What's the easiest way to get a link directly to an answer?

Question

I can get the link to a question by hovering the cursor over its title. What's the smart way to get a direct link to one of the answers? The only way I know is to go to the user's page and hunt for it there. So I am clearly missing something.

called2voyage · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-09 18:19:06Z

5

All posts (questions and answers) have a "share" link beneath them, in the same area where the "edit" link is. This brings up a pop-up with a short URL that links directly to the question or answer.

answered May 9, 2019 at 18:19

called2voyageMod

23.8k16 silver badges35 bronze badges

$\begingroup$ @OrganicMarble You might want to use it for questions too, since the link in the title of the question is the long form, which has a portion of the title embedded. $\endgroup$
– called2voyage Mod
Commented May 9, 2019 at 18:24
2

$\begingroup$ This is what I've been using in my posts. For what it's worth, you can also get links to comments. Place your mouse over the comment's time and date, right click (or your browser's equivalent), and choose "Copy Link Location" or similar item from the pop-up menu. $\endgroup$
– DrSheldon
Commented May 9, 2019 at 23:29
1

$\begingroup$ I wish there was a magic text-generating button that would construct a [title](url) string and put it in my copy/paste buffer. It is so time-consuming to make those by hand, but I think people would use them all the time, even in comments. I think that the addition of the title (or eye-candy) would increase the frequency that people will go ahead and click through, increasing awareness. $\endgroup$
– uhoh
Commented May 10, 2019 at 3:59
3

$\begingroup$ Also, using the share link allows you to gain points towards badges, whereas using the URL doesn't. $\endgroup$
– Rory Alsop Mod
Commented May 10, 2019 at 11:36
1

$\begingroup$ @uhoh: If you simply do [url] with the url being a Space.SE question or answer, it automatically displays it as the question title. Not sure if it works with questions across different SE sites, though. Does not seem to work for comments. $\endgroup$
– DrSheldon
Commented May 10, 2019 at 16:11
$\begingroup$ Test: [space.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1273/58] [space.meta.stackexchange.com/a/1274/58] [space.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1273/… [astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/31824/6] [astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/31825/6] [astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/31767/… $\endgroup$
– called2voyage Mod
Commented May 10, 2019 at 16:17
$\begingroup$ @DrSheldon Didn't work in the comments at all. Was that what you were talking about? $\endgroup$
– called2voyage Mod
Commented May 10, 2019 at 16:17
$\begingroup$ @DrSheldon Didn't work in an answer for me either. $\endgroup$
– called2voyage Mod
Commented May 10, 2019 at 16:18
$\begingroup$ Just posted a sample below. I was wrong about the square brackets, just the bare URL. I do it all the time! I only know of it working from a question or answer (not a comment), to a question or answer (not a comment). I'm not sure if the different behavior regarding comments is intentional, or should be reported as a bug. $\endgroup$
– DrSheldon
Commented May 10, 2019 at 16:31
1

$\begingroup$ @DrSheldon Oh yeah, I do a bare URL in questions and answers too. I wish that worked in the comments. $\endgroup$
– called2voyage Mod
Commented May 10, 2019 at 16:32
$\begingroup$ @DrSheldon Bare URL only works for links to questions though. $\endgroup$
– called2voyage Mod
Commented May 10, 2019 at 16:33
$\begingroup$ @called2voyage: Ah, correct you are. I don't link to answers nearly as much as I do questions, and apparently when I do, I tend to write something like In [this answer](...). Whereas I do a lot of Related: followed by a bare question URL. I should have noticed the difference. $\endgroup$
– DrSheldon
Commented May 10, 2019 at 16:47