Blog Documentation Book a Demo
Please upgrade here. These earlier versions are no longer being updated and have security issues.
HackerOne users: Testing against this community violates our program's Terms of Service and will result in your bounty being denied.

Integrating Vanilla with Wordpress?

abdullahabdullah
edited August 2009 in Vanilla 2.0 - 2.8
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.
«1

Comments

  • MarkMark Vanilla Staff
    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).
  • abdullahabdullah
    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.
  • MarkMark Vanilla Staff
    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.
  • RaizeRaize ✭✭
    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
  • ToddTodd Vanilla Staff
    @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 .
  • joeharkjoehark
    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.

  • ToddTodd Vanilla Staff
    Keep an eye on this community form or the vanilla blog. We'll keep you up to date.
  • LincLinc Admin
    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 ;)
  • MarkMark Vanilla Staff
    Okay. I hear what everyone is saying. Rearranging priorities now :)
  • LoOkOuTLoOkOuT ✭
    edited 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.
  • ToddTodd Vanilla Staff
    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.
  • lenwoodlenwood New
    Wordpress/Vanilla integration as simple as editing 2 files? That would be nirvana. Very cool that you're headed in this direction.
  • ercatliercatli ✭
    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?
  • maroonloungemaroonlounge
    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:)
  • MarkMark Vanilla Staff
    It's coming *very* soon ;)
  • HamedHamed
    @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

  • MarkMark Vanilla Staff
    Like I said, it's coming *very* soon. Stay tuned :)
  • lenwoodlenwood New
    @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.
  • HamedHamed
    @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.
  • MarkMark Vanilla Staff
    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.
Sign In or Register to comment.