You can submit a search to vBulletin with a URL, just like you can with the search form. The basic URL is:
http://www.yoursite.com/forum/search.php?do=process&query=searchword
Where searchword is the word for which you are searching.

Here is a list of the extra search parameters you can add to the URL. When you add a search parameter to the URL you need to add this to the end of the URL:
&variable_name=value
Search field: Search by Key Word

Variable name: titleonly
Values:
  • 0 = Search Entire Posts
  • 1 = Search Titles Only

Search field: Search by User Name

Variable name: searchuser
Values: Enter a username

Variable name: starteronly
Values:
  • 0 = Find Posts by User
  • 1 = Find Threads Started by User

Variable name: exactname
Values:
  • 0 = Partial name
  • 1 = Exact name

Search field: Find Threads with

Variable name: replyless
Values:
  • 0 = At Least
  • 1 = At Most

Variable name: replylimit
Values: Any integer values

Search field: Find Posts from

Variable name: searchdate
Values:
  • 0 = Any Date
  • lastvisit = Your Last Visit
  • 1 = Yesterday
  • 7 = A Week Ago
  • 14 = 2 Weeks Ago
  • 30 = A Month Ago
  • 90 = 3 Months Ago
  • 180 = 6 Months Ago
  • 365 = A Year Ago

Variable name: beforeafter
Values:
  • after = and Newer
  • before = and Older

Search field: Sort Results by

Variable name: sortby
Values:
  • rank = Relevancy
  • title = Title
  • replycount = Number of Replies
  • views = Number of Views
  • threadstart = Thread Start Date
  • lastpost = Last Posting Date
  • postusername = User Name
  • forum = Forum

Variable name: order
Values:
  • descending = in Descending Order
  • ascending = in Ascending Order

Search field: Show Results as

Variable name: showposts
Values:
  • 0 = Show Results as Threads
  • 1 = Show Results as Posts

Search field: Search in Forum(s)

Variable name: forumchoice[]
Values: Do not include this variable in the URL to search all forums. If you want to search specific forums then you need to add an instance for each forumid. For example:
&forumchoice[]=X&forumchoice[]=Y&forumchoice[]=Z
Where X, Y, and Z are the forumids of the forums in which you want to search.

Variable name: childforums
Values:
  • 0 = Do not search in child forums
  • 1 = Also search in child forums