# Is there a limit to the number of words in a reply on the SDMB? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 26, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-limit-to-the-number-of-words-in-a-reply-on-the-sdmb/537460 "2010-04-26T21:45:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-limit-to-the-number-of-words-in-a-reply-on-the-sdmb/537460/1 "2010-04-26T21:45:09Z")
A question - is there a limit to the number of words (or characters) in any given post? And is that limit physical (e.g. the vBulletin system will not handle more that 2,000 words per window) or is it by ‘social convention’ (e.g. we deliberately try to keep it brief and to the point even though the system can handle more words than a fully loaded e-book reader.)? Just wondering… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-limit-to-the-number-of-words-in-a-reply-on-the-sdmb/537460/2 "2010-04-26T21:53:42Z")
There is a limit on how long a post can be. I don’t recall the exact length, but back when I was posting about learning to fly tailwheel airplanes I often had to chop my post up into 2 or even 3 posts to start a thread. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-limit-to-the-number-of-words-in-a-reply-on-the-sdmb/537460/3 "2010-04-26T23:06:03Z")
Currently the limit is 20,000 characters. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-limit-to-the-number-of-words-in-a-reply-on-the-sdmb/537460/4 "2010-04-27T00:29:57Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Currently the limit is 20,000 characters. So, based on a rule of thumb of 6 characters per word, that gives a maximum word count of 3,333 and a third words. Hmm… Just to reassure everyone, I’m not considering making a habit of posting pointlessly long replies. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-limit-to-the-number-of-words-in-a-reply-on-the-sdmb/537460/5 "2010-04-28T00:43:19Z")
Example of super-long post (see the second post in this thread): **[SDMB Epic Musical IV ~ Not Safe for Home Either.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=507818)** ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-limit-to-the-number-of-words-in-a-reply-on-the-sdmb/537460/6 "2010-04-28T00:50:12Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > And is that limit physical (e.g. the vBulletin system will not handle more that 2,000 words per window) or is it by ‘social convention’ (e.g. we deliberately try to keep it brief and to the point even though the system can handle more words than a fully loaded e-book reader.)? The limit is set from: Admin CP -\> vBulletin Options -\> Message Posting and Editing Options -\> Maximum Characters Per Post The physical limit would be whatever your memory/storage can handle, which would be many many times greater, but of no practical use. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-limit-to-the-number-of-words-in-a-reply-on-the-sdmb/537460/7 "2010-04-28T01:21:06Z")
Does characters per post include coding? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-limit-to-the-number-of-words-in-a-reply-on-the-sdmb/537460/8 "2010-04-28T03:17:26Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Does characters per post include coding? Just tested it, yup.