Miscellaneous Hacks - vBulletin to Twitter, live tweets of new threads

This should work on all 4 and 3 versions of vBulletin as it's trivial.

Description:

You start a new thread, this hack makes a tweet about it on your twitter account.

This are live updates... not delayed, not based on RSS... the instant the thread is started, a tweet is made. This is how this hack differs from other hacks.

Why:

Mostly for SEO, but also as an alert system.

For SEO the idea is simply that search engines are drinking from the Twitter firehose and are indexing the links that are tweeted. Faster and increased indexing of your site benefits you by helping it be found.

For alerts it means that users are able to use whatever twitter client they wish to obtain updates. A lot of these provide filtering capabilities, so they're able to get a live filtered stream of updates that interest them. This works very well when you also use thread prefixes.

Pre-requisites:

You should have an account on bit.ly for URL shortening, and you should have an account on Twitter.

Go and register if you haven't yet:
http://bit.ly/
http://twitter.com/

Installation:

NOTE: Most problems are related to not putting your bit.ly or twitter user details in the plugin. Follow the instructions carefully!

Upload the two attached files to your forum root. These are twitter and bitly classes that enable the hack to work, you can also download these from the author:
http://classes.verkoyen.eu/bitly
http://classes.verkoyen.eu/twitter/

Go to the plugin manager and create a new plugin with the following details:
Product: vBulletin
Hook: newthread_post_complete
Title: Tweet to Twitter

PHP Code: [See below]

To configure the PHP code you need to know your bit.ly API key (go get it from bit.ly/account) and your username and password for twitter.

You also should make a list of the forumIds that are non-public as you will want to put these in the array provided.

i.e. if your admin forum is forumId = 7 and you also have a private forum for regular members which is forumid = 12, then you will want this:
$excludedForums = array(7, 12);

The PHP code should be this, with all of the relevant values for your forum inserted (replace everything bolded, including the < and > bits):

PHP Code:

// The array below are the ids of non-public forums, update these to be your admin forum ids or anything non-public by default
$excludedForums = array(0);

// If you are having trouble getting bitly URL shortening to work... disable it!
$useBitly = true;

if (!in_array($foruminfo[forumid], $excludedForums)) {
    $shortUrl = 'http://www.yourforumsdomain.com/showthread.php?t='.$newpost[threadid];

    if ($useBitly) {
      // http://classes.verkoyen.eu/bitly
      require_once 'bitly.php';
      $bitly = new Bitly('<bit.ly username>', '<bit.ly API key>');
      $shortUrl = $bitly->shorten($shortUrl);
    }

    $tweet = '';
    if (isset($newpost['prefixid']) && $newpost['prefixid'] != '') {
        $tweet = $vbphrase['prefix_'.$newpost['prefixid'].'_title_plain'].' ';
    }
    $tweet .= $newpost['title'].' '.$shortUrl;

    // http://classes.verkoyen.eu/twitter/
    require_once 'twitter.php';
    $twitter = new Twitter('<twitter username>','<twitter password>');
    $twitter->updateStatus($tweet);
} 


So the bit.ly line might look like this after you've put your values in:
$bitly = new Bitly('testUser', 'R_hj3456hgf3hig56hi2gf6');
NOT
$bitly = new Bitly('<testUser>', '<R_hj3456hgf3hig56hi2gf6>');
See? Remove those <> bits, they just show what to replace.

The shortUrl line might look like this:
$shortUrl = 'http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t='.$newpost[threadid];

The Twitter line might look like this:
$twitter = new Twitter('stephenfry','op1umisn1ce');

All make sense?

And that's it. Save and activate the plugin and create a test thread.

Now whenever a new thread is started, a tweet will be made to twitter instantly.

You can see this in effect here:
http://twitter.com/lfgss

That is being pushed new threads for http://www.lfgss.com/ and it's working perfectly.

Any questions?

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: It doesn't work!

A: That's not a question, however if it doesn't work then it's extremely likely you got your username and passwords wrong or left the < > signs in there. Double-check and do it again.

Q: I see an "INVALID_JSON" error

A: Disable bitly by setting $useBitly to false.
Q: I see an "You must be authenticated to access shorten" error

A: The credentials that you entered are either wrong, or you made a mess of the syntax. You did remove the < > when you put your values in right? Did you check the example given above?

Q: I see an error that says "Warning: curl_setopt_array() [function.curl-setopt-array]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set in [path]/bitly.php"

A: Wow, that's a good one... but easily fixable. Insert this at line 136 (just after the CURL options) in bitly.php:

PHP Code:

$no_hack_needed = (ini_get('safe_mode') !== '1' && ini_get('open_basedir') === false);
if ($no_hack_needed) {
  $options[CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION] = true;
} else {
  $options[CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION] = false;
  $options[CURLOPT_HEADER] = true;
} 


[buro9]

Originally Posted by cagbaazee

Thanks.. if what i donot make wanna to make array.. so deafult (0) so all forumid will display. Right. Do reply

Precisely.

