forum/admin hierarchy & backup questions

[AsscBB]

I’m launching a new board early 2008 (February timeframe) and I’m almost sold on vBulletin for my software. Before I make the commitment though, I would like to know if anyone can help me out with the following topics, so I can see if vBulletin IS the right software package for my application. This will help me get a to-do list put together so once I get a license I can hit the ground running creating the board. I’d also like to determine if 3.6.x is good enough to suit my needs, or if 3.7 has all my desired bells and whistles. If 3.7 has everything I’m looking for and 3.6 doesn’t, I’d rather wait, rather than reinvent the wheel with an upgrade.

1) The past few weeks of lurking have yielded that in prior versions there was a mod/hack for use with Clans/Clubs/etc. which sounds like what I’m looking for, but none of them sound like they work in the current versions. I would like to have a user-level, for lack of a better term called mini-admin, who can create their own forums in a specific sub-category, separate from the main/common area. Playing with the groups feature in 3.7 on vBulletin.com doesn’t quite seem to do this. Does anything that does the following exist?
a) Allows a “mini-admin” to start their own group forum in a designated subsection
b) Allows a “mini-admin” to issue invites, and designate local moderators in their group forum(s)
c) Allows users to join multiple groups
d) Hides group forums of which a user is not a member

2) Can vBulletin be installed on a local Hard Drive to set-up and tweak a board prior to being loaded onto a server for public consumption? I would like to do this so I can start whipping my board into shape while I’m still evaluating hosting options. If possible, would this even be practical?

3) Does a feature exist which allows the board to be backed up periodically (ie to a local drive from the server)?
a) Can this be done to archive the entire board/history
b) Better yet, to minimize bandwidth usages, can this be done to archive all new posts/changes since the previous archive run?

4) Can threads be recorded for posterity (ie by the mini-admins) so that if they close/discontinue their sub-forum, that they can still download and keep relevant conversations in a readable format? Would there be any licensing implications if they wanted to keep the structure? Would a regular web browser be able to view the info or would it require a special reader?

I appreciate any help to get me pointed in the right direction in determining what is available off-the-shelf and what I’ll have to create for myself!!!

Aslo - would cross-posting this in pre-sales at vbulleting.com be a breach of etiquette? I’ll hold off posting it there until I hear that’s not a faux-pas.

Thanks again!

Best regards,
Scott