# Question about search function

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-search-function/59454>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [March 25, 2001, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-search-function/59454 "2001-03-25T22:46:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jeremy\_s\_Evil\_Twin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Jeremy\_s\_Evil\_Twin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeremy_s_Evil_Twin)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-search-function/59454/1 "2001-03-25T22:46:42Z")

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Is there any feature that allows you to sort search results by the date of when the thread was STARTED, as opposed to when it was last replied to? I was looking for threads that Cecil Adams had replied to and was irritated by that jagoff who bumped a whole buttload of them, making any cursory glance at them useless for purposes of telling how old they really were.

J.E.T.

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-search-function/59454/2 "2001-03-26T01:08:41Z")

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The short answer is: no. The sorting occurs automatically, and uses the last-posted-to date. Which can indeed be a year or more after the OP. I feel your pain, believe me.

I’m not a vB expert - maybe there is a way to do it with different programming of the search engine. If so, I’m sure one of the true experts will chime in to explain how. But as it is, you’re out of luck.

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-search-function/59454/3 "2001-03-26T02:37:30Z")

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When the search results come up, let your cursor float over the links. The URL of the thread will appear toward the bottom of your screen in the nifty URL-showing-box-thing (that’s the technical term). The URL will end with “threadid=” and then the number of the thread. The smaller the number, the older the thread.

The oldest thread that the Perfect Master has posted to is thread #2 (begun March 12, 1999), and the newest is thread #41920 (October 11, 2000).