# "Copy link address" for 🔗 share link popup?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131
**Category:** Feature
**Tags:** completed
**Created:** [2017年三月29日 19:16 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131 "2017-03-29T19:16:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@tophee](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tophee)
#### Post date: [2017年三月29日 19:16 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/1 "2017-03-29T19:16:17Z")
Am I the only one who finds it a bit of a nuisance (given all the other luxuries on discourse) that there is no “copy” button on the 🔗-popup? It would be great to have, similar to [copy invite link button](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-invite-link-link/32648).
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### Author:  [@ChrisBeach](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ChrisBeach)
#### Post date: [2017年三月29日 19:17 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/2 "2017-03-29T19:17:48Z")
Great idea! Would save a lot of unnecessary clicks
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [2017年三月29日 19:28 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/3 "2017-03-29T19:28:15Z")
Copy to clipboard is not really supported on all browsers as of 1-2 years ago. Maybe that changed in latest versions. You can check if you are interested.
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### Author:  [@tophee](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tophee)
#### Post date: [2017年三月29日 19:34 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/4 "2017-03-29T19:34:12Z")
> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> You can check if you are interested.
Do you mean I should find out if all browsers now support copy to clipboard?
Well, I’d simply say that if it’s possible for invite links (in August 2015), why not for any link?
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [2017年三月29日 19:34 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/5 "2017-03-29T19:34:56Z")
Feel free to do the research.
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### Author:  [@sberkovitz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sberkovitz)
#### Post date: [2017年三月29日 19:56 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/6 "2017-03-29T19:56:57Z")
Quoting from [http://stackoverflow.com/a/30810322/225495:](http://stackoverflow.com/a/30810322/225495:)
> The JavaScript document.execCommand(‘copy’) support has grown, see the links below for browser updates:
> - IE10+ (although this document indicates some support was there from IE5.5+).
> - Google Chrome 43+ (~April 2015)
> - Mozilla Firefox 41+ (shipping ~September 2015)
> - Opera 29+ (based on Chromium 42, ~April 2015)
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [2017年三月29日 21:59 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/7 "2017-03-29T21:59:53Z")
Sure @techAPJ if this is working in all browsers now we could auto-copy the link when the share dialog is popped. Might even be useful on touch devices..
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### Author:  [@watchmanmonitor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/watchmanmonitor)
#### Post date: [2017年三月30日 05:20 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/8 "2017-03-30T05:20:30Z")
At this time, reply as a related topic is still hidden behind the share icon.
That’s the biggest reason I have to click on the link icon at the bottom of the post, and I’d rather not have my clipboard messed with, as it’s likely to have content I intend to use the reply I’m posting.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [2017年三月30日 05:30 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/9 "2017-03-30T05:30:49Z")
Allen, as Spock once said to Kirk, and then in a 2009 reboot as Kirk said to Spock, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”.
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### Author:  [@watchmanmonitor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/watchmanmonitor)
#### Post date: [2017年三月30日 05:33 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/10 "2017-03-30T05:33:39Z")
I’m all for a copy function. That’s not the issue.
Moving the Reply as Linked topic out of the Share widget would be even better.
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### Author:  [@jomaxro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jomaxro)
#### Post date: [2017年三月30日 05:55 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/11 "2017-03-30T05:55:35Z")
> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> now we could auto-copy the link when the share dialog is popped
I’m with @watchmanmonitor, please don’t auto-copy…I’d be very disappointed if the contents in my clipboard were erased due to clicking a button (that doesn’t say or imply copy) on Discourse.
I’d much prefer an explicit button (à la [bit.ly](https://bit.ly) and other sites I cannot think of at the moment).
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [2017年三月30日 05:57 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/12 "2017-03-30T05:57:22Z")
If we need a “button” then why not..
- see the link, press your right mouse “button” to copy it
- see the link. Tap and hold to copy it
.. use the “button” that is already there?
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### Author:  [@jomaxro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jomaxro)
#### Post date: [2017年三月30日 06:10 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/13 "2017-03-30T06:10:24Z")
I could be wrong, but the way I interpreted the OP was a request for an explicit button. Essentially reducing the current 3 clicks to 2 clicks.
