How it works

From KallestadWiki

How the vBulletin / Movable Type integration works

I originally laid out the skeleton logic for the integration in this blog entry, and not much has changed since.

The integration makes use of the perl module WWW::Mechanize, which could be simply described as an abstracted web browser for use within perl scripts. This web browser is provided with enough information to post threads to vBulletin and find necessary navigational elements within vBulletin through a Movable Type plugin.

Various trigger points are set up in the application logic to accomplish the editing of vBulletin threads when Movable Type entries are updated, and to include highlighted posts directly within Movable Type individual archive pages.

Basic Logic

• A vBulletin thread is created when a Movable Type entry is published.
• A link is provided in the Movable Type Individual Archive page once the thread has been created.
• The Body Text is used in the first post of the vBulletin thread.
• When the body text changes, the first post of the vBulletin thread is updated.
• vBulletin moderaters have the capability of highlighting posts.
• When a post is highlighted, that post is included in the individual archive of the original Movable Type entry. (currently this step requires a manual rebuild of that entry).