XML RSS feed integration

[AlexSFBay]

vBadvanced CMPS needs an XML RSS 2.0 feed feature so users can track site news using RSS Readers (Bloglines, My Yahoo, Feedster, NewsGator, etc.). I'm using RSS with my blog and it brings in a lot of traffic.

[KW802]

Why not just use the external.php feature of vBulletin?

[DarknessDivine]

That's what I do...I have it set set up and linked ina module right on my front page...;)

[AlexSFBay]

Forgive me but I'm not familiar with external.php feature. What can I do with it?

[mholtum]

Yea. Please explain.

[KW802]

The function "external.php" is used for creating RSS feeds from your forums. It's a bit basic but it allows you create quick syndication feeds.

The vBulletin.com documentation can be found at: http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/main/vboptions_group_external

[AlexSFBay]

Excellent! Thanks for the info everyone. At first glance it looks like it will aggregate all the latest forum threads. Is there anyway to specify which combination of threads to use (i.e. the forums used for the news section of vB CMPS, not the entire forum -- this would be a great feature for vB CMPS to have in a future release)?

[KW802]

Excellent! Thanks for the info everyone. At first glance it looks like it will aggregate all the latest forum threads. Is there anyway to specify which combination of threads to use (i.e. the forums used for the news section of vB CMPS, not the entire forum -- this would be a great feature for vB CMPS to have in a future release)?
Append "&forumids=" to the end of the command. For example, to get RSS feeds from forums 1,2, & 3 in RSS format the command would be....
http://www.yourforum.com/forum/external.php?type=rss&forumids=1,2,3

Just remember, though, to enable the External Data Provider option for RSS feeds first though. :D