# What is difference between post reply and topic reply
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [April 4, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194 "2022-04-04T19:08:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@asugar](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asugar)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/1 "2022-04-04T19:08:30Z")
I can’t figure out what is difference between Post Reply and Topic Reply?
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### Author:  [@sethm](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sethm)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/4 "2022-04-04T19:09:39Z")
Topic reply is to OP. Post reply is to a specific post.
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### Author:  [@asugar](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asugar)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:10pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/5 "2022-04-04T19:10:20Z")
So it will send notifications to OP or the post author? Any other difference apart from that?
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### Author:  [@sethm](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sethm)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/6 "2022-04-04T19:19:02Z")
In longer topics, there is a button in the bottom left corner of a post to read that specific thread.
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### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/7 "2022-04-04T19:30:58Z")
This is a post reply. You can see to which post in the right corner.
Below your post there is a 2, where you can see direct replys
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### Author:  [@asugar](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asugar)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/8 "2022-04-04T19:37:20Z")
@Moin This is also a post reply to your post and I’m not sure it will show anything. Let’s see.
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### Author:  [@asugar](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asugar)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/9 "2022-04-04T19:38:20Z")
Sorry I don’t see any difference in any replies apart from just your reply which shows replied to me.
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### Author:  [@asugar](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asugar)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/10 "2022-04-04T19:39:51Z")
Sorry, yes I see now what you meant.
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### Author:  [@sethm](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sethm)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/11 "2022-04-04T19:39:52Z")
Reread my post above and try out the arrow in the bottom left of the posts in the topic. You’ll see then.
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### Author:  [@asugar](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asugar)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:40pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/12 "2022-04-04T19:40:38Z")
Yes, got it. Thanks for replying.
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### Author:  [@asugar](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asugar)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/13 "2022-04-04T19:44:45Z")
So if I reply to your reply then it is not counted as post reply? It seems that reply to reply is counted as Topic reply?
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### Author:  [@asugar](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asugar)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/14 "2022-04-04T19:46:58Z")
See the right corner of posts, why the first reply doesn’t show your name and avatar?
Both are post replies and it does show count correctly at the bottom of your reply though?
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### Author:  [@awesomerobot](https://meta.discourse.org/u/awesomerobot)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/15 "2022-04-04T20:11:03Z")
Immediate replies above/below have that reply indicators hidden by default. The idea there is that they’re close enough to each other that the extra context isn’t helpful.
There are admin settings called `suppress reply directly below` and `suppress reply directly above` that can be disabled so they always appear.
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### Author:  [@seanblue](https://meta.discourse.org/u/seanblue)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/16 "2022-04-04T20:14:11Z")
> [@awesomerobot](#):
>
> Immediate replies above/below have that reply indicators hidden by default. The idea there is that they’re close enough to each other that the extra context isn’t helpful.
I still think it’s confusing. Sometimes it becomes legitimately ambiguous whether the reply was to the post right above or to the OP. Is there any reason a different icon shouldn’t be used to indicate a reply to the post directly above, like an up arrow or something simple like that?
For what it’s worth, I’m speaking as someone who uses a forum where `suppress reply directly above` _is_ disabled. It is better than the default in some ways, worse in others. But I think a separate icon or indicator of some sort would be the best of both worlds.
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### Author:  [@awesomerobot](https://meta.discourse.org/u/awesomerobot)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 8:21pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/17 "2022-04-04T20:21:02Z")
I don’t think using a different icon or convention has come up before (though “why don’t reply indicators appear” is a fairly common question). It’s possible it could simply raise “why is the icon different for this reply” type of questions instead… but that’s just a guess.
I’d make a new topic in the #Contribute > Feature category if you want to get more attention around that idea.
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### Author:  [@asugar](https://meta.discourse.org/u/asugar)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-difference-between-post-reply-and-topic-reply/223194/18 "2022-04-04T20:30:05Z")
> [@awesomerobot](#):
>
> Immediate replies above/below have that reply indicators hidden by default. The idea there is that they’re close enough to each other that the extra context isn’t helpful.
>
> There are admin settings called `suppress reply directly below` and `suppress reply directly above` that can be disabled so they always appear.
Thanks for pointing that out. By default it should be disabled so that replies do show up otherwise it is too confusing for newcomers.