An Article is not a thread
This distinction matters because the two need different handling. A thread is a chain of separate posts — each one a numbered container with its own metrics. An Article (or long post) is a single body of prose that can run past a thousand characters with headings, lists and images inside it. A thread exporter that treats an Article as a chain will slice a coherent essay in the wrong places.
Why copying and pasting fails
- Headings and lists collapse into one wall of text.
- Images either come along as broken links or do not come at all.
- Reader UI text — like counts, follow banners, “Show more” — gets pasted in with the prose.
- Long posts are truncated in the timeline view, so the copy is incomplete.
Exporting an Article step by step
What actually survives the export
- Survives well: paragraphs, headings, bullet lists, block quotes, code blocks, and the post's own text.
- Survives with care: images, which are pulled at the resolution the post serves.
- Does not survive: anything the post points at but does not contain — embedded videos, polls, live counters.
When this is worth doing
Three common cases: citing a long post in research where a link may rot; keeping a strategy write-up you want to reread offline; and building a personal archive of posts by writers whose work you follow but whose timelines are noisy. In all three, the value is the same — a stable file you own rather than a link that depends on someone else's page staying up.