XAND Beacon - Initial Design Proposal

1. Project Overview & Mission

Mission Statement

Build a LinkedIn-style social platform for the Xandeum Community. Phase 1 establishes the full foundation: a public landing page, shared authentication (with Asset Hub), user profiles, admin-managed news/CMS, and basic member posting/blog capabilities.

Created BY the community, FOR the community. Not affiliated with Xandeum directly.

Community-Driven

Members create profiles, write posts, share ideas, and engage in discussions. Community governance and transparency are core values.

Shared Identity

Uses the same hub_users table as the Asset Hub. One account, multiple applications. Seamless cross-platform experience.

Open & Extensible

Phase 1 is the foundation. Future phases will add messaging, groups, events, reputation systems, and deeper governance integration.

2. Architecture

System Diagram

  Browser
    |
    v
+-------------------------+        +----------------------------+
|   xandeum.me            |        |   hub.xandeum.me           |
|   (Community Site)      |        |   (Asset Hub)              |
|                         |        |                            |
|  PHP 8.3 + Vanilla JS   |        |  PHP 8.3 + Vanilla JS     |
|  Session: XANDEUM_COMM  |        |  Session: HUB_SESSION      |
|  Self-contained code    |        |  Uses hub-shared/          |
|                         |        |                            |
+----------+--------------+        +-------------+--------------+
           |                                     |
           |          Shared Database             |
           +------------+------------------------+
                        |
                        v
              +-------------------+
              |   MySQL: hub DB   |
              |                   |
              |  hub_users        |  (shared)
              |  hub_activity_log |  (shared)
              |  community_*      |  (community-only)
              |  hub_wallets      |  (hub-only)
              |  hub_daos         |  (hub-only)
              +-------------------+

Key Architecture Decisions

Self-Contained Code

Cannot access hub-shared/ due to open_basedir. Includes own copies of database, auth, session, and utility code that read the same hub_users table.

Separate Sessions

Session name XANDEUM_COMMUNITY vs Hub's HUB_SESSION. Different domains = different cookies. Users log in independently on each app.

Config-Only Deploys

Only config.php changes when deploying to another domain (chillxand.com, crossovr.io). All branding, DB creds, and URLs centralized there.

3. Database Schema

All new tables prefixed with community_ in the existing hub database.

community_profiles

Extends hub_users with community-specific profile data.

Column	Type	Purpose
id	INT PK AUTO	Profile ID
user_id	INT FK	References hub_users.id
display_name	VARCHAR(100)	Public display name
slug	VARCHAR(100) UNIQUE	URL-friendly username
bio	VARCHAR(280)	Short bio (tweet-length)
about_me	TEXT	Extended about section
avatar_url	VARCHAR(500)	Profile picture
banner_url	VARCHAR(500)	Profile banner image
location	VARCHAR(100)	User location
website_url	VARCHAR(500)	Personal website
twitter_handle	VARCHAR(50)	X/Twitter handle
discord_handle	VARCHAR(50)	Discord username
telegram_handle	VARCHAR(50)	Telegram handle
github_handle	VARCHAR(50)	GitHub username
interests	VARCHAR(500)	Comma-separated interests
is_public	TINYINT(1)	Profile visibility
profile_completed	TINYINT(1)	Has completed profile setup

community_categories

Column	Type	Purpose
id	INT PK AUTO	Category ID
name	VARCHAR(50)	Category name
slug	VARCHAR(50) UNIQUE	URL slug
description	VARCHAR(255)	Category description
color	VARCHAR(7)	Badge color hex
sort_order	INT	Display order

community_news

Column	Type	Purpose
id	INT PK AUTO	Article ID
author_id	INT FK	References hub_users.id
title	VARCHAR(255)	Article title
slug	VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE	URL slug
excerpt	VARCHAR(500)	Short description
body	LONGTEXT	Article content
featured_image	VARCHAR(500)	Hero image URL
status	ENUM	draft / published / archived
is_featured	TINYINT(1)	Featured on homepage
published_at	DATETIME	Publish date

community_posts

Column	Type	Purpose
id	INT PK AUTO	Post ID
author_id	INT FK	References hub_users.id
title	VARCHAR(255)	Post title
slug	VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE	URL slug
body	LONGTEXT	Post content
excerpt	VARCHAR(500)	Short preview
type	ENUM	blog / update / discussion
category_id	INT FK	References community_categories
status	ENUM	draft / published / hidden
view_count	INT	View counter
like_count	INT	Like counter (denormalized)
comment_count	INT	Comment counter (denormalized)
is_pinned	TINYINT(1)	Pinned to top

community_comments

Column	Type	Purpose
id	INT PK AUTO	Comment ID
user_id	INT FK	References hub_users.id
post_id	INT FK NULL	References community_posts
news_id	INT FK NULL	References community_news
parent_id	INT FK NULL	Parent comment (threading)
body	TEXT	Comment text
status	ENUM	visible / hidden / deleted

community_post_likes

Column	Type	Purpose
id	INT PK AUTO	Like ID
user_id	INT FK	References hub_users.id
post_id	INT FK	References community_posts
UNIQUE(user_id, post_id) — One like per user per post

