# Prevent replies to OP
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [August 20, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513 "2024-08-20T15:37:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Gotchur](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Gotchur)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/1 "2024-08-20T15:37:57Z")
Is there any way to prevent replies to an OP and instead default those to topic replies? I can cover most of this by hiding elements in the UI but there are other edge cases like quote bbcode, highlighted text, and I’m sure other methods (relatively new to Discourse). This is important to achieve the visual structure I’m creating for topics.
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### Author:  [@ondrej](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ondrej)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/2 "2024-08-20T22:42:55Z")
> [@Gotchur](#):
>
> prevent replies to an OP and instead default those to topic replies
Do you mean hide the reply button on posts and only display the reply to topic?
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### Author:  [@ToddZ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ToddZ)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2024, 11:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/3 "2024-08-20T23:07:39Z")
Not sure I’m understanding the issue…
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the Reply button on the OP and the Reply button for the Topic do the same thing – only the Reply button on subsequent Posts (comments) differs by inserting the reply within the thread?
You might be interested in the CSS mods we came up with to differentiate the various Reply button labels over at:
> [@Is there a way to link replies after they are posted?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-there-a-way-to-link-replies-after-they-are-posted/320175):
>
> Is there a way to modify an existing topic reply to be a post-specific reply? I know I am guilty of it as well, but there are numerous times that I see someone clearly replying to a specific post but they mistakenly use the topic reply. It would be great to have the ability to fix the reply-type via the “select post” menu.
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### Author:  [@Lilly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Lilly)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2024, 2:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/4 "2024-08-21T02:26:10Z")
Hmmm perhaps this plugin can be adapted to suit your use case, which admittedly I do not understand…
> [@Discourse Restricted Replies](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-restricted-replies/131343):
>
> discourse2Summary Discourse Restricted Replies adds a per-category setting allowing staff to restrict replies on topics to the topic creator and members of specific groups.hammer_and_wrenchRepository Link [https://github.com/discourse/discourse-restricted-replies](https://github.com/discourse/discourse-restricted-replies)open_bookInstall Guide [How to install plugins in Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/install-plugins-in-discourse/19157)Features This plugin adds a per-category setting allowing staff to restrict replies to the OP, and members of specific groups. This is a bolt-on t…
If you want control over replies, you could also look at some of the moderation settings for the category:
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### Author:  [@Gotchur](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Gotchur)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/5 "2024-08-21T17:46:03Z")
This is actually a great example of what I am referring to. It seems that when you quote the OP, it ends up being a post reply instead of a topic reply.
> [@ToddZ](#):
>
> Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the Reply button on the OP and the Reply button for the Topic do the same thing
You are correct but as demonstrated above, there are still ways (seemingly) to create a post reply using quotes (maybe that’s the only way?).
> [@Lilly](#):
>
> Hmmm perhaps this plugin can be adapted to suit your use case, which admittedly I do not understand…
This might be able to help, I will play around with this plugin, thank you! My use case is that I am looking to position topic replies as “on-topic” and post replies as “off-topic” where I will hide post replies from the topic thread and keep them nested under the post. With this structure, quoting the OP in a response is inherently “on-topic” and should not be nested. With my ideal design, the screenshot above would not be able to happen. I hope that makes sense?
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### Author:  [@Gotchur](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Gotchur)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/6 "2024-08-21T18:10:57Z")
After thinking about it some more, I would even suggest that it never makes sense for a reply to be nested under the OP.
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### Author:  [@Heliosurge](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Heliosurge)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/7 "2024-08-21T20:35:33Z")
If you’re self hosted. There is a Journal plugin.
However the replies will be comments under the Op’s Posts as Comments with a limited number of characters vs a full reply.
> [@Journal Plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/journal-plugin/317785):
>
> information_sourceSummary Turn a Discourse topic into a one-to-many journal where one user can post entries that other users comment onhammer_and_wrenchRepository Link https://github.com/paviliondev/discourse-journalopen_bookInstall Guide [How to install plugins in Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/install-plugins-in-discourse/19157) Watch this video for an introduction to the plugin: How to get started First, enable journaling for a category in the category settings. Click “Settings” on the left, scroll down to the bottom,…
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### Author:  [@Gotchur](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Gotchur)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2024, 9:00pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/8 "2024-08-21T21:00:16Z")
I love this plugin and it gets me close, but not quite all the way there. If only relying on comments, then it doesn’t enable the conversation structure I’m looking for (nested post replies are still important to me). If I allow other users to create new entries in a Journal, then I’m back to square one of being able to have a post reply on the OP.
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### Author:  [@Heliosurge](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Heliosurge)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/9 "2024-08-21T21:35:48Z")
Hmm.. can you post more details as with others. I am having trouble understanding fully what you’re trying to achieve?
In the above SS are you looking to have only the Op able to use the reply in Red? So that replies are only made by quotes and reply button in green?
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### Author:  [@Gotchur](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Gotchur)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/10 "2024-08-21T22:02:22Z")
Actually demonstrating this has made me realize this may only apply to the text highlight quote function as that seems to have its own reply type.
This is the scenario I’m trying to avoid:
This is the outcome I’m looking for:
While I’d prefer not to lose this function if it could be prevented, figuring out how to hide this Quote button in the UI on post #1 would satisfy my requirement. It could still happen by using the keyboard Q function but I could live with that for now.
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### Author:  [@Heliosurge](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Heliosurge)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/11 "2024-08-21T22:23:01Z")
Maybe these 2 site settings disabled might do the trick.
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### Author:  [@Gotchur](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Gotchur)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/12 "2024-08-21T22:27:56Z")
I have no idea how I missed this setting. If there are no other solutions, this will definitely do the trick. Thank you @Heliosurge!
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### Author:  [@system](https://meta.discourse.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2026, 6:18am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/prevent-replies-to-op/322513/13 "2026-03-09T06:18:58Z")
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