# How to get post ID's from closed threads?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [December 12, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602 "2003-12-12T15:28:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/1 "2003-12-12T15:28:56Z")
Normally, if I want to link directly to a particular post in a thread, I’d click on “quote” to pick up the post ID data. But this isn’t possible with a closed thread. Is there an alternate method of determining the post ID number?
Hovering over the quote button doesn’t do much good, either, at least in my IE6; the URL line is so long it gets cut off from the URL slot at the window bottom, and the desired data doesn’t show.
And while we’re on the subject, what’s with the PHP data imbedded in all SDMB links in the browser’s address line? It looks like random characters, like “79fe54a649d2b1edb428a44516cecb” following “.php?s=”. I have found that deleting this from the URL doesn’t alter the action, so I usually do this when posting links. Is this a session or user-specific randomly-generated ID? And if it isn’t needed, why is it there?
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/2 "2003-12-12T15:31:55Z")
Right-click the Report Post, Edit or Quote buttons and click Properties.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/3 "2003-12-12T15:33:17Z")
Scratch that. Only the Report Post link seems to work right.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/4 "2003-12-12T15:49:20Z")
That works! Thanks, **Q.E.D.**
I still wonder what that long number string means, though.
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/5 "2003-12-12T16:15:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Musicat \*
> \*\*That works! Thanks, **Q.E.D.**
>
> I still wonder what that long number string means, though. \*\*
If you mean the part that starts with “s=” and has all sorts of incomprehensible stuff in it, it’s the session identifier, which means that you are not using cookies.
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### Author:  [@Molson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molson)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/6 "2003-12-12T17:42:29Z")
If you have the bottom Status Line turned on in your browser, just hovering over the buttons show the number.
Note that some buttons yield threadid and some postid, but the status line will say which it is.
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### Author:  [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/7 "2003-12-12T17:46:36Z")
Unless of course:
> [@](#):
>
> Hovering over the quote button doesn’t do much good, either, at least in my IE6; the URL line is so long it gets cut off from the URL slot at the window bottom, and the desired data doesn’t show.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/8 "2003-12-12T18:52:01Z")
If you go into “properties” as **Q.E.D.** suggested, you could highlight the post id there, right-click and select copy to copy it rather than transcribing it manually.
IMHO an easier way - hover over the quote button, right-click, then select “copy shortcut”. Then paste it someplace and proceed.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/9 "2003-12-12T22:27:46Z")
Lotsa good ideas here, and a few turkeys. 🙂
**Rowrrbazzle’s** idea of right-click, “copy shortcut” works fine, maybe a little easier than the “properties” idea.
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Una Persson_
> If you mean the part that starts with “s=” and has all sorts of incomprehensible stuff in it, it’s the session identifier, which means that you are not using cookies.
Yes, that’s the part I mean. But I don’t think it indicates I am not using cookies, as I never have to log in and I have cookies turned on both in the vB control Panel and the browser. Must be something else.
Thanks, **Molson,** but as **UncleBeer** pointed out, the data I want to reveal in the bottom status line is normally too long to show completely and there is no way that I know of to scroll horizontally in that slot.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/10 "2003-12-13T00:18:31Z")
You’ll see the session hash even with cookies on if you’re cruising the Board in Invisible Mode. Turn it off and the session hash goes away.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/11 "2003-12-13T01:42:32Z")
So the random character string is called a “session hash”?
That’s something we can test, **Ringo**. Looking at the URL above, the string is still there. Checking my settings in CP, and it says “no” for “browse board in invisible mode.” Changing that to “yes”, saving settings, cruising back to this thread and redisplaying, the string is still there.
So that’s not it.
Does anyone else NOT see that string?
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/12 "2003-12-13T02:09:47Z")
It is the determining variable for me, but I don’t know what else you might have set differently than I.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/13 "2003-12-13T02:27:46Z")
Here are my other settings:
Automatically login when you return to the site? (uses cookies) yes
Browse board with cookies? yes
Allow Bulletin Board Administrators and Moderators To Send You Email Notices? yes
Hide Email Address? no
Use ‘Email Notification’ by default? no
Enable Private Messaging? no
Send you an email when you receive a Private Message? no
Pop up a box when you receive a Private Message? no
Show user’s signatures in their posts? no
Show user’s avatar in their posts? no
Show image attachments and [img] code in Posts? no
Default Thread View: Use forum default
Default Posts per Thread: Use forum default
Start of the week Sunday
Time offset: (GMT -6:00 hours) Central Time (US & Canada), Mexico City
Use vBCode quick links on your message input screens? yes
Style Set: BrightLinks
If I have Invisible Mode engaged, I see session hash. If I turn it off, the session has disappears. YM(apparently)MV.
I suppose your OS/browser combination might affect the situation as well.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-post-ids-from-closed-threads/218602/14 "2003-12-13T02:28:05Z")
**Ringo,** you made me think about other CP settings, so I went back to check the options. Here is the way the first three are set for me:
[ul][li]Invisible Mode? _no_[_]Automatically login when you return to the site? (uses cookies) yes[_]Browse board with cookies? _no_[/ul]If I change the last item to YES, the mystery string goes away. So apparently it is a cookie-substitute, and whatever data is otherwise stored as a cookie is imbedded in each URL request.[/li]
The advice along with the option says
> [@](#):
>
> Clicking yes will use cookies to keep your id for this session. Clicking no will send it through the links. (Selecting no may cause problems when sharing links with people behind the same proxy as you)
My interpretation is “no” is the preferred choice unless you are using a proxy arrangement. I am not, but unless someone tells me the hamsters prefer it the other way, I’ll say “yes” and avoid the string junk.
Thanks, **Ringo.** You didn’t tell me the answer, but you led me there!
And **Una Persson,** perhaps this is the setting you were referring to (#3) – I thought you were referring to #2 (login cookies), which seemed to have no effect. Thanks to you, too. 🙂