would have to go through the admin on the SDMB… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannot-distinguish-reply-to-previous-post-vs-reply-to-original-post/941439)._