I think I got this figured out with a little help from a
poster at vb.com.
So basically in the template that contains the collapse object you want to put in the following code:
PHP Code:
<if condition="!$_COOKIE['vbulletin_collapse']">
<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
<!--
toggle_collapse('yourcollapseobject');
// -->
</script>
</if>
Make sure you place that under the part in your template where you want it to work.
So basically, this sets the cookie for that object as soon as the page loads instead of waiting for the user to click it. Then once the cookie is set, it doesn't call the collapse function anymore and just relies on what the user chose as their option.
It seems to work for me but if anyone finds a problem, please post it.
So in your example AutomatikStudio, if i understood you right, you would use
toggle_collapse('forumbit_1'); and that would collapse your first parent forum.
Hope that helps someone.....