Ok, since no one really wants give some big help. Ahem

HTML Tutorials
CSS Tutorials
Visual Basic lessons
AJAX Tutorials Listen to Joe Stagner, he's been doing this for a few years, and he even makes the AJAX controls.
SQL Server Tutorials

For making the actual site:
Visual Web Developer 2008 it's a compiler so that you can develop in it.
SQL Server 2008 will come in really handy for a forum site. A SQL database is really easy to control and works with VWD.
AJAX 3.5 Toolkit download the binaries. If you need help, there is a video on the ajax videos that shows how to install the toolkit into your toolbox for VWD.

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