# How do I do these two things? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 29, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-do-these-two-things/654299 "2013-03-29T22:15:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-do-these-two-things/654299/1 "2013-03-29T22:15:47Z")
I’ve looked at the FAQ’s and if these are in there, I didn’t see them. How do I link to a single post in a thread? How do I link to a thread so that a particular post (not the OP) appears as the top post on the screen? (i.e. for a thread that has 100 posts, I want to post a link such that post 49 is at the top of the screen by default; of course, the user can then scroll up and down the thread as they desire). Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-do-these-two-things/654299/2 "2013-03-29T22:41:13Z")
For the first, to link to the 49th post in a thread only, add &postcount=49 to the end of the url. To jump to the 49th post, add #49 to the end of the url. Eg Thread URL: > **[The "Ask The...." Anthology (Or, a list of EVERY major "Ask the..." thread...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634236)** > > Okay, so…this is now version 5.0. I’ve made this topic five times now. Well, really, I made it in 2005 originally and have just updated it since then with all the new “Ask the…” topics. Still, this took hours. Not just one or two hours either, I’m... The 49th post from that thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634236&postcount=49](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634236&postcount=49) The 49th post within the thread: > **[The "Ask The...." Anthology (Or, a list of EVERY major "Ask the..." thread...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634236#49)** > > Okay, so…this is now version 5.0. I’ve made this topic five times now. Well, really, I made it in 2005 originally and have just updated it since then with all the new “Ask the…” topics. Still, this took hours. Not just one or two hours either, I’m... I hope that works. It seemed to, but I’m on my phone and it made testing tricky. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-do-these-two-things/654299/3 "2013-03-29T22:46:11Z")
On every post is a number in the upper right. If you click that link (#3 on this post) the single post opens in its own window. Grab that URL and use it in a link, and the link goes to just that post. Can’t help with the second question. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-do-these-two-things/654299/4 "2013-03-29T22:46:56Z")
In the top right corner of the post there is a post count, for instance this post will say #4. It’s a link, and if you click on it will bring up a page with just the one post in it. In the top right corner of that page is a link to the whole thread. Clicking on that will bring up the thread page with the selected post at the top of the page. Copy that URL, or just use the URL from the page with just one post since that contains the link to the whole thread anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-do-these-two-things/654299/5 "2013-03-29T22:54:53Z")
My test, based on **Eliahna** ’s post: Link to start at post #49 [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=585296#49](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=585296#49) Link to just post #49 [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=585296&postcount=49](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=585296&postcount=49) OK, the first one works and the second one doesn’t. My test link based on the other two posts, for just post #49: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13137240&postcount=49](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13137240&postcount=49) This does work. (Note to **Eliahna** : the full links show that the one you suggested is different from the one that works in that yours still says “showthread” and the other one says “showpost” as part of the link.) Thank you all, now I know. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-do-these-two-things/654299/6 "2013-03-30T05:45:50Z")
There are 2 ways to link to a post in context. I. The easy way: 1. right-click on the “#XX” in the top right corner of the post and select “copy shortcut” or the equivalent. 2. paste wherever you want. You get something that looks like [noparse][http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15927145&postcount=52[/noparse]](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15927145&postcount=52%5B/noparse%5D) 3. change “showpost” to “showthread”. 4. remove the “&” and everything after it. You get this [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15927145](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15927145) II. The official Vbulletin way: 1. same as step 1 above. 2. same as step 2 above. 3. remove the “p=” and everything before it. 4. same as step 4 above. Only 15927145, the post id remains. 5. use the [noparse]“[post]”[/noparse] Vb tag described at [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/misc.php?do=bbcode#post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/misc.php?do=bbcode#post) > [@Eliahna](#): > > The 49th post within the thread: > [The "Ask The...." Anthology (Or, a list of EVERY major "Ask the..." thread that was ever made) - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634236#49) > > I hope that works. It seemed to, but I’m on my phone and it made testing tricky. It does work, but only for posts on the first page. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-do-these-two-things/654299/7 "2013-03-30T17:27:34Z")
[Test post.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=16145640#post16145640) Okay, here’s what you do: First, click on the number of the post. This opens to the targeted post, all on its own. In the upper right of that post is a link to the title of the thread. So, second, click on that link, and it opens to that entire thread, with your target post at the top. Third, copy and paste the url that you find in your address bar. I’m about to check out this method, and see if it works. ETA: Yup, it does. [ETAA: And let’s see if this technique permits me to link to a specific post on page two of a thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15941487#post15941487) ETAAA: Again, Yup. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-do-these-two-things/654299/8 "2013-03-30T20:58:40Z")
Since we’ve been allowed to set 200 posts as the number of posts for a page for many years, how is post #55 (as in kaylasdad99’s second link) on the second page? Second page for whom? The options are 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 100, 150, and 200 plus forum default which is 50. And why should the computer care how many posts we show? It doesn’t think in pages at all, except to divide them according to your set options. I’m puzzled by some of the comments here. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-do-these-two-things/654299/9 "2013-03-30T21:04:41Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Since we’ve been allowed to set 200 posts as the number of posts for a page for many years, how is post #55 (as in kaylasdad99’s second link) on the second page? Second page for whom? The options are 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 100, 150, and 200 plus forum default which is 50. > > And why should the computer care how many posts we show? It doesn’t think in pages at all, except to divide them according to your set options. > > I’m puzzled by some of the comments here. I did not know that. Let me check on a recent post in the SRIOTD thread. [Post 9006.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=16115802#post16115802) There. Still works. [del]Okay, I guess it doesn’t work.[/del]