ping - vBulletin or CMS experts

[mrskippy]

Hey gang. OK You know I've been working on trying to establish a Web site (www.mcclimans.com) for sometime now. But I've always wanted to setup a portal type system.

What I'm looking for is something that will offer content on the front page (articles, pictures, etc.), integrate with the forum and chat system, and pretty much allow me to display things like banner ads (ick, but I gotta do what I gotta do).

Any ideas? I've checked out envolution and it integrates with a hacked version of phpBB.

Than I noticed that vBulletin offers a CMS/portal system integration. And I believe it may even integrate with PostNuke. But vBulletin costs $$$, so I may not want to go that route.

I want to be able to use bulletin board mods and customize it to my liking.

Hopefully someone out there can offer some advice. I know cam has a pretty good Web site.