I’ve just noticed that in the new version of vB, it uses the HTML # markers at each post, so that a URL can point to a specific post in a thread, rather than just the thread. This is a very nice feature, and it’s actually something I was on the verge of suggesting, before I saw that it had already been implemented. What I’m wondering, though, is if there’s any easy way to determine the unique identifying number of a particular post, so that us humans could easily use this feature? It’d be great if we could say, “Refer to Joe’s post number 24357”, instead of saying “Refer to Joe’s post about a third of the way down the second page”. Is there currently any way to do this?
Wow, I’m suprised no one every actually replied to Chronos’ question. But this post is not about Chronos, it’s about me.
First of all, please refresh my memory on how one determines the specific post’s number. It’s the number at the end of the URL that appears in the status bar when you hold your mouse over the edit or quote button, correct?
But more importantly, is there a way to copy that URL so you don’t have to manually type it?
Thanks,
–toast
What if I click the quote button? Does that put the specific post URL in my addres field? Let’s see:
This post stems from quoting Chronos’ post
No it does not. The above link just took me back to the quote page (with Chronos’ original post tagged up as a quote).
Anybody have any suggestions?
It’s early, so I’m not sure I understand the question. If you wish to link to a specific post, you first need to get the post number. Put your mouse pointer over the quote button on the post you want. I don’t know of any computer way to capture the number, so I write it down, then plug it into the following formula:
Your post from 10:54 A.M.
which gives, Your post from 10:54 A.M.
You link to it with the formula Robb just gave, with the appropriate number inserted. Most people can get the postid number by hovering over “edit” or “quote” and reading the seven-digit number at the end of the URL that shows up on the bottom border of their browser – the “what this link goes to” data whenever your focus is on a hyperlink. For those of us with the 30-digit cookie number in the middle of that, it may be necessary to open the quote window, note the number, and then back out of the quote window to embed the link with the proper number. To avoid losing the text you’ve already typed if you need to do this, right-click on the “quote” button and use “open link in new window” to get it, then close that instance of your browser.
So basically, just store the string “http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=000#post000” in a text file on my PC, copy it into my new post when I want to use it, and substiute the target post’s ID number in the string.
Thanks!
You can also right-click on the “report post”, “edit” or “quote” buttons/links and click Properties to get the post ID.
IMHO, the easiest way is to right-click and then select “copy shortcut”. This directly copies the URL with the post number without doing anything else. You can then paste the copied URL somewhere and extract the post number.
If you look at any poster’s profile (who has posted at least once), there is a link to their last post. You can copy this link to the clipboard and use it as a template. Just change the postid to the post you want to link to, after getting the postid by any of the above methods.
The answer to this question can also be found in the Technical issues FAQ:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1982344#post1982344
Terrific! Thanks, Rowrrbazzle – that’s a wrinkle on the idea that I’d never thought of!
Grrrr…
I’ll have to try again later.
My problem is that I can never remember the exact coding for the link format. So even after I remembered how to determine the post number, I still had problems using it because I would forget if it was a # or a & or a * or whatever (postid, idpost#, ???). And I didn’t want the hassle to look up ATMB, find the tech issues thread, and look it up. Finally I had the brilliant idea to make a bookmark of the post. When I need to look it up, I can find it quickly.
The funny thing is, I do remember getting replies to this way back when. And I can’t remember any board weirdnesses which would have wiped out those replies. But thanks for the concern, milquetoast.
What about right-clicking quote, clicking on “Open Link In New Window”, cutting the quote which appears in the reply box, and then pasting the post id from the address bar?
Nope. I really meant to hit preview, not submit.:o
Neither can I. I click on any poster’s profile and then copy the link to their last post to the clipboard and just change the postid.