Add-on [Paid] Creating & Retrieving Threads from outside of XenForo.

Niteblade

Member
Hi there.

I would like to use Xenforo to house the discussions that revolve around an application I'm creating "outside" of the Xenforo framework. I'm basically writing a shopping script in .PHP, and I want Xenforo to house the product reviews.

Each individual product in the product catalog has a unique md5 hash associated with it. I would like to be able to pass this hash value through some kind of interface to Xenforo for the purpose of thread creation or thread retrieval.

If this hash value for the individual product already exists in some kind of hash-to-thread identification table, then I'd like to pull out 5, 10, or any given number of posts within the thread pertaining to the product in question. The content of these posts would be displayed in the application I'm coding outside of the Xenforo framework. It would be really nice, but not necessary, if user information could also be pulled out along with the thread request, e.g., the author of the post within the thread and particular custom fields associated with the post author (such as their avatar, etc.).

If the hash value does not happen to exist in the hash-to-thread identification table, then (when the member has already been logged into the forum) Xenforo prompts for the creation of the thread.

Because there is only one product identification hash per product, there should also be only one thread within Xenforo for the given product hash.

In closing, I'm looking for an add-on that would allow an external script NOT built on the Xenforo framework to "hook in" to Xenforo's thread creation and thread retrieval capabilities.

I would like to know if this is even possible, and if someone would be interested in doing this for me. I do have an account on eLance if an escrow payment if preferred.

Regards,
Nite
 
What is your budget for this project?
It is quiet possible using the xenforo datawriter. Wouldn't even need to be prompted to create the thread. If the row doesn't exist in the hash-to-xenforo table like you mentioned, it could create the thread on the first view. Let me know if this task is still available.
 
I value this project starting at $200.00, and yes it's still available. If this is something you'd be interested in doing, then I'd be happy to provide more in-depth details. :)
 
If this can work to share a sub-forum (and subsequent threads) on another vb install, count me in too. Posts can be treated as guest posts if needed.
 
Very interesting. Is this something you intend on sharing with the community? It sounds similar to something I have been pondering about, and I guess that with a little tweaking this could do the trick.

If you don't mind, drop me a PM?
 
I plan on paying the full cost for creating this add-on. After its completion, I will release it free to my affiliate down line along with the shopping script that I'm coding. At the present time, I plan on offering support for my shopping script on my forum. I'm not interested in spamming xF, but I will PM the link to anyone interested.
 
It's not exactly a shopping cart. It's more like a price comparison shopping site. (Think of comparing items in the Wal-Mart affiliate program with items from the Share-a-sale affiliate program with items from Linkshare with items from Newegg's affiliate program, etc.) At the present time, there are well over 50 million individual products in the catalog from various online merchant and affiliate programs.

The thing that'll make my shopping script stand out will be the product reviews & discussions housed within xF. It will make an excellent companion to any niche themed site because the products pulled will be relevant to the community that shows them. For example, a sports site will benefit from showing sports-related items. This add-on is an answer to the Google Panda update -- which targeted and booted many thin affiliate sites. User discussions and unique content combined with the product in question will rank rather well, I imagine.

At the present time, I'm attempting to figure out how to make this shopping comparison script more of a community revenue sharing project -- but I'm not quite there yet. Because I plan on releasing this script for free, it would be nice to collaborate with other PHP developers on it, but this isn't necessary ... it hasn't happened so far! LOL
 
Sounds cool. But the Comparison Shopping script seems fraught with requiring perpetual updates. Might require paid support.

[edited for clarity] 21:51
 
Sounds cool. But seems fraught with requiring perpetual updates. Might require paid support.

Which code are you talking about? Are you talking about this add-on requiring perpetual updates? Or the shopping script I'm developing? The way I look at it is through the lens of self-interest. If I'm releasing my script to my down line for free (because I earn 5% of their sales) then it's in my self-interest to ensure that they continue to make sales through updates. :)

But all of this isn't even necessary in the first place. Even if no other human being is interested, I'll still develop for my own needs. In fact, the entire reason I began learning PHP was because of this shopping script. Learning XenForo, on the other hand, seem daunting to me for some reason. When I was learning PHP, I would hit up Php's site and learn about functions, arrays, etc. The documentation and examples were phenomenally helpful to me. I guess xF intimates me because it doesn't have the level of detail and documentation found on Php's site.
 
Or the shopping script I'm developing? The way I look at it is through the lens of self-interest. If I'm releasing my script to my down line for free (because I earn 5% of their sales) then it's in my self-interest to ensure that they continue to make sales through updates. :)
Comparison Shopping script = lots of work.
5% of sales seems better than "totally free" as the script is likely high maintenance.
 
Ah, I see what you mean. The 5% doesn't actually come out of the pockets of those in the down line, but from the larger product managing network. But you are right, ... development can be a lot of work. This is something that I'm still thinking about ... it may or may not happen, depending on interest. But as it stands right now, I plan on getting a few friends of mine to start producing the product review content and I'll start off sharing revenue with them first. If this turns out to be solid, then I'll expand. Who knows? :)
 
Instead of calling it a Shopping script .. call it as Comparison Shopping Script.
It'll make it less confusing to newbs like me.
 
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