# Linking to a specific post **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 17, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198 "2001-09-17T17:31:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![katiekilldare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@katiekilldare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katiekilldare)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/1 "2001-09-17T17:31:02Z")
Isn’t it possible to link to a particular post in a thread? So, instead of the link taking you to the top of the page of the linked thread, you’ll end up looking at the specific post you intended? katie ---
**Author:** ![AM\_PM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AM\_PM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AM_PM)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/2 "2001-09-17T17:56:29Z")
Use this link, substituting 500000 with the post #, which is found by hovering over the “Quote” button. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=500000#post500000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=500000#post500000) ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/3 "2001-09-17T18:14:15Z")
**katie** , you can get the bulk of the link by hitting the “show last post button” (The little blue arrow that points to the right). When the thread pops up you can strip the info out of the “Location:” window. It looks like this for this thread… [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1619417#post1619417](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1619417#post1619417) it’s always the same, except for the numbers, like **AM/PM** said. I open a new window so I can cut and paste it into the post I’m writing. Then you pick which post you want to link to by hitting (or just putting your cursor on) the IP: Logged spot. (Under the post you want.) You can’t use this, but it gives you the post number. If you do click it, the post number shows up in the location window. Cut and paste it over _both_ of the numbers for “postid=” and “#post”. Does that help? -Rue. (who wouldn’t know computer jargon if it bit him in the butt) ---
**Author:** ![katiekilldare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@katiekilldare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katiekilldare)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/4 "2001-09-17T18:24:17Z")
Thanks so much guys! That worked perfectly, and I very much appreciate the non-technical speak, **Rue**. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/5 "2001-10-25T03:09:26Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?action=newreply&postid=1619470](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?action=newreply&postid=1619470) Dont mind me, just testing. What I did was hover over the quote button, right clicked, then selected “Copy Shortcut” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/6 "2001-10-25T20:39:51Z")
**Oblong** , No, what you did was make a link to the “reply with quote” page. What you need to do is copy the URL for the last post in any poster’s profile and change the postid to the postid of the post you want to link to (twice). You can get the postid by hovering your mouse over the quote button for the desired post. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/7 "2001-11-03T16:39:41Z")
Lemme try it… [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1748270#post1748270](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1748270#post1748270) Upon preview, I see that it only took me to the top of the thread until I cleared out my cache. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/8 "2002-03-14T18:09:44Z")
Is this still the way links are done? ---
**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:** [March 14, 2002, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/9 "2002-03-14T19:02:39Z")
imthjckaz, why don’t you tell us. Did you try it? Did it work? If not, what happened when you tried such a link? OK I’ll help you out here. I tried out and for me the method of linking directly to a post has not changed with this upgrade to vBulletin. To whit: to link to post number 123456, enter this URL: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=123456#post123456](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=123456#post123456) One easy way to find the post number is to have your cursor hover over the “quote” button for the post to which you want to link. You will see the post number in the link that appears in your browser “status bar”. This method works in Netscape and Internet Explorer. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/10 "2002-03-15T00:55:19Z")
Arnold, I had posed this question when I tried to provide a link, and it didn’t work. I have plenty of theses links before, and this was my first attempt since we came back. Now on preview, I find that things are like they were [before](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1694563#post1694563). I musta screwed something up before. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/11 "2002-03-15T13:20:22Z")
I’m getting long strings of (seemingly) random numbers. In this case it’s “showthread.php?postid=1907782#post1907782”. (The “random” numbers are, of course, “a4d74aea47740c09fef52db393feefc8” Do these numbers _mean_ anything? When I tried to link to a specific post when the Boiards came back up, I think these are what kept it from working. But I’m not sure. (It was also just “practice” and I didn’t feel like hunting down the problem.) -Rue. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/12 "2002-03-15T15:58:40Z")
Getting them where? Are they appearing in bright flames, written by an invisible hand on your wall? Please be more explicit. Without knowing PHP, I am going to venture out on a limb and say those are a session ID for your session, and the number appears after the “s=” in your link. If so the “s=123456&” can be safely removed from the link. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/13 "2002-03-15T16:35:37Z")
When I hit the “Last post” arrow. (Is it called that? Whatever.) The little arrow all the way to the right after the last person who posted’s name. (This time I got: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1909501#post1909501](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1909501#post1909501) A different post ID because it’s a different post, of course. It was your last post.) It pops up in my “location” window. I use Netscape on a Mac and I know nothing about computer-esque jargon. A session ID number makes sense. I just didn’t know where they came from or what they were and I didn’t have a chance to experiment yet. -Rue. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/14 "2002-03-15T16:46:37Z")
The “random numbers” or session ID was editted when I submitted. The seesion ID makes sense though. When I posted, the “Location” window showed: 0df42beb51ebdc43109b2666c3ae221a&postid=1909624#post1909624 with the rest of the regular boards.straitdope/sdmb/showthread.php?s= address too. The “0df42beb…” number was repeated for all the post numbers when I hovered over any of the other posts. (Sorry if this isn’t too clear **Mr. Winkelried** , but it gets automatically editted if I leave the address intact.) ---
**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:** [March 15, 2002, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-to-a-specific-post/82198/15 "2002-03-15T19:18:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rue DeDay \* > When I hit the “Last post” arrow. (Is it called that? Whatever.) We call him Sluggy. > [@](#): > > I use Netscape on a Mac and I know nothing about computer-esque jargon. Please report to your nearest university computer lab for re-education. Find the group of people chuckling over a copy of “Bastard Operator from Hell”, sit next to them, and memorize some keywords. I trust that the purpose of those mysterious numbers is clear now. From what you’re saying, if you left the “session id” as part of the URL, the section of code that automatically parses URLs seems to remove it when you hit “Submit Reply”.