### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-post/107266/1 "2002-05-04T16:46:01Z")
Before, it was possible to construct a link to a given post within a thread by substituting the number of the post twice into a complex URL (which I always obtained by opening a random active thread with the go-to-last-post arrow and then replacing the thread number as needed).
Presently, a post address obtained in this way has the format [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=2065279#post2065279](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=2065279#post2065279) (this particular item URL to a post in the Pit thread “Why the Justice System Sucks”). One will notice a long string of hexadecimal numbers midstream of the URL.
My question is, can one legitimately substitute a post number, say 2039488, into that string and have it work, or does one have to have a particular hexadecimal following the “php?s=” entry, and if the latter, how does one go about getting the right hex number?
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-post/107266/2 "2002-05-04T17:10:17Z")
You need the URL argument like “postid=” to specify the URL to VBulletin which gives you the right thread. You could just as easily do it with a threadid. You will note that if you leave the “#…” off your example, you just wind up at the top of the thread, rather than positioned on the article.
(Side note - the number seems to be decimal, not hex)
What the “#” syntax means is a link to a “named anchor” in the document, essentially telling your browser to scroll to that point. Two ways to get it:
1 - reply via quoting the article, and you will see the ID in the URL, for instance your article is 2065419.
2 - look through the source of the document, and you will find a tag like \\. This is what actually tells the browser where to go via the # mechanism.
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-post/107266/3 "2002-05-04T17:20:35Z")
For instance,
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113318#post2065486](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113318#post2065486)
Scrolls to my previous article in this thread, and I only had to add 1 number after cutting the URL I used to reach the thread, and using the “quote” button.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-post/107266/4 "2002-05-04T17:27:11Z")
Ah, interesting! When I copied that, it had [http://boards/straightdope/com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=](http://boards/straightdope/com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=) followed by a whole string of hexadecimal symbols followed by the #postid=2065279#post=2065279. It apparently parsed out the s=hexcharacters string when it posted as a link.
Thanks for the help!!
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2002, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-post/107266/5 "2002-05-04T17:36:44Z")
Yeah, vbulletin elides text out of the middle of long links to display them - you can mouse over or follow it to see the unabbreviated syntax. I might have gotten around that by specifying the actual text for the link rather than just letting it pick up the URL, I suppose, but I was too lazy to find out.
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2002, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-post/107266/6 "2002-05-05T15:42:48Z")
This question, along with many others, is answered in the [technical issues FAQ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1982344#post1982344).