# Is there a way to search for threads containg posts from 2 specific posters? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 17, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-search-for-threads-containg-posts-from-2-specific-posters/143241 "2002-12-17T03:26:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blunt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Blunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blunt)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-search-for-threads-containg-posts-from-2-specific-posters/143241/1 "2002-12-17T03:26:43Z")
I was wondering if it would be possible to do a search where you’d look for threads which 2 specific posters have posted to. Basically I’d like to be able to get a list of threads where one poster and another poster have both posted. Is this possible? I have tried doing a search with one poster’s name as the user name to search for, and the other poster’s name as the keyword. This has had some results, but I suspect that it didn’t come up with all the threads in which both posters contributed. I think it only returned the threads in which the poster’s actual user names were mentioned in the thread. I hope you all can understand this question, I’m having a hard time phrasing it. Hopefully you get what I mean. Thanks. ---
**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 17, 2002, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-search-for-threads-containg-posts-from-2-specific-posters/143241/2 "2002-12-17T03:48:18Z")
There is no way, using the existing search function, to find a thread in which both UserX and UserY have posted. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-search-for-threads-containg-posts-from-2-specific-posters/143241/3 "2002-12-17T03:55:19Z")
You may have some luck with boardreader, since I don’t think it differentiates between names and keywords. ---
**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 17, 2002, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-search-for-threads-containg-posts-from-2-specific-posters/143241/4 "2002-12-17T21:06:02Z")
Last I knew, you could put two names into the “name” field, but the result of that was to find threads where the one person posted immediately after the other. Useful sometimes, but still not really what you’re looking for. ---
**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 17, 2002, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-search-for-threads-containg-posts-from-2-specific-posters/143241/5 "2002-12-17T22:49:10Z")
If that ever worked, Chronos, it doesn’t work now. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-search-for-threads-containg-posts-from-2-specific-posters/143241/6 "2002-12-18T00:07:19Z")
Since there’s a reasonable probability of each of them having been quoted (and the quote attributed), or their names being mentioned in some form of address, you _should_\* be able to search by putting both of the user names into the regular search field - this will work best when the user names in question are both single words and won’t work at all if either of them is as short as 3 characters. This method would also find instances where the members are mentioned, even if they were never active in the thread. \*I say _should_ because I tried this and it didn’t yield the sort of results I expected, although I can’t see where my logic went wrong… ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-search-for-threads-containg-posts-from-2-specific-posters/143241/7 "2002-12-18T00:11:23Z")
I think the reason it didn’t work is because people aren’t quoted nearly as often as you think. There are five posters to this thread, and only one has been named in the body of a post. ---
**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 18, 2002, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-search-for-threads-containg-posts-from-2-specific-posters/143241/8 "2002-12-18T17:35:16Z")
What’s wrong with using Boardreader? Just plug in the two user names (in quotes if they’re more than one word each, like mine) and the string “sdmb” and you’re in business.