Both of your suggestions require three clicks: click share than either right click then left click, or hold then tap.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [2017年三月30日 06:41 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/14 "2017-03-30T06:41:15Z")
You can always right click the timestamp at upper right to get the link to a post as well. That’s one “click”.
And tap-and-hold is just two “taps”, not three. Tap one, expand the share dialog, tap-and-hold on the link is two.
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### Author:  [@joebuhlig](https://meta.discourse.org/u/joebuhlig)
#### Post date: [2017年三月31日 12:45 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/15 "2017-03-31T12:45:37Z")
I might be an edge case here but my tendency on desktop is to hit “#” and then enter (takes me to the top), cmd+L and then cmd+C. To me it’s a lot quicker to stay on the keyboard and skip the mouse entirely.
On mobile, I tap the time (just above the URL in the address bar) to get to the top, tap the timestamp of the post, tap/hold the link, and hit copy.
Both of those are when I’m trying to share the topic and not necessarily a post. When sharing a post I skip the process of getting to the top on both. It’s all the same at that point. But I should also point out that I don’t worry about the `?u=joebuhlig` string at the end of the url either.
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### Author:  [@tophee](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tophee)
#### Post date: [2017年三月31日 16:51 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/16 "2017-03-31T16:51:25Z")
> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> .. use the “button” that is already there?
Which button are you referring to?
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### Author:  [@watchmanmonitor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/watchmanmonitor)
#### Post date: [2017年四月2日 05:31 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/17 "2017-04-02T05:31:22Z")
> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> .. use the “button” that is already there?
I have an idea “the button” is the 🔗 at the bottom of each post. I wonder if this mockup @tophee had in mind:
* * *
I went off on a tangent because this solution knocks the current “Reply” button out of the link box.
I feel it doesn’t really belong there anyway… I’m clicking "link to this article’ not “reply with quote”
> [@watchmanmonitor](#):
>
> Moving the Reply as Linked topic out of the Share widget would be even better.
I found the topic which is most relevant to my sidebar comment:
> [@Menu toggle for different reply modes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/menu-toggle-for-different-reply-modes/58133/1):
>
> Continuing the discussion from [With the new right gutter, where should "Reply as Linked Topic" go?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/with-the-new-right-gutter-where-should-reply-as-linked-topic-go/44815/81): This would also be useful for selecting a whisper type reply per the earlier mock-up in the original topic.
Solving the reply-as-linked-topic need would simplify the 🔗 usage which is the heart of the current topic.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [2017年四月2日 05:33 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/18 "2017-04-02T05:33:54Z")
This just gets worse and worse. For such a small thing (seriously, count the actions saved here, it is _at best_ one) it is a giant 💩 sandwich.
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### Author:  [@tophee](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tophee)
#### Post date: [2017年四月2日 10:26 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/19 "2017-04-02T10:26:04Z")
> [@watchmanmonitor](#):
>
> I wonder if this mockup @tophee had in mind:
>
> screenshot\_2177.png1668x682 99.3 KB
This is exactly what I had in mind. Thanks for visualizing it. I even agree that the “+ New Topic” is not particularly well placed (nor well-labelled), but whether or not to move it is unrelated to this topic (so whoever wants to discuss that, please use that button to do so).
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### Author:  [@techAPJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/techAPJ)
#### Post date: [2017年四月4日 18:53 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-link-address-for-share-link-popup/60131/20 "2017-04-04T18:53:59Z")
> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> if this is working in all browsers now we could auto-copy the link when the share dialog is popped. Might even be useful on touch devices..
PR for it here:
[https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/4791](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/4791)
This feature is not supported on all browsers though. Here is the result from my testing on various OS:
✔ Works on:
- Latest Safari on macOS
- Latest Chrome on macOS
- Latest Chromium on macOS
- IE11 on Windows 10
- Latest Chrome on Android 5
- Latest Safari on iOS 10
✖ Does not work on:
- Latest Firefox on macOS
- Edge 14 on Windows 10
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