Hello + questions about my new site

Hello everyone!
I hope this is the right section, if not, feel free to move it to the appropriate section.

I am in the process of designing a site that consists of several components. A forum, a gallery, a shop, a directory and a custom search (can't reveal details). The main focus will be on the directory and custom search, but I want to get the forum and gallery running first to generate traffic.
Questions:
Does it make sense to spend money on vBulletin or Invision Board, since the forum is not the main focus?
For the gallery I'm looking at Coppermine.
Not sure about the directory yet, looking at PhPLynx and Syed.
Do "Terms&Conditions" and so on come with the software or do I have to draft my own?

I'm new to everything, as you can probably tell. All help and patience is appreciated.

 

It depends on how much people are going to be using the forum. Personally I'd just sign up to vbulitin, it's not much money for a life contract.

Never used the others, so I'm of no use there.

 

The plan is to have hundreds and eventually even more. I've only heard positive about VB, so I'm sure it's worth the money.

 

use vb clones

 

What are clones?

 

Just a fake version of it, I wouldn't bother. Vbulitin is much more reliable and will contact you if they update or whatever. It's worth it if your planning to have a big forum (or if your wanting a professional looking forum)

 

That's what I thought. I want to do this right, with good looks and functionality.

 

id recommend "vanilla" for the forums. Standards based forum, and the outlook is pretty much completely modifiable by css.,

 

I'll check it out. Can you point me to any sites that use it?

 

Excluding price, what do you like about Vanilla (as compared to vBulletin)?

I've used vBulletin for YEARS, and haven't ever found a reason to switch. The support is fantastic, and the 'modification' community is very organized and robust.