Thinking of switching to vBulletin from IPB, but...

[Brad]

You can find alot of portal systems released here:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/forumdisplay.php?f=82

There are multiple irc hacks around that allow you members to chat in irc via java on your forums (we have a similar hack installed here at vB.org). There are also hacks that will take the list of users from your irc channel and put them on the forumhome page like the who's online box dose for online forum users.

All design changes can be made from the admin cp via the styles/template system. I find the system included in vB for template editing much better then what I have seen in ipb, you can try it for yourself by opening an admin demo:

http://www.vbulletin.com/admindemo.php

As for the community, I love it. After using alot of commercial forum software I always felt that the vB community was the most helpful and included some of the most experanced people around when it comes to managing a forum. I guess thats the reason I have stuck around for so long

You can find the technical vB manual here:

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/