change template based on url

[erikp]

Hello,

I have a vbulletin forum that is accessible in two ways: directly by typing in the url in the browser address bar and indirectly through another program. Now I was asked to make it behave so that it changes the template of the frontpage based on through what way the forum is accessed (either the expanded version or a compact one). What would be the best way to do that? I'm also interested in locations of hooks, or what files I would have to edit in order to achieve this goal.

I can either create a different url (oneway.mycompany.com and anotherway.mycompany.com) or just pass a variable in the url (oneway.mycompany.com/referrer=specialprogram). That last way obviously would mean that when you click a link, the variable would be gone.

I also thought of setting up a completely separate vbulletin which reads from the same database, but the problem with that is that the templates are also stored in the database.

any thoughts are welcome,
thanks for reading,