[Jon]

Through the Crankshaft Coalition, we've been working on a complete frame-off re-design of the Hotrodders Project Journals, our automotive photo-journal software.

So far, we've got 2 people working on the software: myself, and HRBB member grouch. We've got the MySQL database designed, and grouch has just uploaded the first draft for the PHP scripts that will run the journal.

The new journal software will be similar to our current journal software, but will include the following improvements, most of which were suggested by HRBB members:

--an option for multiple journals per user
--a search engine for easily searching all journals for relevant information
--a journal "summary" page that will show a title, description, and user-selected sample photo from each journal
--comment integration with the bulletin board; from any journal entry, users will be able to click a link to start a new board thread to discuss that entry
--RSS syndication feeds

We'll be starting with vBulletin member authentication integration, but plan on integrating with other common forum software packages as well.

The journal software is being published under the GNU GPL software license. What this essentially means (among other things) is that anyone will be able to use the software, at no cost, and modify it as they choose. So, it will be free like a free lunch, and free like free speech.

If you're familiar with PHP and MySQL, and you're interested in donating your time to work on cool hotrodding-related software, join us.

Right now, we're communicating about the software via a thread in the Crankshaft Coalition forums. Down the line, we may incorporate a more structured open-source development environment by using CVS or something similar. To join in the discussion, simply register on the Crankshaft Coalition forums and post in the development thread.