Cross posting reference

The other day I posted a thread that I thought related to another existing thread in another discussion. Here is how I did it:
I had to type in an html link after I searched around and found the post

Here is what I would rather have done to link my post to the other one:
1) click a button next to the text entry for the post I am creating
2) filter through discussions and threads to browse to the relevant discussion I am seeking
3) click a button next to the relevant thread I am linking to that would either:
--> generate the crosspost code to put into the text area
or
--> attach an icon to the thread box that indicates a crosspost link exists (like an email attachment), and allow the link to be editable