4. Page Wireframes

Landing Page (index.php)

News Listing (news/index.php)

+================================================================+ | [Header / Nav] | +================================================================+ | Community News | | | | +----+---------------------------------------------+ | | |[img]| Article Title | | | | | Excerpt text goes here describing the... | | | | | By Admin | Feb 24, 2026 | 5 comments | | | +----+---------------------------------------------+ | | | | +----+---------------------------------------------+ | | |[img]| Another Article | | | | | More excerpt text for this article... | | | | | By Admin | Feb 23, 2026 | 2 comments | | | +----+---------------------------------------------+ | | | | [< Prev] Page 1 of 5 [Next >] | +================================================================+

Community Feed (community/index.php)

User Profile (profile/view.php)

Member Directory (members/index.php)

Admin Dashboard (admin/index.php)

5. Feature Breakdown

Authentication

Email + password login (shared hub_users table)
Self-registration with pending approval status
Separate session from Asset Hub (different cookie name/domain)
Session timeout and regeneration for security
Return-to-URL after login

User Profiles

Extended profile fields (bio, about, location, social links)
URL-friendly slug (e.g., /members/john-doe)
Avatar upload
Public/private visibility toggle
Interests tagging
First-time profile completion prompt

News CMS (Admin)

Create/edit articles with title, excerpt, body, featured image
Draft/published/archived workflow
Featured articles on homepage
Paginated public listing
Comments on articles

Community Posts

Three post types: blog, update, discussion
Six categories (seeded): General, Development, Governance, Tutorials, Ideas, Off-Topic
Like system (one per user per post)
Threaded comments with replies
View count tracking
Filter by type, category, sort order
Pin posts (admin)

Admin Panel

Dashboard with stats (users, posts, news, comments, pending)
User management (approve, suspend, activate)
News CMS (create, edit, publish/unpublish)
Post moderation (hide, pin, delete)

Member Directory

Grid layout of public profiles
Search by name
Paginated
Only shows public, completed profiles

6. Design System

Color Palette

Brand Primary#f59e0b

Brand Dark#d97706

Accent#3b82f6

Dark#0f172a

Light#f8fafc

Success#22c55e

Danger#ef4444

Muted#64748b

Typography

Heading 1 (2rem / 800)

Heading 2 (1.5rem / 700)

Heading 3 (1.2rem / 600)

Body text (1rem / 400) — Inter font family

Small / muted text (0.85rem)

Buttons

Primary Secondary Accent Danger Outline

Badges

General Development Governance Tutorials Ideas Off-Topic

Published Draft Archived

Blog Update Discussion

Design Principles

Light mode default — clean, modern, welcoming (distinct from Hub's dark-only theme)
Dark mode toggle — cookie-persisted preference
12px border-radius — softer corners than Hub
Subtle shadows — elevation via shadows, not borders
Responsive — 768px tablet, 480px mobile breakpoints
Inter font — modern, highly readable

7. Technology Decisions

Category	Choice	Rationale
Language	PHP 8.3	Matches Hub stack, server already configured, no build tools needed
Database	MySQL (hub DB)	Shared user accounts, single source of truth
CSS	Vanilla CSS + Custom Properties	No build step, theme toggle via data attribute, lightweight
JavaScript	Vanilla JS (IIFE)	No frameworks, no dependencies, fast loading
Auth	Session-based (PHP native)	Simple, secure, proven pattern
Passwords	bcrypt (cost 12)	Industry standard, same as Hub
CSRF	Token-per-session	Simple, effective for traditional forms + AJAX header check
Routing	.htaccess + clean URLs	Apache mod_rewrite, no router library needed

8. Wave Structure

Implementation is organized into 8 waves, each building on the previous.

Design Proposal

This document. Publish for stakeholder review before writing code.

Database Migration

Create all community_* tables in the hub database. Seed categories.

Application Foundation

Config, database, auth, session, functions, bootstrap. Self-contained includes.

Design System & Templates

CSS design system, JS interactions, header/nav/footer templates, .htaccess.

Authentication Pages

Landing Page & News

Public homepage, news listing, single article view with comments.

User Profiles & Members

Profile CRUD, public profile view, member directory with search.

Community Posts

Post creation, community feed, likes, threaded comments, categories.

Admin Panel & API

Admin dashboard, user/post/news management, AJAX endpoints.

9. Duplicability Strategy

One Config to Rule Them All

The entire application can be duplicated to another domain by changing only config.php. This file contains:

Database credentials (each deployment can use its own DB or share one)
Site name, version, and branding (logo, colors)
Session name (prevents cross-domain session conflicts)
Hub URL (where to link for Asset Hub features)
Social links (Discord, Twitter, Telegram)

Deployment Matrix

Domain	Instance	Database	Session Name
xandeum.me	Xandeum Community	hub	XANDEUM_COMMUNITY
chillxand.com	ChillXand Community	hub	CHILLXAND_COMMUNITY
crossovr.io	Crossovr Community	hub	CROSSOVR_COMMUNITY

Deployment Steps

Copy all files to the new domain's httpdocs
Edit config.php with new branding, session name, and URLs
Run the migration SQL against the target database
Set file ownership (root:psacln)
Done — site is live