Science Website -- vBulletin The Answer?

[FizziksGuy]

Hi Folks,
I'm putting together a science website for my high school students that includes a standard web page as well as a forum. So far, I've been using SMF 2.0 RC 3, but am troubled by some of the intermittent errors, as well as the concern with overlapping mods interfering with each other (I don't want to spend my whole life troubleshooting -- have plenty of teaching to do in the meantime). However, as a teacher funding this myself, vB is a sizeable investment, so I want to make sure it will do some of the things I'm envisioning without too much tinkering. Any feedback / advice you can provide would sure be appreciated, and I apologize in advance for the five questions -- I've searched the forums and Google for hours trying to answer these on my own, but having a "live up-to-date" response would sure make me feel better before making this investment.

1) Have folks been able to make vB work with GoDaddy Linux Deluxe Hosting? I now realize GoDaddy isn't the preferred hoster, but for various reasons I'm locked in for the foreseeable future.

2) Is there a simple way of including LaTeX support for math equations (or something else that works with MathType?) I've seen this done on PhysicsForums, and research has shown me several folks trying different things -- has anyone been able to do this simply and easily?

3) Is it fairly easy to add widget-type code to my regular website home page showing the 5 or 10 most recent posts?

4) Am considering purchasing the Suite version for the ticket support -- if I'm going to invest ~$200 into this effort, might as well go $300 and make sure I have the support I need. What I'd like to also include, if I do this, is a section where students can set up their own blogs, and each week they reflect on what they've learned during the week in their individual blogs. Is this what the BLOG function of the Suite software does?

5) One of my students has commented how cool it would be if I could use vBulletin and tie it in to Facebook. Not quite sure what this "Facebook Connect" means -- can anyone elaborate or point me in the right direction to better understanding this?

Thanks so much for your time and advice/assistance!

--------------- Added [DATE]1287581642[/DATE] at [TIME]1287581642[/TIME] ---------------

I'm sorry, I meant to post this in the pre-sales question folder. My apologies!

[Alfa1]

Answer posted here: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...My-Best-Answer

[mmoore5553]

you can also do this with ipboard which i have gone too ..

http://community.invisionpower.com/t...t/page__st__20

just another option .

i still use vb 3.8 on my forums also .

[pein87]

I would recommend using http://moodle.org/
its software specifically designed for teaching in a virtual classroom. I also believe its 100% under non-profit uses.

[blong123]

Moodle is used by a lot of schools nowadays for e-learning so yes its in your best interest probably.

[BirdOPrey5]

You can use Latex as a "BB Code" - I have it on my forum but no one uses it.
http://www.juot.net/forums/showthread.php?t=47883

[FizziksGuy]

Thanks -- have used Moodle for a while, but much prefer the "cleanliness" and power of vB. Thanks for the help, will look at incorporating LaTEX with the hints given. Best wishes all!

--------------- Added [DATE]1287807745[/DATE] at [TIME]1287807745[/TIME] ---------------

That's tremendous BirdOPrey... will follow the links and see if I can figure out how to incorporate that in my vB4 install!

[BirdOPrey5]

This is the "better" way of doing this BB Code: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=91545
It does all the rendering on your server.

If you can't get that to work for some reason let me know and I'll give you instructions that don't require you to install your own script. (But you become dependent on a 3rd party site.)