# Experimental Branch Summary

*Branch: `experimental-polar-steps`. Ready for morning review.*

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## What Was Done

This branch researched Polarsteps and FindPenguins, distilled their best ideas for a solo travel blog on Grav CMS, planned four milestones, and implemented all four.

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## What Was Built

### Milestone 1 — Entry Enrichment
- **Location badge** (`📍 City, Country`) on entry page and tracker feed cards
- **Weather badge** (`⛅ Partly cloudy · 19°C`) on entry page header
- **"Get Weather" button** on post form — auto-fetches via Open-Meteo (free, no key)
- **Photo gallery** on entry pages — 2-col/3-col grid with full lightbox
- **Hero image** on feed cards — falls back to first photo if no hero_image set
- New post form fields: City, Country, weather auto-fill

### Milestone 2 — Interactive Map (`/map`)
- Leaflet.js with OpenStreetMap tiles
- Marker per entry with GPS, route polyline in date order
- Most recent entry highlighted
- Click marker → popup with date, title, link to entry
- Full-height map, mobile touch-friendly

### Milestone 3 — Statistics Page (`/stats`)
- Days on the road, entries posted, countries visited, distance traveled
- Auto-updates as new entries are posted

### Milestone 4 — Mini-map on Tracker Feed
- Compact map above the entry list on /tracker
- Tap marker → navigates to that entry
- Hidden when no entries have GPS

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## Navigation
Three links in site header: **Journal · Map · Stats**

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## Manual Verification Required on Mobile

1. Upload photos → verify gallery grid + lightbox works
2. Upload photo → verify hero image on feed card
3. Open /post logged in → Get Location + Get Weather buttons work end-to-end
4. Submit full entry → verify all badges appear
5. Open /map on phone → pinch zoom (no page scroll behind map)
6. Open /tracker → tap mini-map marker → navigates to entry
7. Check browser console → no JS errors

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## UI Redesign (2026-06-18)

Design direction: **Field Notes** — editorial travel journal aesthetic, not social app.

- **Typography:** DM Serif Display (headings) + DM Sans (UI/body) — loaded via Google Fonts
- **Accent color:** Deep teal `#1F6B5A` (replaces generic blue)
- **Background:** Warm paper `#F7F5F2`
- **Signature element:** Full-bleed 16:9 hero photos on feed cards with translucent date/location overlay
- **Design tokens:** `user/themes/intotheeast/css/tokens.css` — single source of truth for all values
- **Post form:** GPS lat/lng fields hidden from UI (filled by JS), cleaner status feedback
- **Design spec:** `user/docs/design/design-spec.md`
- **Implementation plan:** `docs/working/plans/2026-06-18-ui-redesign.md`

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## Demo Content

Seven sample entries for design/QA showcasing: feed, map route, stats, weather variety (including snow).

```bash
make demo-load   # copy entries into tracker, clear cache
make demo-reset  # remove demo entries, clear cache
```

Full instructions: `user/docs/demo/README.md`

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## What Was Skipped
Background GPS tracking, social features, video reels, 3D flyover, printed books, AI itinerary builder — all require native apps or don't suit a solo personal blog. Full reasoning in `docs/working/pm-analysis.md`.