I have so many questions you won't believe it
 

OK... maybe not THAT many. But some! I am hoping to get answers to all of these, but if some are un-answerable just let me know.

I want to convert an existing email list (currently 1 to 2 thousand members) to a forum environment. Our list is about photography and color correction, and the ability to share photos with one another is critical. Also important is the ability to smoothly transition from email to the forums - there are some people that will want to continue using email to receive posts from the list, and some who will want to POST to the list using email.

Image Questions...

1. What image formats can you accept? (JPEG, PNG, PSD, TIFF, RAW, etc.)
2. What color spaces are supported? (RGB, RGB with attached profile, CMYK, LAB)
3. If picture files with embedded profiles are posted, will those profiles be retained in the image, so that a color-managed browser will display them correctly?

Email Questions...

4. Can someone receive either a daily digest, or individual emails every time someone posts to the forum?
5. Can they choose to receive these emails from one sub-forum but not another? (For example, I want emails from the dogs forum, but I don't care about cats as much).
6. Is it possible (either using vbulletin directly or through scripting) to have someone send an email to a particular address, and have that email automatically result in a post to the forum? (For example, if a registered user, Joe Smith sends an email from an account known by vbulletin, [email protected], can the system add the text of his email as a post to the proper thread?)

Point #6 is really key to the whole thing. We want to be able to change the back end to something more powerful than email without changing anything for those who prefer email. If it's possible to have the emails sent out with a hyperlink to reply to that particular thread, then that might be an acceptable compromise. They could read the emails, but to post they'd need to use the forums, and the compromise is that we make navigating to the site and the correct thread really easy.

Competition questions...

7. phpBB is also a commonly-used software solution. Cost is really not an issue here, as $160 is nothing compared to a few hours wasted or the frustration of choosing the wrong software. From what you've read above, can you help me to explain why vbulletin would be a better fit for us? Note that we are not programmers, we are artists, and the most technical among us has only a rough understanding of php.

8. The current site admin has been trying to set this up with WordPress. He is under the impression that WordPress can also function as an even more powerful forum solution than vbulletin, and has shown that it is able to automatically capture posts from the email list. From what you know of our situation, can you help me to explain why vbulletin is the smarter way to go? (I will assume you believe this to be the case. :-)

9. If any of these things we want to do would require scripting or anything that is not included by default, can you point me to some people who do this type of consulting?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

J Walton