Whew – it’s about done! As some of you have heard, I’ve been working on a new HSB – it’s been talked about elsewhere without much information – but the few folks I invited in to test things have been a tremendous help with working out the bugs. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty more to do, because there certainly is.

A few things that still need to be done:
- Old HSB intergration – the older blog posts found here will eventually be moved over to the new platform, but in the meantime they will remain here.
- Old forum integration – same as above, but I’ve got to get the links to the old forum fixed first.
- The new network has a slew of new features, so please register and poke around – and let me know if you have any questions. One of my favorite features will be a geographic listing and mapping function of all the hot sauce stores – but that’s still being worked on. I had hoped to have it done before this announcement, but Halloween prep got in the way.

A few formalities to discuss:
- HSB Network Stuff:
Think of the HSB Network as a laid back art gallery; open to all artists whose passion is creating (& eating) hot sauce and related items like wing sauce, bbq sauce, pepper items, collectibles etc. The gallery is a meeting place as well. It allows us to admire the work of our peers, offer praise, advice and share knowledge in the form of how-to info, recipes & reviews. I’m assuming the gallery also has a dingy bar and a juke full of good tunes in the back, but I digress…

Some other things worth mentioning:
Image based comments – Please don’t. Frankly I think we’re all grown ups here and would much rather see someone take the time to write a sentence rather than spam our profile page with a sparkly picture of strawberry goth-cake.

Respect for other members – This is a no drama zone. I don’t care if someone just posted that your Mom left her fishnet stockings, whip cream and cattle prod over their house. If you reply publicly, you’re just as guilty. The mods will deal with the drama starter, do not reply, and don’t reply on behalf of someone. Feel free to shoot me a message, and we’ll deal with it. A-holes are like Gremlins, only it doesn’t matter what time you feed them. The second you reply it cascades into a big mess.

And I can promise you if I ever have an issue with a member it will never be handled publicly. It’s a simple matter of respect, and I hope everyone will act in the same manner. If it’s contentious in any way, take it off-line and off the network. There are other places on the web for that behavior – and this isn’t one of them.

Manufacturers – Feel free to register! You are welcome to add any press releases or announcements to the blogs section – but please no more then 2 per week. We’ve always welcomed Manufacturers interaction and we hope this new system will allow everyone to get their fair share of news coverage. And also feel free to post anything else chilehead worthy.

Collectors – In one form or another, we’re all collectors. We each have our affinities (I personally prefer 5oz. woozies) – so please respect each others collections, opinions and views. Use the classifieds section to sell or trade anything chilehead related. If you are running an eBay auction – you may also want to blog it to get more views.

That about covers it, thanks for reading all this. Bookmark http://community.hotsauceblog.com and check it out!