Photo Gallery Back-End

I’m trying to narrow down some options and would like a little help.

I’m trying to create a personal photo gallery with albums, sub-albums, and categories. I know how to create and upload individual photos to the DB, but how can I upload an entire folder on my HD and then update the DB (and/or XML) accordingly?

iPhoto has the ability to “sync” your assigned albums to your .Mac gallery whenever there are new photos added. I want to do something similar. I just don’t have the time, nor do I want to have to update my xml, or upload photos one at a time just to update my gallery.

Thank you in advance.