Access $vbulletin when in different directory

[myHybridcar.com]

I'm attempting to access $vbulletin when outside the forum directory. The following code works when the user is logged in, but for some reason if the user is not logged in the script starts outputting HTML as if I were loading a forum page. What's going on? Thanks

PHP Code:

    // check if logged in
    if (!$vbulletin)
    {
        $phrasegroups = array(); 
        $specialtemplates = array(); 
        $globaltemplates = array(); 
        $actiontemplates = array();
        $cwd = getcwd();
        chdir ('/home/myhybrid/www/forums/');
        require_once('./global.php');
        global $vbulletin;
        chdir ($cwd);
    }

    // if not logged in, show login form
    if (!$vbulletin->userinfo['userid'])
    {
    // show login form
    } 


[TigerC10]

What are you trying to do? Why do you need to change the working directory?

[myHybridcar.com]

I want to utilize the vBulletin login system from a custom application I'm developing.

[ForumsMods]

<a href="https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=173698" target="_blank">https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=173698</a>

[myHybridcar.com]

Thanks. And I think I actually figured out my problem—I had a code include inside my header template.