too many questions.
most all are by group settings.
Meaning you set them by group not forums or member.
A member is assigned to a group or groups
Then you have forum permissions,site permissions and cp permissions all by group.
PMs will be Control Panel » Group Management » Site Permissions
there will be three :
Total # of private topics allowed
Max # of private topic participants
Total # of posts allowed in a private topic
Private forums are kinda reversed:
Setup a forum:
Control Panel » Forum Settings
Then Control Panel » Group Management » Forum Permissions
Only add permissions to the forum for the group you desire.
Then how you add them can be automatic by post count or manual
Control Panel » Group Management look for post count.
Unless you want a paid subscription for them.
Mass email is done at:
Control Panel » Member Management
Build a list of members all or by selection.
When you do at the bottom of the page are some actions fields
Select email and if you want selected or all members in the list.
You will be prompted for further email details afterward.
At lot of this is covered in the wiki.
http://www.ubbwiki.com/