There is no way that you have a forum in the database with the id of zero... so nothing is excluded by default.

But if you do want to exclude, just build that array with the id's of the forums you want to exclude.

[Bouncer222]

Originally Posted by Bouncer222

This mod is all great and I love the idea, never thought of it... but..

How exactly is it helping you get visitors to your site from those viewing your twitter page? I mean...all those threads that are relayed to twitter to be posted have no link backs to your actual vbulletin site, do they? Correct me if I'm wrong.

But if it just copies threads/posts and posts it on tweeter without some sort of link back to original thread... then what's the use?

Again, correct me if I'm wrong.
And thanks for the mod!

Anyone?

[Flep]

Originally Posted by buro9

@Nordinho and @Flep

I've updated the instructions so that disabling bitly and using the long version of the URL is trivial.

Just set $useBitly = false; where it is currently true.

Done, but now I get the following:
/statuses/update.xml Could not authenticate you. Unauthorized on line 229 in /var/www/vhosts/.../httpdocs/forum/twitter.php
#0 /var/www/vhosts/.../httpdocs/forum/twitter.php(648): Twitter->doCall('statuses/update...', Array, true)
#1 /var/www/vhosts/.../httpdocs/forum/newthread.php(262) : eval()'d code(26): Twitter->updateStatus('testing twitter thread...')
#2 /var/www/vhosts/.../httpdocs/forum/newthread.php(262): eval()
#3 /var/www/vhosts/.../httpdocs/forum/vbseo.php(1621): require('/var/www/vhosts...')
#4 {main}

Can it be vbSEO ?

[buro9]

Originally Posted by Bouncer222

Anyone?

Answered in post 52.
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....3&postcount=52

Not that you have to use bit.ly, but it helps. And Google follows the bit.ly 301's so you do earn the links in my understanding.

Originally Posted by Flep

Done, but now I get the following:
/statuses/update.xml Could not authenticate you. Unauthorized on line 229 in /var/www/vhosts/.../httpdocs/forum/twitter.php
#0 /var/www/vhosts/.../httpdocs/forum/twitter.php(648): Twitter->doCall('statuses/update...', Array, true)
#1 /var/www/vhosts/.../httpdocs/forum/newthread.php(262) : eval()'d code(26): Twitter->updateStatus('testing twitter thread...')
#2 /var/www/vhosts/.../httpdocs/forum/newthread.php(262): eval()
#3 /var/www/vhosts/.../httpdocs/forum/vbseo.php(1621): require('/var/www/vhosts...')
#4 {main}

Can it be vbSEO ?

It's not vbseo, I use it as do a few others.

Have you got a phpinfo link? (PM me). I won't be able to look at it right now as I'm heading out shortly but I can take a look tomorrow.

[buro9]

@Flep... I've got it:
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-4.php

"Disabled CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION in curl when open_basedir or safe_mode are enabled." as of PHP 4.4.4/5.1.5."

You're on a shared host aren't you? And either safe_mode is on or open_basedir is enabled.

There is a hack around it:
http://php.net/manual/ro/function.curl-setopt.php#71313

But it's beyond the scope of what I've done to be able to include this (I don't suffer the problem so cannot reproduce it to test any fixes).

If you're comfortable hacking and do figure the solution out using that as a starting point then if you let me know what you've done I'll update the hack to take it into account.

[Flep]

Originally Posted by buro9

Answered in post 52.
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....3&postcount=52

Not that you have to use bit.ly, but it helps. And Google follows the bit.ly 301's so you do earn the links in my understanding.


It's not vbseo, I use it as do a few others.

Have you got a phpinfo link? (PM me). I won't be able to look at it right now as I'm heading out shortly but I can take a look tomorrow.

