Banjoshire

Origin: Built for Joe's son who wanted a Discord-style hangout site for him and his friends. They never really used it — but building it reignited Joe's passion for coding, web dev, and app development. Banjoshire is the reason Manitec exists.

Live URL: banjo.joesfaves.com

NOT Appalachian themed. Just a name.

Stack

• Framework: Next.js (deployed on Vercel)
• Backend/DB: Firebase (project ID: banjoshire)
• Auth: Firebase Auth
• Storage: Firebase Storage (custom user assets) + repo-hosted static assets (default avatars, banners)

Features (Working ✅)

• User login / auth
• Channels
• Real-time messaging
• User profile cards — banner image, circular avatar, username + discriminator tag, member since date, online/offline indicator, message button

Storage Philosophy

Default avatar/banner options are served from the repo via Vercel CDN — not Firebase Storage. Firebase Storage is reserved for user-uploaded custom assets only. Keeps costs at zero.

Status

Core complete. Taking a break. Next feature: fully wire user-selectable avatars/banners from repo-hosted options.

Next Steps

• [ ] Wire user-selectable default avatars from repo
• [ ] Wire user-selectable banners from repo
• [ ] User profiles — bio, status message
• [ ] Roles and permissions
• [ ] Friends list / follow system