Here you can select which type can be turned on/off. You can choose between javascript, rss and/or xml.
- Enable External Javascript
This setting allows you to enable/disable the Javascript content syndication system that allows you to embed vBulletin data in HTML pages.
If you set this option to 'yes', you can call it by going to:
http://www.example.com/forum/external.php?type=js
You could use javascript directly in your html pages to control the returned data.
- Enable RSS Syndication
This setting allows you to enable/disable the RSS 0.91, 1.0, and 2.0 content syndication system.
If you set this option to 'yes', you can call it by going to:
http://www.example.com/forum/external.php?type=rss
http://www.example.com/forum/external.php?type=rss1
http://www.example.com/forum/external.php?type=rss2
(example) There is a news-plugin, 'Good News', for Trillian which lets you use RSS feeds to get the latest information posted in your Trillian program.
- Enable Podcasting (RSS Enclosure)
This option includes the first attachment of each thread as an enclosure within RSS 2.0 feeds. If the feed is requested with &lastpost=1 appended to the url then the first attachment of the last post in the thread will be included. This is the method by which Podcasting is enabled for your forum. iTunes specific settings are configures per forum in the Forum Manager.
The iTunes specific features will be only included if a specific forum is specified via the addition of &forumids=X where X is the forumid.
- Enable XML Syndication
This setting allows you to enable/disable the XML content syndication system.
If you set this option to 'yes', you can call it by going to:
http://www.example.com/forum/external.php?type=xml
- Thread Cutoff
This value controls how many days in the past that updated threads will be chosen from. Busy forums will want a smaller number. The smallest valid value is 1 day; the default is 30 days.
- Cache Lifespan
This setting controls how long thread content will be cached. Valid settings are 1 to 1440, anything else will be treated as the default value of 60.
vBulletin uses a an internal cache system as well as a http cache to lessen the load of calls to external.php.
- Maximum External Records
This option limits the maximum amount of records that can be returned by the external data provider. By default 15 records will be returned. This option allows the user to tack on &count=X to their RSS feed to retrieve more records.