# This is a stupid question **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 1, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302 "2003-05-01T03:28:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/1 "2003-05-01T03:28:57Z")
You’d think that as long as I’ve been here I would have learned what I’m going to ask about, but noooo. I just can’t figure this out. What I want to do is, in a post, create a link to another thread without showing all the letters and numbers and symbols. I’ve seen links where what shows is just a couple of words, like “prehensile rectum” , or “Done before” How the heck is this done? I know how to bold and to underline or change font size, color, etc., but not how to do this. If someone can give me some help I’d appreciate it. I’d practice in this thread, as this is the place for practice posts it says. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/2 "2003-05-01T03:39:13Z")
[link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb) ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/3 "2003-05-01T03:39:39Z")
[Like this.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php) Hit the Quote button under this post to see the coding. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/4 "2003-05-01T03:40:16Z")
Try this: [**url** =http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=180977]Couple of words[/url\*\*\*\*] which shows up as: [Couple of words](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=180977) ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/5 "2003-05-01T03:40:48Z")
Or just read **Lobsang** ’s post. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/6 "2003-05-01T03:59:57Z")
Okay, I’m going to give it a try here. [url=http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=176968funniest post ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/7 "2003-05-01T04:01:29Z")
Close. You left out the ] before “funniest post”. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/8 "2003-05-01T04:04:52Z")
Well, that didn’t go so well, guess I need to try again. [funniest post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=176968) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/9 "2003-05-01T04:05:45Z")
You first identify the _postid_ number of the post you want to link to – hovering your cursor over “edit” or “quote” will usually display this at the foot of your IE browser window. Then you insert that number into the proper format for creating a link. Here’s the coding for the OP in **GMRyujin** ’s MPSIMS thread titled “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up”: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=3357579#post3357579](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=3357579#post3357579) That seven-digit number at the end is the postid for that particular post; every post on the board has a unique postid. (You can just copy that coding, and plug in the right postid number in place of 3357579.) Now, to make it a link of the form [GMRyujin’s OP](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=3357579#post3357579), you type in, in order, the following: 1. An opening bracket 2. The letters URL (not case sensitive), an equals sign, and a quote mark. 3. The actual link, in this case [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=3357579#post3357579](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=3357579#post3357579) 4. Another quote mark and a closing bracket 5. The phrase you want to use to describe the link. 6. An opening bracket, the coding /URL, and a closing bracket. Skip any piece of that, and you have miscoding. But it comes natural with practice. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/10 "2003-05-01T04:05:53Z")
Thanks **Q.E.D.**. I think I’ve got it now! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/11 "2003-05-01T17:28:18Z")
Hey, not so fast. Do you really think that you can get away with mentioning a prehensile rectum, without a link? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-stupid-question/172302/12 "2003-05-07T22:51:06Z")
Well, **Chronos** , I was cruising back by this thread and I saw your last post. It wouldn’t hurt for me to get a little practice in so here you go:[This one’s for you Chronos](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80957)