Consensus relaunch plan

[rossPatton]

Brainstorming necessary requirements to get site modernized and relaunched.

1. Recreate .env file, dependent services (DO, hcaptcha, maxmind, etc)
2. Bring dependencies up to date, resolve security warnings, audits, etc
3. Replace outdated approaches/dependencies with modern ones.

• redux thunk -> react query + recoil
• knex -> prisma, use for migrations deployment and seeding with full type completion. knex is great, solid, battle tested but but prisma brings automated schema creation and management
• pull in playwright for e2e integration testing instead of just doing unit tests
• maybe use pnpm instead of npm
• use zod instead of joi. functionally the same but integrateds better with typescript, prisma
• definitely use react hook form instead of direct dom manipulation
• instead of raw react/webpack, consider using remix ,maybe. some kind of everything included, widely used framework. not a fan of next, but something in that space. counterpoint: there's anything wrong with plain react and webpack, more fine-tuned control, not tied to one approach. no lock-in. pretty low down on the list of priorities compared to the rest of this list
• resend/react-email for batch messaging, easy email previewing
• bring in a standard component library like radix/antd/tanstack etc instead of building everything yourself
• maybe have fun and rewrite server in a different language to boost that skillset (python, go?). server is pretty thin, just a simple rest api

5. Re-establish/reconnect database, re-assess schema design. probably going with postgres again
6. Re-establish container registries
7. Re-assess deployment/hosting strategy
8. NGINX -> Caddy
9. setup some kind of error tracking (rollbar probably)
10. Repurchase domain(s)
11. Simplify the docker compose / containerization setup. don't need multiple compose files, don't need node_modules volume, etc. My approach here is a tad outdated
12. Get to work

Priorities once site is working again:

1. A means of being financially self-sufficient. Consider implementing dues mgmt, take small cut, or come up with subscription plan
2. Advertisements/word of mouth/seo optimization to drive traffic
3. fancy dashboard for viewing stats over time
4. better user/meeting lookup/editing tools
5. brainstorm new features that complement the existing suite. blogs/automatic rss feeds? QR code generation? automatic flyer creation? just spitballing