Many Drupal purists and those who are just used to only using Drupal modules will immediately ask, “What can vbDrupal give me that the Drupal core and modules can’t?” Primarily, vbDrupal gives you single user login and integration between Drupal and one of the best forum management systems, vBulletin.

Drupal webmasters have already embraced the robust modular system the composes Drupal, and are used to the granular permissions, and configurable menus and blocks. File sharing, content management and article categorizations all have been greatly implemented in Drupal.

What is Drupal lacking then?

But one system of development that is behind the rest are the default forums in Drupal. Due to this, there are many forum integration projects under way with SMF (in-progress), phpBB, and of course, vbDrupal. Depending on your user base and familiarity, one of these other integrations may suit a given Drupal site better, and of course vBulletin has a licensing fee that the others do not.

Below is a partial list of forum features that currently are not fully available in the default Drupal forums:

1. User ranks, titles and posts counts integrated into threads and posts
2. Integrated moderation/administration, move/merge/split/delete/(un)approve threads and posts
3. Open/close, sticky and archive posts and threads, with mass action interfaces
4. Integrated infraction/discipline/banning options
5. Comprehensive forum permissions/access user control
6. Advanced Private Message and Email options integrated in the threads, with optional inclusion into Drupal profiles and blocks
7. Thread display options - sort by, sort order, and from date
8. Thread and forum subscription (notification by email optional)
9. Thread preview on mouse-over and Quick reply box
10. Hundreds of 3^rd party plugins specifically built for the forums, including games, SEO functions, and calendar/events tracking

See http://www.vbulletin.com/features.php for a full listing of vBulletin features.

What vbDrupal offers:

With Drupal and vBulletin brought together with vbDrupal, there is full user integration, Drupal blocks in vBulletin options, and vBulletin thread and PM content in Drupal regions.

The new 4.7.x Drupal integration allows for nearly all Drupal modules to work. Obviously any forum modules in Drupal are not needed, and some user-centric modules must be tested for full-functionality.

A conversion script has been made so existing Drupal 4.7.x sites can be upgraded to vbDrupal sites, and a 4.7.x to 5.x upgrade path will be provided.

Join the vbDrupal growing community in these forums, or at the project homepage. vbDrupal 5.0 is in development now, so give your input on how you want it to turn out.