Adding new categories, new groups programmatically from outside Vanilla?

Ripp

I'm investigating using Vanilla within my application rather than writing forum software of my own.

Basically, I'd like to be able to:

a) When a user registers on my site and I use the SSO plugin to create an account on the Vanilla forum for them, I also have the option of creating a new group.

b) I need to be able to update the user's group membership from my application, rather than manually from Vanilla's dashboard.

c) I'd also like the option of creating new categories for each group.

The idea is that there are private sub-forums for each group which I want to control membership of/visibility of from within my application.

For example, you might sign up for my site, start off on Group 1, which has a private forum visible only to Group 1 members.

Then an event happens within my application and you get moved to Group 7 let's say. So you shouldn't be able to view Group 1 any more. But now you can see the category for Group 1.

Does this sound vaguely familiar to anyone...?

Basically, all of this functionality is available in the Vanilla Dashboard. But it doesn't look like the Dashboard exposes an API.

Ripp

OK, if there no plugin available, there is a really ugly hack I can do.

I could write a script to:

1. Access my forum via HTTP

2. log into the dashboard

3. then provide the following functions

   a. add users

   b. create new groups

   c. create a new category

   d. change the category a user belongs to.

Of course, this is a very ugly hack

I'm hoping that there is a better solution than this, that Vanilla possibly exposes the Dashboard in another way.

Ripp

Anybody? Or if there is a way to do this via writing a plugin, I'd be happy to do that too..I just need a pointer in the right direction.