# 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:** 1\
**Showing post:** 5

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**Author:** ![riking](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/riking/32/170938_2.png) [@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")

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> [@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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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-pm-messages-and-topic-replies/31072)._