Integrating Vanilla with Wordpress?

abdullah · August 2009

Hi guys...

I've set up a wordpress blog on my site.

I want to have a forum too, and Vanilla looks excellent.

Is there any way to integrate the forum into my Wordpress installation, so that it appears between the header and footer of the site.
In other words, I want it to look like it is part of the website and not separate.

I don't know very much about PHP but if it is possible, I would appreciate any help!

Thanks.

Mark · August 2009

You're really talking about theming/skinning. It's possible, although a bit painful with Vanilla 1. There is some information in the old documentation for Vanilla 1 here.

When v2 is released, you'll find this type of thing a lot easier (you'll only need to edit 2 files to make it happen in Vanilla 2).

abdullah · August 2009

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your reply.

I tried looking at Vanilla 2, but github is intimidating.

I guess that since this forum is running on v2, the release must be pretty close, but any ideas roughly when it'll be released?

Thanks.

Mark · August 2009

It's stable enough at this point that we're comfortable using it here. I'm sure we'll find some new bugs, but that is yet another reason why we decided to launch it here - so it gets more everyday use and we can find problems faster.

It all depends on how things go here, but I expect it will be 4 - 8 weeks until we release it.

The installation process needs some work, so it's a little difficult for most people to get running if they encounter any problems. Once it's running, I've found it to be pretty solid.

Raize · August 2009

Vanilla integration with Wordpress would open up a whole new world of possibilities. Wordpress desperately needs a forum add-on and Vanilla desperately needs a CMS add-on (BlogThis is pretty good). I have searched high and low for a simple and lightweight forum solution for my Wordpress blogs, but haven't found the right fit. Even BBPress isn't nearly as good as Vanilla but the only reason I am leaning towards it is due to the fact that it is easy to integrate with Wordpress...but I would prefer Vanilla. Considering how many Wordpress blogs there are out there (almost every major blog out there) this would also help Vanilla get a lot of exposure. Hope we can see something in this direction soon.

- Raize

Todd · August 2009

@abdullah you can just download vanilla from github rather than setting up git on your local machine. There is a download button at the following link: http://github.com/lussumo/Garden/tree/master .

joehark · August 2009

I am really interested in this. After trolling through a whole bunch of forum software sites, I came here looking for exactly that. I am ready with a good financial contribution if it works. If you keep an announcement list, please put me on it.

Todd · August 2009

Keep an eye on this community form or the vanilla blog. We'll keep you up to date.

Lincoln · August 2009

I'm absolutely chomping at the bit for this as well. My community currently runs on Wordpress + vBulletin and I want to move to Vanilla as quickly as possible. I currently have a custom-built bridge between the two. If there was a vBulletin->Garden importer and a Wordpress/Garden bridge, my life would be radically simplified.

This is one of those "I'll do it if I have to but please-oh-please someone else do it first and better" posts ;)

Mark · August 2009

Okay. I hear what everyone is saying. Rearranging priorities now :)

LoOkOuT · August 2009

I also have a set-up running Vanilla and Wordpress, but am wondering whether they'll be a blog set-up through Garden (Swell?). I'd prefer that. Though Wordpress is good I'd like to keep it all Garden. I'm looking for something like the multiblog setup add-on for Vanilla 1. If not, then I'd be interested in the Wordpress tie-in.

Todd · August 2009

Wordpress integration is the first priority. Our own blog offering is not really on the roadmap in the short term. To me integration is something we want to get going with a lot of open source applications so put that as a priority is important.

It does feel great when you want our version of an application @LoOkOut. Thanks so much.

lenwood · August 2009

Wordpress/Vanilla integration as simple as editing 2 files? That would be nirvana. Very cool that you're headed in this direction.

ercatli · September 2009

I too am interested in this. I am a total amateur, but I wonder what is the nature of the difficulty that has to be overcome.

Obviously some HTML/php coding is required, but I would imagine that is not difficult. Is the major issue the integration of the Vanilla and the Wordpress databases?

maroonlounge · September 2009

Hi, just found Vanilla while searching for a forum to add to my Wordpress site - I love what I see but I hope the easier Wordpress integration is coming soon!

