Importing Wordpress posts into forums?

[jamestl2]

I recently added (free) SMF forums to my blog and was wondering if it was possible to somehow style it after my site’s structure?

For example on my (freshly redesigned) site, I have categories such as advice and humor, and posts within them. What I would like to have in my forums is a similar hierarchy, with my wordpress categories being different boards, and my wordpress posts being threads, where members can discuss what I wrote (and probably disabling blog comments in the process).

Also, is there some sort of program or plugin that could automate this process, where every time I make a blog post, a new thread would be created in the appropriate board? (Similar to what Steve has setup on his forums here.)

Thanks,
Hope everything is clear

[Dan.Linehan]

Wordpress SMF Bridge » Freakitude

[jamestl2]

Actually, I already downloaded that plugin, but it didn't give me the specific features I'm looking for (or I couldn't find how to activate them).

[Dan.Linehan]

You might have to customize the php a little.

Once you have the communication setup between wordpress and SMF it doesn't sound like it would be too difficult from there..

What part are you hung up on? Can you get wordpress to create a new thread in SMF when you write a new post?

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

What part are you hung up on? Can you get wordpress to create a new thread in SMF when you write a new post?

Yes this is what I'm looking to do, but can't seem to figure it out. Everything is already configured (plugin wise, haven't messed with the php yet).

[Dan.Linehan]

Right on,

So, is the bridge working? Ie.. is there communication between wordpress and SMF?

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Right on,

So, is the bridge working? Ie.. is there communication between wordpress and SMF?

Yes, the bridge is working

[Dan.Linehan]

I would just back everything up and then play with the php some.

Once communication has been established you just need to:

• Create a new thread (new mysql row in the SMF table)
• Pull the titale or blog post data from the wordpress MySql row into the SMF MySql row.

Depending on what communication you've already established between the products its most likely a simple hack..

[jamestl2]

(Bear with me, I'm not a php expert)

Do I need to have the boards (wp-categories) already created manually?

And what is a mySQL row? Am I suppose to create one in my site's mySQL databases section of its control panel (cpanel)? Or is it related to a database?

[Dan.Linehan]

Sure, what communication is occuring between wordpress and SMF right now? Then we can go from there.

For example, how do you know that the two systems are communicating?

[jamestl2]

When I look at my dashboard > plugins> SMF tab, it says the bridge is connected.

I also already used the plugin to integrate previous users (from wp).

[jamestl2]

I also just downloaded its sister plugin "SMF_Wordpress", although I can't figure out how to activate it.

EDIT: Got it, now I just need to figure out if it has the features I want

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

When I look at my dashboard > plugins> SMF tab, it says the bridge is connected.

I also already used the plugin to integrate previous users (from wp).

You might want to see if this plugin activates for you..

WP_SMF Bridge

Keep in mind, SMF_Wordpress DOES require WP_SMF 1.06 (The Wordpress plugin) to be installed first. No other version will work.

[jamestl2]

Yes, all the plugins are installed, downloaded properly, etc. Now I'm just looking for what features they offer, and where to access them.

(for the second "sister" plugin, I was thinking it would have extra features somewhere in the admin panel of the forum, but haven't found any)

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Keep in mind, SMF_Wordpress DOES require WP_SMF 1.06 (The Wordpress plugin) to be installed first. No other version will work.

I also read that it would work for later versions as well on the homepage of it, or do I need 1.06 EXACTLY (as in 1.09 will not access it)?

[Dan.Linehan]

The link I sent you only works on top of 1.06, I'm not sure about other versions.

It doesn't look like there is quite one standard yet.

I saw your post on the SMF forums, I'm sure you will get some help there, since the SMF / wordpress bridge is their main focus.

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

I saw your post on the SMF forums, I'm sure you will get some help there, since the SMF / wordpress bridge is their main focus.

I never registered with the SMF forums, unless you were referring to the Wordpress Forums?
(As I haven't received any answers there yet)

[Dan.Linehan]

Right, the wordpress SMF forums.

Here is some code that should put SMF posts into your WP:

<?php echo SMF_EnSonBasliklar($limit=10,'<ul>','<li>','</li>','</ul>') ?>

Here is that same code integrated into sidebar.php:

<div id="sidebar">
<table width="100%">
<tr>
<td align="left" width="50%" valign="top" class="td_left">

<li class="widget_categories"><h2>Forum topics</h2>
<?php echo SMF_EnSonBasliklar($limit=10,' 
',' 
',' ','
') ?>
<?php if ( function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') && dynamic_sidebar(1) ){
?>
<?
} else{ ?>
<li class="widget_categories"><h2>Categories</h2>

<?php wp_list_cats('sort_column=name&optioncount=1'); ?>

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

(Bear with me, I'm not a php expert)

Do I need to have the boards (wp-categories) already created manually?

And what is a mySQL row? Am I suppose to create one in my site's mySQL databases section of its control panel (cpanel)? Or is it related to a database?

Do you have your site hosted with godaddy or 1and1?

If so, you probably have phpmyadmin installed. This is how you would view your mysql database structure.

Just click "PhpMyAdmin" in the administrative panel (it might be under MySQl administration) and then there should be a browse view.

[jamestl2]

Thanks for the code, but actually I want it the other way around, as I mentioned in my first post, I wanted wp-categories to be setup as boards and my wp-posts setup as threads, so guests can discuss my posts in the forum.

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Do you have you site hosted with godaddy or 1and1?

If so, you probably have phpmyadmin installed. This is how you would view your mysql database structure.

Just click "PhpMyAdmin" and then there should be a browse view.

My site is hosted with Total Choice (And Yes I have the phpMyadmin, mySQL, etc. I'm not quite sure what to do with them, but I'll check it out.

