# How do you get the url/marker to a specific post? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 4, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551 "2002-12-04T23:28:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/1 "2002-12-04T23:28:19Z")
This is probably a stupid/obvious question… People often link to a specific post, and it’ll look something like: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=tjga-ds9gh&postid=1924192#post92414](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=tjga-ds9gh&postid=1924192#post92414) I know the # references html “marks” made on a page so that one can skip around within an individual page, but I’m wondering if there’s an easy way to get that url and link to a specific post. It seems unlikely that people view the html source and insert the post number into the url, because it’d be a bunch of work, due to the dynamic nature of the BBS links. They may just do that, but if there’s an easier way, I’ve missed it. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/2 "2002-12-04T23:34:11Z")
I don’t believe those marakers exist in the SDMB layout so you probably can’t make use of the feature. ---
**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/3 "2002-12-04T23:39:36Z")
If you mouse over the “Quote” button in the lower right corner of each post, the postid is in the URL to identify not just the thread but the post. You still have to construct the URL manually, but that’s the only obvious way I see. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/4 "2002-12-04T23:45:15Z")
Ah, it seems if you remove “action type=reply” or whatever, and also change “newreply” to “showthread” at the beginning, the url changes into a pointer, but as people frequently do this, I assume there’s an easier way. Maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/5 "2002-12-05T00:04:36Z")
Since this is a question about this message board, I’ll move this thread to ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/6 "2002-12-05T00:09:06Z")
[This post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1982344#post1982344) describes how to link to specific posts. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/7 "2002-12-05T14:06:47Z")
There is no easy way to do it. You have to construct the link manually. I do it as follows (which is fairly easy to remember)… First, click the Quote button on the post you want to link to, then copy and paste the address field into the reply window, to get… [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?s=&action=newreply&postid=2671041](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?s=&action=newreply&postid=2671041) I replace the first “newreply” with “showthread” to get… [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&action=newreply&postid=2671041](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&action=newreply&postid=2671041) Then I delete “s=&action=newreply” and add “#postxxxxxx” to get… [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?&postid=2671041#post2671041](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?&postid=2671041#post2671041) I then add the tags and a description to get… [description](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?&postid=2671041#post2671041) Now you have your link and you _just_ have to add your erudite text around it. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/8 "2002-12-05T15:03:27Z")
Algernon - you can also get rid of the & right after the ?. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/9 "2002-12-05T15:07:27Z")
Thanks **Arnold** for the additional info. Once I found a system that worked I didn’t mess with it. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/10 "2002-12-05T15:07:32Z")
What I do is “View Source” in the browser, do a find for a recognisable string of text in the source, then scroll up slightly to get the Post ID. Not the most efficient way of doing it compared to the above. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/11 "2002-12-05T18:28:23Z")
How about putting a working sample in a text document on your desktop and then simply paste it in with the postid # changed as appropriate? ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/12 "2002-12-05T20:01:10Z")
:smack: Why didn’t I think of that? That’s a great idea **UncleBeer**. Since I compose all my posts in Notes email first anyway, I can just keep a draft document handy with the appropriate coding. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/13 "2002-12-05T23:40:08Z")
Personally, I copy and past the URL for the entire thread, and then manually postpend the #post12345 . I get the post number by hovering over one of the buttons below the post (edit, quote, “report this post” and “IP: Logged” all work for this). ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/14 "2002-12-06T01:25:02Z")
Thanks. I thought perhaps there was a link somewhere that I was missing, and I didn’t want to do everything manually if there was an easy way. But doing it manually is simple enough. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/15 "2002-12-06T02:08:02Z")
**Chronos** : [That’s not the best way to do it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=142338). ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/16 "2002-12-07T23:32:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*Squink \*\*\* > [This post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1982344#post1982344) describes how to link to specific posts. Would it be priggish of me to point out that this is in a thread entitled “FAQ - technical issues - please read this BEFORE posting a question”? Nothing against you personally, **SenorBeef** , but I’m repeatedly astonished at the number of posters that post questions that are answered explicitly in that very clearly marked thread. This one’s borderline but I seem to be grumpy today. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/17 "2002-12-09T06:43:29Z")
Point taken - I’ve never been in the ATMB forum, and I’d forgotten it exists. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-the-url-marker-to-a-specific-post/140551/18 "2002-12-11T04:14:53Z")
While my usual method is to copy in the template from my handy-dandy notepad “vB quote code.txt” file and then overlay the post number with the number displayed when hovering over the **quote** button, there _is_ an easier way to ensure you’ve got the correct link if you’ve gotten there through a search. If you specify “Show results as posts” on the search page, you can get a direct link from the Post link instead of the Thread link. The url includes the search argument between the _&postid=9999999_ and the _#post9999999_ (as in _&postid=9999999&highlight=cecil#post9999999_) and you can either eliminate the _&highlight=cecil_ or leave it in there. _NOW_, the time and resources needed to run a search simply to save typing 14 keystrokes over a template means that this is **NOT** the way I generally insert direct-to-post links. (Heck, it takes more than 14 keystrokes–and lots more time–to put in a search argument and username, identify a time period, choose a display method, and select the individual Forum to be searched.) However, if I have _already_ done the search, this method does keep me from providing a link to some thread in MPSIMS when I thought I was citing a pertinent remark in Great Debates simply because I can’t type.