OT: Website Gallery Software

[Bubba]

I know this is way off topic, but I also know that there are a number of people here that are quite versed on the subject of web development and tools.

I'm starting a couple of websites. The first one I plan to use as a site to showcase my photos for the whole world to look at (if they are interested). The second site I am planning is for private use by my family and very close friends to share photos. I'm trying to decide the best method(s) for accomplishing this. I've been experimenting with Coppermine. It has a lot of features and is quite nice at creating private galleries allowing users to add comments, ratings, favorites lists, etc. It uses MYSQL database for management of users and albums. The other tool I have looked at is JAlbum. It is nice for just generating HTML code for displaying photos in albums, but seems quite limited and is not too convenient for just adding a couple of photos at a time.

I'm not opposed to coding things myself (I'm more of a FORTRAN, Matlab, Pascal kind of guy, HTML is still a little confusing to me). I am also lazy and don't believe in re-inventing the wheel if I don't have to. I am also cheap so I don't want to spend a lot of money on software. I already have my hosts in place with lots of server space and bandwidth.

Any advice and suggestions from the collective experts here (it never ceases to amaze me how diverse and knowledgeable this group is) is most appreciated.

Thanks.

Bubba