[wp-hackers] Plugin or Advice for Front-End Dashboard

[Sharon Chambers]

I’ve got a wordpress site that I’m using mainly as a local event site, using an event plugin that I’ve written that integrates to the add post page.
 
What I’d like to do is add a button to the home page that would allow the general public (once logged in, of course) to add a post—only I don’t want to display the dashboard.
 
What I would like instead is to have a themed page where I could filter the add post page to display exactly what I want, including “Add Event” instead of “Add New Post”.  All of the “general public” would be contributors, so I could easily display the stuff based on the user role.
 
What I’m curious about is whether anyone knows of a plugin that already does something similar, or if you have any advice on starting from scratch.  I did search the plugins directly on Wordpress, and came up nil.
 
Many thanks, 
Sharon Chambers
Webmaster
brewer media