There are many times when I find a specific post so informative or stupid or funny or erudite (or all of the above), that I want to save it. The best way would be to be able to save it folders of my own creation while being searchable by better search engines than offered by the Dope. Also, although I want to save specific posts, I also want to be able to refer back to the original thread. Do you do anything like this? How? Are features like this offered to paying subscribers? I would certainly be willing to pay for this.
I know that you can save specific threads by subscribing to them. This doesn’t really accomplish what I want.
I am not sure is this is the sort of solution you are hoping for, but what I would do, personally, would be to simply highlight the text of the relevant post, copy and paste it into a word processor document, and save that on my own computer. You could also copy the thread URL from the browser location bar, and paste that in there too, so you could find the original thread on line again. Thread URLs remain stable, and you can retrieve threads from years ago with them. There is also a way of linking to individual posts rather than whole threads, but I can’t remember how that works.
To get just a post by itself, you can click on the number up in the corner (for instance, if nobody sneaks in between njtt and me, this post will be #3). From there, you can bookmark that page, and organize your bookmarks in whatever folders you like (precisely how you do this depends on your browser, but it should be fairly easy).
This, and several additional useful options also (I am using Firefox, but I think Explorer has all the same options):
[ul][li] Instead of clicking on the number in the upper right corner of the post, you can right-click on it. You will get a menu with options including[list][] Copy link to clipboard.[/li][li] Create a Favorite or Bookmark to that link immediately.[/ul][/li][] Once you click on that link, you get a page showing that post only. Directly above that is the complete title of the thread from which it came. If you click on that, you will get a page that opens the entire thread, but positioned directly at that post. From here, you can scroll up or down. This is kind of a nifty option. Similarly, you can right-click on that link instead if you want to copy to clipboard or immediately bookmark it.[/list]
Have you ever considered Evernote? It’s free and will sync with your toaster. They have a premium plan but their free plan is more than generous as long as you don’t need to sync a lot of data.
For web pages and forums in particular it gives you the option of just clipping the article/highlighted section or the whole page. This does however require a plugin for your browser (also free)
Once in Evernote, you can organize clips however you like and search at will.
edit: It will also remember the url that the clip came from.
My suggestions (though they’ve basically been mentioned above).
1)If you absolutely can’t fathom the idea of ever losing the post, copy and paste it to a a word processor and save it to your local hard drive that way if the thread or even the dope is ever gone, you still have the words.
2)Alternatively, you can go to File, Save Page As, and save the page to your local hard drive. then you can pull it from your computer and it’ll look just like it does now.
3)A bit easier (and more logical IMO), Click on the post number and so you have just the single post that you like and bookmark it. From there, you can always get back to the thread if you want to.
4)My preference, if I was to do it, just bookmark the entire thread. You could even save the bookmarks to a single folder in your browser of even on your desktop (or anywhere else to keep them organized). To me, that makes that most sense. Even if you really like a single post, unless it’s shining light in a sea of drivel, the posts around it may provide some context that you might want to be able to refer too. OTOH, just saving the single post may make more sense so you remember WHY you saved it. Clicking on a 60 post thread 2 years later, you might not remember which post you were so impressed by (though you could add the post number to the shortcut name).
Thanks so much. All good ideas.
This won’t work on individual posts, but if you want to save an entire thread in an easy-to-find place in your control panel on the message board itself:
Go to your Subscribed Threads (this is assuming that you are subscribing to threads that you want to refer back to). Near the top of that page, under the menu bar, is something that looks like this:
Click on Edit Folders. In there, you can make a new folder, call it something like Interesting Threads. Then, you can tick the box at the end of each row of threads that you want to keep handy, and move them into that new folder.
I’ve made it a habit to save content from the web I want to keep for future reference as a pdf file (which is essentially the same as printing it out without actually using ink/toner and paper).
This is also a good idea if you perform any type of internet research when you can’t be sure the content will still be available online in 3 or 6 months.
This may not be quite what the OP is after but it works for me at another vBullitin forum site. Up at the top under thread tools is an email this page option. Create a yahoo address just for this purpose, mail it to yourself and sort it upon receipt at yahoo.