is there anyway to prevent the moderators from being able to delete the posts in the shoutbox?
or will they always have the ability to X out and delete a post in the shoutbox?

Would be a slight modification to scripts/getshouts.inc.php, around line 91 where it checks for moderator status, that portion would need to be removed.

is there anyway to prevent a certain member from being able to view the shoutbox?
I know I can edit it so a guest cant see the shoutbox until logged in.
Or can it be set up so that you can ignore a certain member?
We have a member who is on there 24/7 and is a know-it-all. Kinda gets under everyones skin.

yes, create a group called 'no shoutbox for you' ( or equiv )

then make it so that group can't see the shoutbox and put a -1 to override all other privs

then just put that member in that group

they won't see the shoutbox at all

2c