Mambo User Needs Help :)

[Mattius]

Hi,

Ive been thinking about VBulletin for some time now, but I need a few questions answered before I take the plunge.

Currently I?m running Mambo CMS for my website and I think it?s an excellent piece of software. However, like many other users I find that it doesn?t have all the features that I need and maybe isn?t as mature in feature count as many other CMS products.

Unfortunately ive invested $100 into custom Mambo components, which id really like to make some use off

My site is a combination of general information site and a site that hosts an online gaming clan. The key problem I have at the moment is integrating an event management system into the CMS. The built-in event manager for Mambo is both buggy and very limited. What I need is a calendar/event system that allows registered site users to sign up for events.

Now, I know there is a port of phpBB that integrates into Mambo. This means that registered site users don?t need to enter there registration details twice to use the forums.
There is a product called CalPro and CalLite which integrates into phpBB and provides a very good calendar system BUT a version which allows signups to events isn?t expected till 2.0.4 and that appears to be some time off.

There is supposedly a VBulletin port that has been done to integrate into Mambo, but the official website for it is down, and no files have been released.

I also know, through this site, that there are ?CMS? type products already available for VBulletin.

So with all that background info, what I need to know is:

a) Is there a calendar, or hack to an existing calendar for vBulletin that allows registered users to signup for events?
b) How ?feature-rich? are the vBulletin CMS products out there?
c) Is it possible to convert my Mambo user database into registered vBulletin users?

See I?m in a bit of a pickle I don?t want to drop Mambo completely unless I have too, unless the vBulletin CMS products can compete with it. I know vBulletin is the best forum software out there, and I don?t mind paying for it, if it fills my needs now, and not in 6 months time

Any help is greatly, greatly appreciated.