# Whats the difference between pm messages and topic replies?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-pm-messages-and-topic-replies/31072
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [July 15, 2015, 7:09am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-pm-messages-and-topic-replies/31072 "2015-07-15T07:09:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@h1onE](https://meta.discourse.org/u/h1onE)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2015, 7:09am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-pm-messages-and-topic-replies/31072/1 "2015-07-15T07:09:28Z")
I noteced that they both are very similar but pm messages have not as much functionalty as topic replies have, why?
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2015, 8:47am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-pm-messages-and-topic-replies/31072/2 "2015-07-15T08:47:02Z")
What functionality should PMs have that they lack? Can you be more clear?
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### Author:  [@h1onE](https://meta.discourse.org/u/h1onE)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2015, 11:10am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-pm-messages-and-topic-replies/31072/3 "2015-07-15T11:10:17Z")
For example i noticed that the “Reply as linked Topic” feature is missing. Of course this would mean the private message will get public due to the linking. So the linking have to appear for the concerned people only or there should be a simmilar feature like “Reply with linked Message”.
However I am interested in the differences at all which I perhaps didnt noticed.
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### Author:  [@TechnoBear](https://meta.discourse.org/u/TechnoBear)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-pm-messages-and-topic-replies/31072/4 "2015-07-15T13:01:35Z")
> [@h1onE](#):
>
> For example i noticed that the “Reply as linked Topic” feature is missing.
Assuming that you would only want to do that to send a message to someone who is already a participant, you can click on their avatar on the relevant post and choose “Message” from their usercard. It will start the message with a link to the post in question. Maybe not ideal, but pretty close.
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### Author:  [@riking](https://meta.discourse.org/u/riking)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-pm-messages-and-topic-replies/31072/5 "2015-07-16T00:32:24Z")
> [@h1onE](#):
>
> For example i noticed that the “Reply as linked Topic” feature is missing. Of course this would mean the private message will get public due to the linking.
As you noticed, creating a new public topic that links back to a private message doesn’t make much sense, and it won’t embed. However, the cross-topic linkage WILL be visible for those that can view both topics.
The button is removed because it won’t embed.
In terms of fundamental differences, a PM is still a real topic and contains real posts. The only thing it doesn’t have is a category.
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### Author:  [@h1onE](https://meta.discourse.org/u/h1onE)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2015, 12:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-pm-messages-and-topic-replies/31072/6 "2015-07-16T12:03:52Z")
> [@riking](#):
>
> In terms of fundamental differences, a PM is still a real topic and contains real posts. The only thing it doesn’t have is a category.
Thanks, thats what i wanted to know 😃
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### Author:  [@chapoi](https://meta.discourse.org/u/chapoi)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 11:36am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-pm-messages-and-topic-replies/31072/7 "2025-12-04T11:36:50Z")