Thanks for this in advance:)

Mark · September 2009

It's coming *very* soon ;)

Hamed · September 2009

@LoOkOuT and @Todd - There is this thing in joomla, called rokbridge... It integrates joomla and php in a similar way to what you (might) want for vanilla and wordpress... It creates a bridge folder and that bridge is connected to the phpbb forum and the joomla cms.. It is installed really easily too.. Once you have the extensions up, it takes like 5 clicks and it is pretty much done

something like this:

http://yourjoomlasite.com

http://yourjoomlasite.com/yourphpbinstallation

http://yourjoomlasite.com/yourbridge - linked to yourphpinstallation

rokbridge:

http://www.rocketwerx.com/products/rokbridge/overview ,
http://www.rockettheme.com/extensions-downloads/club/1006-rokbridge ,

(if you need an example of the integration, I can provide one)

Now, if someone looked at how that rokbridge works perhaps we could make something like that for vanilla and wordpress.. - That would be aweosme.

Something like this:

yourgardensite.com

yourgardensite.com/yourwordpressinstallation

yourwordpress.com/yourbridge - linked to yourwordpressinstallation

I hope I was not too confusing ...

@lenwood - I think those 2 files are only for skinning or theming the vanilla2 installation to make it look like your wordpress blog, not actually integrating it
I think so anyway. Am I wrong? I just looked at the 'A Quick-Start Guide to Creating Themes for the Garden Platform' documentation page and that is the idea I got

Mark · September 2009

Like I said, it's coming *very* soon. Stay tuned :)

lenwood · September 2009

@Hamed Mark hasn't said specifically what those 2 files are for so I'm not sure. IMHO any effort to reduce the amount of work involved in integrating with WP is fantastic, whether its related to database integration or theme support.

Hamed · September 2009

@lenwood - He didn't say what those files are, but he said " You're really talking about theming/skinning." which indicates those files are probably for that purpose, but I am not sure either.

Mark · September 2009

I'm polishing off our single sign-on plugin today, and will probably release it tomorrow. It has a WordPress plugin bundled with it so you can see what is required of external systems (not very much). No file editing required.

Lincoln · September 2009

Very cool @Mark, looking forward to seeing it.

Hamed · September 2009

Awesome. I cannot wait to see it

Flam · September 2009

I'm VERY glad to hear this is coming out in the next day or two! I've been following Vanilla for quite some time now and was waiting for Vanilla2 before I considered it for my sites. I've been playing with the beta since yesterday and I was getting lazy when it came to integrating it with Wordpress. I don't know what compelled me to check the forums, but now I won't have to work on it anymore!

I <3 u Mark<br />
[edit]
Will there be any way to intertwine forum comments and article comments?
For example, I plan to have wordpress automatically generate a forum topic upon article creation containing the article itself. Then I plan to make wordpress comments on that article post onto the topic on the forum and vice versa. So basically what I'm trying to ask is how integrated will this update be?

Lincoln · September 2009

@Flam - I'm definitely looking for combined article/discussion comments too, so if that doesn't come to pass in the SSO plugin I'll have a look at how to add it. The authentication is the bit that really stumps me, not integrating comments.

Mark · September 2009

The plugin will be purely about SSO integration.

Lincoln · September 2009

Sounds good; I like this division of labor. You do the hard part, then I'll add the easy extra stuff. :D

Mark · September 2009

I just uploaded the Vanilla 2 Single Sign-on plugin to the addons site. It has a WordPress plugin bundled with it. I've been using this in development for a week or so. I think it still needs some work on account synchronization, but it's been pretty awesome in all my tests. I have some other people testing it out in live environments right now, too. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes!

http://vanillaforums.org/addon/472/Single-Sign-on

Mark · September 2009

Oh, I should mention that it requires the latest code from master (pushed about five minutes ago).

Flam · September 2009

Great news! Thanks a ton Mark!

retoid · April 2010

nm

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Integrating Vanilla with Wordpress?

Comments