I'm a web developer that has been desperately trying to find a stable MySQL-driven message board system for a client for a few months. Whether it's free or cost $100 it doesn't matter at this point. It just has to work.
There are basic features that I need. Unfortunately, vBulletin comes up short and as a result I'm not buying their software. I know that phpBB2 and XMB plan to have these features, but they are still in beta and the software is too unstable to use.
I need to set-up 3 categories of forums in my board. One will be for admins only - announcements and that stuff with no comments from users. All visitors can read.
I need a Second category that is for "members" only - that is, private password protected boards that only authorized users can read and write to. It is critical that threads in this category only be started by the admin/mod, and the users can respond as they wish.
The final group will be a "public" forum, for all non-registered users to read only, and registered users to post. All user registration must be email verified.
The last feature I would like to have is the ability to email all registered users - say a monthly message with site and board updates.
Here's my question: will I be able to do the above with YABB SE? Gawd, I hope so. I've spent far too many hours searching and testing other programs that come up short.

Thanks for reading this, and for your replies.
K