Here I have
'./configure' '--build=i386-redhat-linux-gnu' '--host=i386-redhat-linux-gnu' '--target=i386-redhat-linux-gnu' '--program-prefix=' '--prefix=/usr' '--exec-prefix=/usr' '--bindir=/usr/bin' '--sbindir=/usr/sbin' '--sysconfdir=/etc' '--datadir=/usr/share' '--includedir=/usr/include' '--libdir=/usr/lib' '--libexecdir=/usr/libexec' '--localstatedir=/var' '--sharedstatedir=/usr/com' '--mandir=/usr/share/man' '--infodir=/usr/share/info' '--cache-file=../config.cache' '--with-libdir=lib' '--with-config-file-path=/etc' '--with-config-file-scan-dir=/etc/php.d' '--disable-debug' '--with-pic' '--disable-rpath' '--without-pear' '--with-bz2' '--with-curl' '--with-exec-dir=/usr/bin' '--with-freetype-dir=/usr' '--with-png-dir=/usr' '--enable-gd-native-ttf' '--without-gdbm' '--with-gettext' '--with-gmp' '--with-iconv' '--with-jpeg-dir=/usr' '--with-openssl' '--with-png' '--with-pspell' '--with-expat-dir=/usr' '--with-pcre-regex=/usr' '--with-zlib' '--with-layout=GNU' '--enable-exif' '--enable-ftp' '--enable-magic-quotes' '--enable-sockets' '--enable-sysvsem' '--enable-sysvshm' '--enable-sysvmsg' '--enable-track-vars' '--enable-trans-sid' '--enable-yp' '--enable-wddx' '--with-kerberos' '--enable-ucd-snmp-hack' '--with-unixODBC=shared,/usr' '--enable-memory-limit' '--enable-shmop' '--enable-calendar' '--enable-dbx' '--enable-dio' '--without-mime-magic' '--without-sqlite' '--with-libxml-dir=/usr' '--with-xml' '--with-apxs2=/usr/sbin/apxs' '--without-mysql' '--without-gd' '--without-odbc' '--disable-dom' '--disable-dba' '--without-unixODBC' '--disable-pdo' '--disable-xmlreader' '--disable-xmlwriter' '--disable-json'
Do you think that is the problem ?

[Flep]

Originally Posted by buro9

@Flep... I've got it:
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-4.php

"Disabled CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION in curl when open_basedir or safe_mode are enabled." as of PHP 4.4.4/5.1.5."

You're on a shared host aren't you? And either safe_mode is on or open_basedir is enabled.

There is a hack around it:
http://php.net/manual/ro/function.curl-setopt.php#71313

But it's beyond the scope of what I've done to be able to include this (I don't suffer the problem so cannot reproduce it to test any fixes).

If you're comfortable hacking and do figure the solution out using that as a starting point then if you let me know what you've done I'll update the hack to take it into account.

I'm on dedicated server.
safe_mode is off.
open_basedir is "no value".
I'll try to find a solution, thank you for your help !

[buro9]

Originally Posted by Flep

Here I have
'./configure' '--build=i386-redhat-linux-gnu' '--host=i386-redhat-linux-gnu' '--target=i386-redhat-linux-gnu' '--program-prefix=' '--prefix=/usr' '--exec-prefix=/usr' '--bindir=/usr/bin' '--sbindir=/usr/sbin' '--sysconfdir=/etc' '--datadir=/usr/share' '--includedir=/usr/include' '--libdir=/usr/lib' '--libexecdir=/usr/libexec' '--localstatedir=/var' '--sharedstatedir=/usr/com' '--mandir=/usr/share/man' '--infodir=/usr/share/info' '--cache-file=../config.cache' '--with-libdir=lib' '--with-config-file-path=/etc' '--with-config-file-scan-dir=/etc/php.d' '--disable-debug' '--with-pic' '--disable-rpath' '--without-pear' '--with-bz2' '--with-curl' '--with-exec-dir=/usr/bin' '--with-freetype-dir=/usr' '--with-png-dir=/usr' '--enable-gd-native-ttf' '--without-gdbm' '--with-gettext' '--with-gmp' '--with-iconv' '--with-jpeg-dir=/usr' '--with-openssl' '--with-png' '--with-pspell' '--with-expat-dir=/usr' '--with-pcre-regex=/usr' '--with-zlib' '--with-layout=GNU' '--enable-exif' '--enable-ftp' '--enable-magic-quotes' '--enable-sockets' '--enable-sysvsem' '--enable-sysvshm' '--enable-sysvmsg' '--enable-track-vars' '--enable-trans-sid' '--enable-yp' '--enable-wddx' '--with-kerberos' '--enable-ucd-snmp-hack' '--with-unixODBC=shared,/usr' '--enable-memory-limit' '--enable-shmop' '--enable-calendar' '--enable-dbx' '--enable-dio' '--without-mime-magic' '--without-sqlite' '--with-libxml-dir=/usr' '--with-xml' '--with-apxs2=/usr/sbin/apxs' '--without-mysql' '--without-gd' '--without-odbc' '--disable-dom' '--disable-dba' '--without-unixODBC' '--disable-pdo' '--disable-xmlreader' '--disable-xmlwriter' '--disable-json'
Do you think that is the problem ?

That certainly looks extremely promising.

Indeed, on my server json support is enabled.

[SJ073]

I am seeing this error:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function curl_init() in bitly.php on line 138

ANy Ideas of where to start looking?

[Moondust]

oh... verry hard.... i have no delete the < > in Username etc....

Now.... it WORK !