The Mission: Data Over Drama
As laid out on the About Page, this site is built on three pillars: Community, Documentation, and Discovery. The goal was to build a technical bridge between local lore and a global map. I didn't want a "ghost story" site — I wanted a Geospatial Tracking Tool.
That meant focusing the build on how we categorize sightings — moving from vague anecdotes to tagged, searchable data points.
The 120-Hour Sprint
Building this in under a week meant making fast technical choices:
- 🗺️ The Map Engine — I prioritized a responsive coordinate system. Whether you're pinning a Victorian manor or a backroad, the Lat/Long precision had to be spot-on.
- 🗄️ The Schema — I kept the database lean but extensible. We're tracking entity types, historical context, and activity levels without the bloat of a traditional CMS.
- ⚡ Performance — Speed was non-negotiable. A map-heavy site can lag quickly, so I managed load carefully on the map layer.
Why This Exists
The paranormal community is often fragmented. By centralizing reports into a modern interface, we can start seeing patterns instead of just isolated incidents. It's about giving researchers and enthusiasts a professional-grade toolkit to document the unexplained.
This is just the MVP. Now that the foundation is solid, I'm shifting from Build Mode to Refine Mode. The unexplained deserves better tools — and we're just getting started.