Can I use vBulletin for a private forum?

[paul]

I have a group of about 20 people who would like to discuss things privately with each other. vBulletin would provide the functionality they need, but I know nothing about how private the conversations could be kept.

Does vBulletin sound like a reasonable approach in this situation, or is there a better solution. Cost is not really a concern.

Thanks,
Paul

[Chris]

You could do it easily.

VB has native functions to hide or password protect forums based on usergroups. You could hide all forums from users not within a certain group and then moderate all registrations and only add the appropriate people to the group.

Or, you could put in secondary authentication in the form of merely .htaccess passwordprotecting the forum directory and either having one universal login that you share, or providing each user with their own login/password.

[paul]

Thanks, exactly what I needed to know.

[KLB]

vBulletin is great for this, just make sure to be very careful about your permission settings. They can get confusing.

Most vBulletin forums have private forums reserved for moderators and Admins to discuss issues without the main membership being able to "listen in".