Does EE support integration with tinymce out of the box?
There’s a plug-in for TinyMCE In fact, you should look at all the available add-ons before purchasing. There are quite a few, and even those that EE does not keep track of (some developers don’t register their extensions, and plug-ins, etc. But the add-on library can be found here
I require users to be able to sign up and submit a theory of a particular subject. Other users can then rate theories and the best ones appear on the first page at the top. Is there a plugin like this already available? If not there is no issue I am a php developer but it would lead to my next question. Is there good developer api documentation available?
EE can handle the sign-on and submission portion natively, but there are two items from Solspace that you probably want to look at. The first is an option that works with the Stand-alone Data Entry Form (SAEF), which is most likely how you’ll have members submit theories; and the second is the ratings module. Even though, I’m spacing on the name, I use the SAEF plug-in for a number of clients, and plan on getting the Ratings Module fairly soon in the future. Solspace and Mark Hout are my two favorite add-on developers. They’re always introducing something I love.
I want some links to be accessible to logged in users only. (guests can see the links but when they click them they are asked to sign in).
yes, you can handle this in a variety of ways. Links can not be visible to guest: this means the page containing the links would require login. Or you can do links are visible data is not: this would mean putting the require login on the display page.
Is there copyright removal options? Is it included in the commercial license?
I’m not certain what you mean here. Do you mean that you don’t want to state that you are using EE? It’s not required to attribute EE on the front end of your site, with either the commercial or personal license that I know of. Stripping the EE data from the backend (the control panel) is a different matter. I don’t believe that is allowed. But one of the staff would know more.