Links to individual posts don't work

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...t=84190&page=5

Go to post 143, where there is a list of 3 different posts. ATM, they all link to the same post, 71 in the thread, instead of 71, 73, 77, 88.

He's doing it wrong. You have to update the first number--that's the post id.

Like this:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...9&postcount=73

Not:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...8&postcount=73

Originally Posted by Sasaki Kojiro

He's doing it wrong. You have to update the first number--that's the post id.

Like this:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...9&postcount=73

Not:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...8&postcount=73

Meaning there's no easy way to generate a link to a post based on thread ID and post number. Gah.

Strange the post you referred to works for me.

to get link to individual post easily click the number of the post in its' top right hand corner - that will open in a separate window or tab, then just copy and paste in the URL from the address bar:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...&postcount=143

The link is in the upper right hand corner of the post.

You can also link to a post in context, meaning when you follow the link you will be at the post in question but the rest of the posts are there as well.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...99#post1545799

You just have to read the post id from the tooltip when you mouse over the number in the upper right, and then put it in twice like that.

Sigh. I was compiling a list of posts in your damn Mafia game, Sasaki, and I was hoping to easily produce clickable links just by combining the thread ID, the post number, and some other url guff. For instance, I can produce a clickable link to the page of the thread where the post is, by doing the above.

Links to a single post such as: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showpost.php?p=1523739&postcount=73

Can be entered as: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showpost.php?p=1523739

This omits the post number, which is just cosmetic.

The "&postcount=73" only adds the same link to the top corner of the post like this: #73 and links you back to the same post. The number 73 is just a reference to the seventy third post in the thread at that point and is not the real post ID which is the first 7 digit number, so it's not that useful to have it.

Hmmm...for Mafia?

This thread by itself is very suspicious indeed...

Originally Posted by Cambyses II

Links to a single post such as: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showpost.php?p=1523739&postcount=73

Can be entered as: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showpost.php?p=1523739

This omits the post number, which is just cosmetic.

The "&postcount=73" only adds the same link to the top corner of the post like this: #73 and links you back to the same post. The number 73 is just a reference to the seventy third post in the thread at that point and is not the real post ID which is the first 7 digit number, so it's not that useful to have it.

I understand that. That's why I'm bemoaning the lack of any easy way to generate the correct post ID by using the thread ID and the post number. At present, one needs the unique post ID to be able to link to it. It would be nice if it were possible to, let's say, specify the thread ID and the post number within that thread, and the software looks up the relevant post in the database and returns with the unique post ID.

The easiest way is to just mouseover the #X post number in the upper right of the post. Then right click, select Copy Link Location, and paste it into your destination. Not as fast as what you ideally want, but still pretty quick.

Originally Posted by TinCow

The easiest way is to just mouseover the #X post number in the upper right of the post. Then right click, select Copy Link Location, and paste it into your destination. Not as fast as what you ideally want, but still pretty quick.

Aaaargh! What I want is a way to generate the unique post ID using the unique thread ID and the post number within the thread. Copying the url of the #number on the top right works, but it's a hell of a hassle to do for 900+ posts. Hence a script or something that looks it up for me will be preferable. With the Copy url method, I need to know 900+ pieces of information (the unique post IDs). With the thread ID method, I only need to know 1 (the thread ID) plus whatever position the post is within the thread.

It's the difference between direct lookup of memory and logical. In the first, you need to know the physical location in the memory of the thing you're looking for. In the second, you just need to know the logical location, and the lookup table finds the physical location for you. It's possible to do the first, but how much better it is to do the second and let the computer do the hard work.

You can't do it, because post IDs don't work like that. While the lower numbers would be the earlier posts, when stored in the database table the posts are not stored as threads they are stored as posts in post ID order, which is autogenerated. This means that my post in this thread may be 1546523 but the next post in this thread will probably not be 1546524 because other members will have posted many times before that in other threads in the forum. When the posts for this thread are retrieved for viewing a query is executed that shows the posts where the thread ID, not the post ID, is equal to the thread ID of this thread, so only the posts for this thread are shown. To summarise in basic terms, a thread is usually a collection of posts grouped together by their common thread ID.

