# Ordering a search by post date

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-search-by-post-date/938715>\
**Category:** Site Feedback\
**Created:** [March 25, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-search-by-post-date/938715 "2021-03-25T19:25:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-search-by-post-date/938715/1 "2021-03-25T19:25:40Z")

</div>

How do I order the search results by the date of each post that matched, rather than by the latest post in the thread?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-search-by-post-date/938715/2 "2021-03-30T01:24:53Z")

</div>

No answer for this one?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-search-by-post-date/938715/3 "2021-03-30T23:42:00Z")

</div>

> [@Ponderoid](#):
>
> How do I order the search results by the date of each post that matched, rather than by the latest post in the thread?

From what I understand “latest post” is doing what you want (sorting matching posts by date), if you sort by “latest topic” then it’s sorting by thread dates rather than post dates.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-search-by-post-date/938715/4 "2021-03-31T06:15:12Z")

</div>

I’m not sure what you’re asking. If you’re looking for the search with dates in chronological order, from what I can tell, that’s what shows up if you do a search.

If you want it in backwards chronological order, then you can do a search by latest post.

Maybe I’m not understanding the question, but I’ve tried to emulate what I think is your question a couple times.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-a-search-by-post-date/938715/5 "2021-03-31T20:23:44Z")

</div>

Thanks. I must have been doing something else wrong, because for a while I was searching for my username looking for my posts. I was choosing “latest post” and it looked like it was sorting things by the date of the latest post in the thread rather than the date I posted in it, which based on the name of that option, you’d think that’s what it was supposed to do.

Now, I’m choosing “latest post” and it’s doing what I want, sorting by the date of the post the match appears in. Bizarre.