[jamestl2]

Ok,
I'm in the phpmyadmin panel, but I really have no idea what I'm doing.

I'm currently in the smf database, tried clicking on "smf_boards" then I see a category section under the "indexes:" tab, so I tried clicking on edit. (This might be where I'm suppose to be, I really don't know, doesn't make much sense to me, with tags like "ID_BOARD" and "smallint(5) unsigned", etc.)

EDIT: After reading this Steve's Blog Forums off to a strong start:

One cool new feature is that every blog post I make from now on will be syndicated in the Steve Pavlina forum within 10 minutes. This means that a new forum thread is automatically created with the title of the blog post. For example, for this post a thread will be created with the title “Forums Off to a Strong Start (Blog).” The word “(Blog)” is tacked onto the title of every forum thread that’s syndicated from the blog, so they’ll be easy to distinguish from threads started by other members.

This sounds almost exactly what I want for my forums, only with using the SMF software.

[Dan.Linehan]

Well, it sounds like you might have to do this custom. If you create a new thread in SMF and make the thread title "ASDF" and the post itself say "BCDE" we can go back into PhpMyAdmin and browse around and find those values (ASDF or BCDE) in the SMF MySql table.

Every part of a forum post is stored in the database somewhere. Finding those values will tell us where SMF stores new post data.

Once we know where SMF stores the values in the database, we can try to have wordpress duplicate that same action (open the database connection, create a new row in the table, and post the values) upon saving a blog entry.

[Dan.Linehan]

BTW - you have a

valign="middle"

In your header on toptenlisted.com

[jamestl2]

Alright thanks for the info

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Well, it sounds like you might have to do this custom. If you create a new thread in SMF and make the thread title "ASDF" and the post itself say "BCDE" we can go back into PhpMyAdmin and browse around and find those values (ASDF or BCDE) in the SMF table.

Just so I’m clear here (and don’t mess up the code):
I haven’t messed with the forums yet, so there aren’t any new boards, threads, etc.

Since I already have post “BCDE”, Could I create a (automated) thread with the title “BCDE (Post)” in the specific child board (Plus all my posts I already have created); and I access this all through “Phpmyadmin > SMF Table”
(I’m still a little unclear of what SMF table is, is it referring to everything under my SMF database?)

I think creating thread “ASDF” would be irrelevant for now, as I’m just trying to import blog posts.

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Every part of a forum post is stored in the database somewhere. This will tell us where SMF stores new post data.

Once we know where SMF stores the values in the database, we can try to have wordpress duplicate that same action (open the table, create a new row, and post the values) when you save a blog entry.

Are these terms (open a table, create row, values, etc.) referring to something being created in WP or SMF?

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

BTW - you have a



In your header on toptenlisted.com

Yeah, I know, it was the only way I could get the header ads (which is what it is applied to) in the middle where I wanted it, couldn't hide it right away, didn't think it's (barely) visiblilty would have a drastic effect.

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

Since I already have post “BCDE”, Could I create a (automated) thread with the title “BCDE (Post)” in the specific child board (Plus all my posts I already have created)

I don't see any post named BCDE in your forum --> toptenlisted.com - Index
General Discussion

Also, what is a child board?

Originally Posted by jamestl2

(I’m still a little unclear of what SMF table is, is it referring to everything under my SMF database?)

The SMF table is the table in your MySql database that stores your SMF forum posts.

Originally Posted by jamestl2

I think creating thread “ASDF” would be irrelevant for now, as I’m just trying to import blog posts.

How would you be able to import your posts properly if you don't know where they go in the database? How would you get them to display on the forums? I don't understand.

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

Yeah, I know, it was the only way I could get the header ads (which is what it is applied to) in the middle where I wanted it, couldn't hide it right away, didn't think it's (barely) visiblilty would have a drastic effect.

It's being displayed, meaning its not within a HTML tag. So it's not "applied" to anything, its just taking up a certain amount of space. 15 chars of space to be exact.

Try replacing

valign="middle"
<p align="right">

with

 
<p align="right">

or

               
<p align="right">

And you'll see what I mean.

[jamestl2]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

I don't see any post named BCDE in your forum

I was just referring to the “hypothetical board” you mentioned in your previous post:

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Well, it sounds like you might have to do this custom. If you create a new thread in SMF and make the thread title "ASDF" and the post itself say "BCDE" we can go back into PhpMyAdmin and browse around and find those values (ASDF or BCDE) in the SMF MySql table.

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Also, what is a child board?

It is what SMF calls a sub-forum, like a “board within a board” (In my case it could be a “blog category", under a regular board called “Toptenlisted Blog Posts”, or something)

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

The SMF table is the table that stores your forum posts in your MySql database.

How would you be able to import them properly if you don't know where they go in the database?

I wasn’t sure of the exact terminology, (My site uses cpanel, so I can access it through mySQL Databases > phpmyadmin > smf database (I think this is where I would go, I’m unsure) > and here there were all kinds of tabs with a “smf_****” prefix, but nothing called “smf_table”)

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by jamestl2

I was just referring to the “hypothetical board” you mentioned in your previous post

I didn't mention a hypothetical board..

Originally Posted by jamestl2

(I think this is where I would go, I’m unsure) > and here there were all kinds of tabs with a “smf_****” prefix, but nothing called “smf_table”)

Right. So create a thread called "ASDF" and then we will know where they go, because we can look for that value.

[jamestl2]

Thanks for the code, I was trying to think of different HTML tags but none worked, Plus I wasn't sure if spaces would be alright in different web browsers, where their ad might appear, etc.

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

I didn't mention a hypothetical board..

Sorry, it sounded like a hypothetical board when you suggested “thread ASDF” and “post BCDE”, etc.

I created one on my forum (an "ASDF" thread)