# "Who Posted" listing order **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 26, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878 "2011-10-26T17:17:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/1 "2011-10-26T17:17:25Z")
If you click on the number of replies for a thread on a forum page, you get a list of names of the people that have posted in that thread, beginning with those with the largest number of replies at the top of the list. If there are a large number of people with only one post, what determines the listing order? It is not alphabetic, and it is not by posting time or date. Any idea what determines the listing order? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/2 "2011-10-26T18:09:30Z")
I’ve wondered about that, too. Maybe this thread could serve as a data-gathering place. How about before you post a reply, you copy/paste the “Who Posted?” list to see where the earlier poster(s) are situated. Maybe after a few posts a pattern will appear. Has to be more than random, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/3 "2011-10-26T19:05:05Z")
Who Posted? Total Posts: 2 User Name Posts Fear Itself 1 Zeldar 1 ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/4 "2011-10-26T19:15:07Z")
Who Posted? Total Posts: 3 User Name Posts Fear Itself (6323) 1 Zeldar (36386) 1 KneadToKnow (8334) 1 I was going to propose User # (which I added above in parens) as the sort key, but **KneadToKnow** didn’t fall in line. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/5 "2011-10-26T19:35:36Z")
Didn’t fall in line? Pfft. I can barely even fall down. 😉 Who Posted? Total Posts: 4 User Name Posts Fear Itself 1 Zeldar 1 milquetoast 1 KneadToKnow 1 ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/6 "2011-10-26T19:37:39Z")
Who Posted? Total Posts: 5 User Name Posts KneadToKnow 2 Fear Itself 1 Zeldar 1 milquetoast 1 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/7 "2011-10-26T19:43:38Z")
Who Posted? Total Posts: 6 User Name Posts KneadToKnow 2 Fear Itself 1 Wheelz 1 Zeldar 1 milquetoast 1 This before my second post to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/8 "2011-10-26T19:48:21Z")
Who Posted? Total Posts: 7 User Name Posts Zeldar 2 KneadToKnow 2 Fear Itself 1 Wheelz 1 milquetoast 1 **Zeldar** is before **KneadToKnow** again after both have posted twice, so at least that’s consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/9 "2011-10-26T19:57:42Z")
Who Posted? Total Posts: 8 User Name Posts Zeldar 2 milquetoast 2 KneadToKnow 2 Fear Itself 1 Wheelz 1 It would appear that posting order carries so far. Shot taken before this post (if it’s not obvious). ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/10 "2011-10-26T21:50:22Z")
I asked the same question a few years ago ([link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=372094)), and nobody seemed to know then. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/11 "2011-10-26T22:00:41Z")
Who Posted? Total Posts: 10 Zeldar 3 milquetoast 2 KneadToKnow 2 Fear Itself 1 Wheelz 1 Cunctator 1 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/12 "2011-10-26T22:03:02Z")
User Name Posts Zeldar 3 milquetoast 2 KneadToKnow 2 Fear Itself 1 Wheelz 1 Cunctator 1 MsWhatsit 1 Data collection- count me in! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/13 "2011-10-26T22:04:47Z")
It seems to be in order of posting. If you post an additional time to the thread, your name bumps up, or an additional count gets added to your spot. Interesting: Mine got bumped up, now that I had two posts. Who Posted? Total Posts: 13 User Name Posts Zeldar 3 IvoryTowerDenizen 2 milquetoast 2 KneadToKnow 2 Fear Itself 1 Wheelz 1 Cunctator 1 MsWhatsit 1 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/14 "2011-10-26T22:24:13Z")
Another post for me: Who Posted? Total Posts: 13 User Name Posts Zeldar 3 IvoryTowerDenizen 2 milquetoast 2 KneadToKnow 2 Fear Itself 1 Wheelz 1 Cunctator 1 MsWhatsit 1 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/15 "2011-10-26T22:42:41Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I asked the same question a few years ago ([link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=372094)), and nobody seemed to know then. Go look at your thread now. I see some shuffling of names in the “Who Posted?” listing, but have yet to decipher the pattern. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/16 "2011-10-27T00:04:46Z")
My question is why does this functionality even exist? What a waste. I’m trying to imagine a situation in vBulletin where this would be a useful button, but I’m coming up blank. The only time I’ve ever seen it used on this board is to complain that one person is hogging the thread. Do we really need a button to figure that out? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/17 "2011-10-27T00:23:33Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > My question is why does this functionality even exist? What a waste. I’m trying to imagine a situation in vBulletin where this would be a useful button, but I’m coming up blank. I often use it in longish threads when I want to see whether a particular person, whose comments I generally consider useful and/or worthwhile, has posted. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/18 "2011-10-27T01:48:56Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > My question is why does this functionality even exist? What a waste. I’m trying to imagine a situation in vBulletin where this would be a useful button, but I’m coming up blank. > > The only time I’ve ever seen it used on this board is to complain that one person is hogging the thread. Do we really need a button to figure that out? > [@Cunctator](#): > > I often use it in longish threads when I want to see whether a particular person, whose comments I generally consider useful and/or worthwhile, has posted. It’s a handy way of supplementing the mouseover of the title to see if the thread has much appeal to your opening it to read further. As with many such features, you aren’t forced to use it. Judging from responses in **Cunctator** ’s thread (and other threads with similar concerns) many users aren’t even aware of its existence. So it can’t be hurting anything be being available to those who find it useful. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/19 "2011-10-27T01:56:30Z")
Also, if you click on the number of posts from a particular poster, it lists them for easy reference, with out having to scan the whole thread again. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878/20 "2011-10-27T02:07:08Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Also, if you click on the number of posts from a particular poster, it lists them for easy reference, with out having to scan the whole thread again. I had no idea! That’s fantastic! thanks! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-posted-listing-order/600878.md?page=2)