# What is this linking issue Miller is mentioning? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 19, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605 "2021-06-19T02:39:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/1 "2021-06-19T02:39:53Z")
The techno-peasant needs guidance. @Miller has started a thread in thePit about a new rule about linking threads. I’ve read his intro to the thread a few times and I’m afraid I don’t understand it. Back-linking? I don’t want to derail the discussion about the new rule, so thought I’d ask here: what is the technical issue about linking? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/2 "2021-06-19T02:45:47Z")
One of the board rules is there’s not supposed to be any personal insults outside of the pit. There’s a feature on Discourse that let’s you link a thread to a specific post in another thread. And if you do so the title of the linked thread appears in that post you linked it to. So let’s say you want to direct a personal insult towards me in Great Debates. You can’t post it because it would violate the board rules. But you can start a thread in the Pit with the title “Little Nemo is a Butthead”. It’s the Pit so this is allowed. And then you can link that thread to various posts I have made in Great Debates. And all of those posts will now have a link to the Pit thread and say “Little Nemo is a Butthead”. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/3 "2021-06-19T02:46:32Z")
How do you link it this way? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/4 "2021-06-19T02:47:22Z")
I’m not sure. I don’t think I’ve used that feature. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/5 "2021-06-19T02:49:16Z")
There is no technical problem. The link title simply defaults to the thread title. test link: > [@What is this linking issue Miller is mentioning?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/3): > > How do you link it this way? To link to a specific post you can do it via the post number (see above example) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/6 "2021-06-19T02:55:48Z")
I’m not saying there’s a technical problem , and I understand no insults outside the pit. I’m saying I don’t understand what the problem is that the new rule addresses. What is a back link? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/7 "2021-06-19T02:58:24Z")
Here’s how to do it: To link _to_ a post you click the icon at its lower right that looks like two links of chain on the diagonal. It’s just to the left of the “…” icon. When you click that icon, a box will pop up with a highlighted url that points to that post and gives you credit for it. Click “Copy” in your browser however you do that. Then paste that into your other post in the other thread. Here’s what it looks like: I went to the current last post in this other ATMB thread and put the link I got from the chain icon there into here: > [@Why is the SDMB membership declining, and what's the best way to add younger members?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sdmb-membership-declining-and-whats-the-best-way-to-add-younger-members/944208/410): > > Is it possible to find out who the admins are on [this page](https://boards.straightdope.com/about)? People have guessed that they helped with the migration, but I’m wondering if maybe one or some of them are also doing some maintenance. Might they be getting paid for that? If they are, then it might just be a matter of having a liaison to let the tech people know what to change. (I know it’s not this simple, but just as a hypothetical.) When you go look at that post by following the link in this post, you’ll see that at the bottom of that post in gray there will be a link back to this post. Labeled with the title of this thread. That back-link is what we’re talking about. It was added to that thread automatically as a result of my post in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/8 "2021-06-19T02:58:47Z")
Click on this link: > [@New Rule about Thread Titles when Pitting Other Posters](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-rule-about-thread-titles-when-pitting-other-posters/944549): > > Discourse has a feature where if you put a link to another thread into a post, it creates a back-link in the linked thread. Which has caused a minor issue with the Pit forum when someone Pits another poster, and the thread title contains a personal insult: the insulting thread title appears in the linked thread, effectively subverting the rule against insulting posters outside of the Pit. As there is no ready technical solution to this, we’re implementing a new rule regarding Pit threads that … At the end of that post, there will be a link “back” to this post ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/9 "2021-06-19T03:06:09Z")
Thanks both for the étalier explanations. And I was proud when I figured out cutting and pasting - I think I’ll not try to figure this out. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2021, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/10 "2021-06-19T03:07:31Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’m saying I don’t understand what the problem is that the new rule addresses. What is a back link? Any time you quote someone in another thread, it notifies them and puts a note of the link in that post. Also happens when you hit the figure 8 looking thing at the bottom of the post and copy that to another thread or post. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > When you go look at that post by following the link in this post, you’ll see that at the bottom of that post in gray there will be a link back to this post. And the person you linked (me) gets notified, as I just did. On preview, looks like this post is unnecessary, but since I already wrote it, I’ll post it anyway to let people know that linked posters do get notified. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/11 "2021-06-19T06:19:33Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And I was proud when I figured out cutting and pasting - I think I’ll not try to figure this out. My thought (about myself) exactly. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/12 "2021-06-19T11:27:43Z")
I linked to your OP from the thread about the linking issue, so now you should see the link below it in grey. This is automatically generated by Discourse. That’s the link-back that Miller is referring to, it shows the title of the Pit thread. If you click it, it takes you to the thread in the pit, where you’ll see the link I posted to your OP. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/13 "2021-06-19T19:34:17Z")
Look underneath your OP in this thread and you can see I created a backlink that reads “Northern\_Piper is a bagpipe”. Imagine someone made one that uses something more offensive than “bagpipe”. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/14 "2021-06-20T02:21:36Z")
Thank you all for trying to explain it too me. I’m still not sure I get it. I’ll stick with cutting and pasting. At least I understand that. _ **Piper** _, who learned coding with punch cards. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/15 "2021-06-20T17:16:02Z")
The back linking issue isn’t something users actively do, like cutting and pasting. It’s a baked in function of how Discourse handles linking to other threads. Anytime you post a link to another post on the board, Discourse creates a second link under the post you linked to, which leads back to your post. This happens automatically, and can’t be turned off, unless we disable it for the entire board. The automatically generated link shows the name of the thread its linking to. So, if someone starts a thread called “Poster X is a dickhead,” and links to their post in a GD thread, that post in GD will have a link underneath it that says “Poster X is a dickhead.” Which is a problem. Since the linking happens automatically, and can’t be disabled for only the BBQ Pit, we’re trying a rule about not allowing direct insults to other posters in Pit thread titles. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/16 "2021-06-20T18:53:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Since the linking happens automatically, and can’t be disabled for only the BBQ Pit, we’re trying a rule about not allowing direct insults to other posters in Pit thread titles. And I notice that a whole bunch of already-existing formerly offensive titles in the Pit have been changed to simply read “I Pit XXXXX”. Did you go through the Pit can change all those titles? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605/17 "2021-06-20T22:26:39Z")
I did.