Is there an "email to specific addy creates a new thread on forums" hack?

[TheMusicMan]

Hi All

I am after a hack/plugin that would allow me (Admin) to be able to send an email to a specified address which then creates a new thread on the forums in a certain forumID with the email subject being the title of the thread.

Is this possible? I appreciate there are permission issues etc, but if I were to set a forum with guests can post permissions, would this be a start?

Any advice/pointers?

[Zachery]

I guess the first part is how to get the email? You'd need to write or find code taht can check and process an email account of some type, be it POP3 or IMAP.

From there on out I'd guess it'd be easier.

[TheMusicMan]

Sure, thats a start Zach. What I am after is similar to perhaps a support ticket thread - where you can reply to a ticket via email, which subsequently gets posted as a thread in the support ticket.

There has to be a way to do this as there are many php/MySQL apps (Kayako for example) that do this. How they do it I have no idea, but I'd love to find out. I might even then have a go myself!!! phah!!! :)

[Zachery]

I know its possible but I've never done anything like it :/

I see you took out a serivce request John, best of luck.

[TheMusicMan]

Yeah, I did do that as this is beyond my skillset Zach, and I am not one who has any issue at all in paying someone a good rate for a job well done.

Thanks.

[Tralala]

I'm still not sure why Jafo232 sold the usefulness of his hack a bit short by choosing this title: Auto Post Google Alerts (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=106905).

It's actually an email gateway to vBulletin thread creation! The email doesn't have to be from Google or an alert at all. It checks a mailbox, and creates a new thread from emails received there. So maybe it'll work for you, TheMusicMan!

For the record, this hack uses POP, but requires that your version of PHP be compiled with imap support. That's why I had troubles with it; but it works for other people. I say, give it a shot.

As for me, what I'm doing to achieve the same effect (being able to post threads easily from the road) is I set up an RSS blog site, and use ArticleBot to fetch those and start threads from the feed. I use hBlogger on a Treo 650. What's nice about this strategy is that it can even post attached images inline.

[TheMusicMan]

Hmmm, interesting Tralala, thanks. So, I could send an email to the POP mailbox set up for the google alert and a new thread is created yeah? Is that right? if so it is exactly what I need.

[Tralala]

Hmmm, interesting Tralala, thanks. So, I could send an email to the POP mailbox set up for the google alert and a new thread is created yeah? Is that right? if so it is exactly what I need.

Yep. Read the thread to see the issues other faced; but yeah, it just checks that email box, and starts threads from the messages received there.

Obvious security issues aside, it does seem to do what you're looking for. You'll obviously be setting up a specific (and secret) email box exclusively for this. Maybe even change the address regularly, and cross your fingers it gets no spam.

As I'd mentioned, it didn't work with my particular PHP compile... so I had to find something else. Maybe it'll work for you; let us know.

[TheMusicMan]

Hmmm, not sure to post this here or in the hack thread...?

I installed this and it works... to a point...!!!

I set the userID, the forumID and the pop mail account and send an email to it. The thread gets created, the title mapped to the email subject, but none of the content of the email gets entered as the content of the thread.

Where should I go for help on this.

[Tralala]

Where should I go for help on this.

Ya got me there. Probably the hack thread, although I'm not sure the author checks in anymore or supports the hack. Maybe PM him?

[TheMusicMan]

Bingo!!!! got it... simple too... just send the email as a plain text email, and voila!!!

Fantastic plug-in... deserves so much more credit that what it is called.

[Tralala]

Glad it's working for ya, glad I could help out by bringing it to your (and Zachery's) attention. That's the least I can do to contribute to the community here. :)

Yep, the hack would receive MUCH more attention if the title mentioned nothing about "Google Alerts." It's an email gateway to thread creator! Perhaps on my next forum I'll make sure my PHP is compiled with IMAP support so I can use it.

In the meantime, be careful with it, and enjoy.

[TheMusicMan]

Sure, thanks. There is an area in the AdminCP for this plugin that allows you to set the domains that you will allow emails to be sent from. This is a valuable feature of this hack as it limits the recipients email domain. I appreciate this can be spoofed, but as a first line defense it's all good.

Kudos to the author and thanks for letting me know about this - it's going to be absolutely invaluable for me for what I want to use it for.

If anyone is interested in reading what I will use it for, and hence why this is so important for me - here goes. I run a moderately busy brass musicians discussion forum and have been asked to provide 'live' updates of bands performances from the many competitions and contests held at events all over the UK throughout the year. I will now be able to sit in the hall listening to all performances and write up an official report on the performance and publish this on my site immediately following the ending bars of their performance.

This will allow the thousands of brass enthusaists the world over - who are interested in finding out how their favorite bands have performed - straight after they have played. It also means I don't have to have my laptop with me and don't have to find a wifi hotspot as I can use my BlackBerry...:):)

Sooooo cool....

[Tralala]

That's awesome, TheMusicMan. What a great timesaver for you. No need to lug the laptop to the show and no need to look for/pay for a hotspot. Too cool!