Originally Posted by Cambyses II

You can't do it, because post IDs don't work like that. While the lower numbers would be the earlier posts, when stored in the database table the posts are not stored as threads they are stored as posts in post ID order, which is autogenerated. This means that my post in this thread may be 1546523 but the next post in this thread will probably not be 1546524 because other members will have posted many times before that in other threads in the forum. When the posts for this thread are retrieved for viewing a query is executed that shows the posts where the thread ID, not the post ID, is equal to the thread ID of this thread, so only the posts for this thread are shown. To summarise in basic terms, a thread is usually a collection of posts grouped together by their common thread ID.

Is it not possible to query the Posts table by Thread ID, sort by Post ID, then pick out the nth item in that list? Something like

SELECT * FROM Posts WHERE ThreadID=x SORT BY PostID

Then whatever function picks out an individual item from the query results, and return the PostID of that item.

You could do yes, but you'd have to get the admin to do it for you I suppose and then have them send you the list of the thread ID's that you want. Try pm'ing TosaInu.

And at that point you may as well ask him to install a "sort thread by username" function.

Originally Posted by Sasaki Kojiro

And at that point you may as well ask him to install a "sort thread by username" function.

It's already there: Sorted by Thread Starter in Display Options.

Originally Posted by TosaInu

It's already there: Sorted by Thread Starter in Display Options.

I think Sasaki meant displaying the thread, sorted by username. While we're going on about fantasies, a tree view with a specified user's posts highlighted would be nice. Kind of like the scoring system + highlights Luu Tran did for Xnews. Oh well.

I just noticed a little § at top left corner of each post...is it a "new feature"?

Originally Posted by Pannonian

Is it not possible to query the Posts table by Thread ID, sort by Post ID, then pick out the nth item in that list? Something like

SELECT * FROM Posts WHERE ThreadID=x SORT BY PostID

Then whatever function picks out an individual item from the query results, and return the PostID of that item.

There's a catch with a system to display the 3rd post of a certain topic. The system is dynamic. You build a link to the 3rd post, but when the second is deleted, the 4th becomes third. When a post is inserted in front, the post you want becomes 4th. Both happens.

This § thing only seems to send you to the post of which it was derived from. But not in a new window or only that post but the entire topic in context.

Originally Posted by TosaInu

There's a catch with a system to display the 3rd post of a certain topic. The system is dynamic. You build a link to the 3rd post, but when the second is deleted, the 4th becomes third. When a post is inserted in front, the post you want becomes 4th. Both happens.

Deleted posts isn't going to affect us too much. In any case, if there is a deleted post, it's easier to update our own external databases by decrementing the links within a certain range than it is to have to keep track of each and every unique post ID within that thread. A few lines of code does the former, but hours and hours of data entry and mouse clicking is required for the latter.

Originally Posted by FactionHeir

This § thing only seems to send you to the post of which it was derived from. But not in a new window or only that post but the entire topic in context.

Originally Posted by TinCow

The easiest way is to just mouseover the #X post number in the upper right of the post. Then right click, select Copy Link Location, and paste it into your destination. Not as fast as what you ideally want, but still pretty quick.

This not an end of story fix.

I know, I was just wondering about the purpose of the new §

It's the same as the postnumber, but now it makes a solid link to a post and opens in a new window. That is, when used like TinCow described. This should make it easier to make a database of posts (one window/tab to compose the post, another to track posts of interest).

May I suggest that, instead of taking one back to the post top, that it shows the whole post on screen - it just seems a little odd at the way it's working at current - it just shows the post title at the bottom of the screen rather than at the top. Thanks!

I can't see that thing on Firefox, only Opera.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...50#post1548050

Visible in FireFox. Maybe you have a different skin there? I guess it's not activated in all at this moment.

Omanes Alexandrapolites, the idea is not to just push that (what would be the use of that?) but to allow quick insertion of posturls into new posts. It does work properly there. https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?p=1547755

Edit: you're right, not all skins did that. Thank you.

Originally Posted by TosaInu

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...50#post1548050

Visible in FireFox. Maybe you have a different skin there? I guess it's not activated in all at this moment.

Omanes Alexandrapolites, the idea is not to just push that (what would be the use of that?) but to allow quick insertion of posturls into new posts. It does work properly there. https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?p=1547755

Edit: you're right, not all skins did that. Thank you.

Perhaps I should have added that I use the dial-up skin.

It's there now too.

Thanks Tosa.