Latest Blog Feed in Postbit using Carp RSS

I just posted this over at vbWebmaster Forums. I'm all excited because this is my first plugin and I know pretty much nothing about vbulletin. I got the idea from Shawn's forum at Digital Point

I just put this together for 3.5 using carp.

Step 1) Add a custom profile field for the RSS link. In my setup it was field5.
Step 2) Edit your postbit template as follows:

PHP Code:

<if condition="$post['field5']">
<div class="smallfont">Recent Blog: $blogentry</div>
        </if> 


Step 3) Create a new plugin. I named mine: Carp Configuration. Attach it to the "global_start" hook location.
Here is the code:

PHP Code:

require_once '/path/to/carp/carp.php';
CarpConf('cacheinterval',120);
/** You may want to set a cachepath specifically for your forum **/
CarpConf('cachepath','/where/you/want/your/cache/files/');
CarpConf('cacherelative',0);
/** You can omit the above two lines without a problem **/
CarpConf('cborder','');
CarpConf('poweredby','');
CarpConf('maxitems',1);
CarpConf('iorder','link'); 


Step 4) One more plugin. This one I called: Get Users Blog Entry
Attach this to hook location: postbit_display_start

PHP Code:

ob_start();
CarpCacheShow($post[field5]);
$blogentry = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean(); 


That's it... away you go. If you don't have carp, you can check it out at: http://www.geckotribe.com/rss/carp/
I'm not sure if this will work with the free version, as I have the paid version.

I'm thinking about using grouper to set it up so I can parse atom files, but I don't know how important that will be.

Note: carp allows you to enter local paths and http paths for rss feeds. I've tried entering both in my user profile field successfully. You may want to disallow users from entering a local path just to be on the safe side. I don't have any code for that right now, but I'm sure there are some examples for field validation out there.

Carp has an option to store it's output in a variable ($carpoutput), but it didn't seem to work for me. That's why I used the ob_start and end_clean functions. If anybody has any feedback as to how this may be improved, I'm willing to listen.

[roliver]

Hi all, is this a full blog plug-in to VB or just an RSS reader to other blog sites?

[mhdhallak]

Thank you indeed. Just what I needed

[imranbaig]

cant process atom feeds, I tried with Gouper but Got confused can any one help pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[nevetS]

ResaleBroker - I'm sorry, I just haven't been able to find a way to get this working in 3.0.x.

roliver - this simply pulls in the latest blog entry title into the user postbit.

mhdhallak - you're welcome

imranbaig - grouper is definitely what you need for atom feeds. I'll take a few minutes to see if I can figure that out tonight.

[ResaleBroker]

Originally Posted by nevetS

ResaleBroker - I'm sorry, I just haven't been able to find a way to get this working in 3.0.x.

Bummer. Thank you for checking it out. I appreciate your efforts.

[RustedBucket]

Quick question. What's the easiest way to set this so a user has to either be a member of a specific group or have X number of posts before they can use this feature. Thanks

[pcoskat]

Originally Posted by crazy4bass

Quick question. What's the easiest way to set this so a user has to either be a member of a specific group or have X number of posts before they can use this feature. Thanks

Good question!

[forumrating]

will this work for 3.6.4 version latest vbulletin ?

[nevetS]

I believe it will work with 3.6.4 - I'll try it out tonight (actually I'll be trying on 3.6.5)

I don't know about the # of posts thing, but I'll look into it. If my past history is any indication, don't hold your breath. I get easily distracted sometimes.

[Adam Fletcher]

I am pretty new to VBulletin. Can anyone help me by installing this for me.

I have no idea what to do