# What is the difference between a post and a topic?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-post-and-a-topic/24208
**Category:** Site feedback
**Created:** [20 januari 2015 om 04:56 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-post-and-a-topic/24208 "2015-01-20T04:56:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ZucchiniZe](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ZucchiniZe)
#### Post date: [20 januari 2015 om 04:56 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-post-and-a-topic/24208/1 "2015-01-20T04:56:06Z")
I am wondering what the difference between a post and a topic since my forum needs it so users can gain trust levels.
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### Author:  [@Mittineague](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Mittineague)
#### Post date: [20 januari 2015 om 05:05 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-post-and-a-topic/24208/2 "2015-01-20T05:05:07Z")
In terms of Trust Level requirements?
Say there are 4 topics each with 2 posts and a member reads them
topics entered = 4
posts read = 8
For 1 topic with 25 posts
topics entered = 1
posts read = 25
AFAIK posts made by the member do not count towards the post read count.
i.e. for a 2 member only “back and forth” topic with 20 posts, the posts read would be 10
I say AFAIK because we noticed some discrepancies depending on where we looked.
But that was likely due to a massive migration of older posts from vB
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### Author:  [@ZucchiniZe](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ZucchiniZe)
#### Post date: [20 januari 2015 om 05:44 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-post-and-a-topic/24208/3 "2015-01-20T05:44:16Z")
Thank you for clearing that up for me.
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### Author:  [@riking](https://meta.discourse.org/u/riking)
#### Post date: [20 januari 2015 om 10:08 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-post-and-a-topic/24208/4 "2015-01-20T10:08:43Z")
A topic contains multiple posts. This is the fourth post in this topic.