Originally posted at vbDrupal Comments Configuration, used with permission.

NOTE: Only one of these two comment modules can be active at a time. Conflicts and database corruption may occur if both are active at once. Any Drupal module that is built around the original Drupal comments module can NOT be used.

Follow these simple steps to get vbdrupal comment threads working quickly and correctly.

First, you must inactive the comments module and activate the comments_vb module from the admin/modules page.

Now you must configure the comment_vb module by going to the admin/comments page. In the Thread Creation section, follow the instruction and select all the forums that you want to make possible targets for node comment thread creation. Also choose the thread creator (leave blank for the author of the node to be the author of the thread), the default template (leave as it is if not sure), and also choose if the thread should be deleted when the node is deleted.

These options will affect all comment threads.

Next, you should set up the default comment behaviour for each node type. Go to the admin/settings/content-types page. For each type of node, choose wether commenting will be on or off by default and to which forum the threads will show up in if created. Only forums that were selected at the admin/comments page will show up in this list.

These are just the default settings. Anyone with the 'administer comments' permission can override these settings, but normal users will be forced to use these defaults.

Repeat the above step for each node type that you want to be enabled.

Lastly, you must of course create new nodes. For an example of creating a Drupal node and its resulting vBulletin thread, go to node/add and select a type to create the new node. Enter you title and text as normal and Submit the node. Normal users will not have any other choices and the thread will be created in the default forum. Admins and those with the 'administer comments' permission will have extra options under 'Comment Settings'.

The option to turn on or off the comments for this particular node are available, along with the forum it will reside in. Only forums that were selected at the admin/comments page will show up in this list.

You can also append comments from this node to an already existing thread. Enter the thread id in the appropriate place. If you enter a thread id, then the teaser of the new node will NOT be added to the thread. Only new comments to the node will be added. Also, if the thread id does not exist, then no thread will be created for comments, and commenting will be disabled.

If at a later time, you disable comments for a particular node, the link to the comments thread will discarded, breaking the tie between the article and the comments thread.

Your forums and content now have another strong link between them, increasing the flow of information on your site, and hopefully the visit lengths of your members.

Advanced Concept

If you have a mix of different topics, with the comment threads needing to go into particular forums, the best way to handle this is to make new node types by using either the Drupal Flexinode or CCK modules. These modules allow you to create new content types that you can then associate their default publication and comment threads into different forums at the admin/settings/content-types page.