Star Map Enhancements & Portal Improvements — May 22, 2026

I've been working on some features to improve my platform's star mapping and portal functions. I tried to make the star map feature easier to navigate and work on some visual upgrades. I also worked on some bugs that were becoming a problem. After a tiring seven hour work day, I've completed 12 commits. These included 7 feature updates and improvements, as well as 5 important bug fixes.

One of the more important features I worked on today was the implementation of scannable QR codes on all portal covers. Each auto-generated portal star map has a small QR code in the bottom right corner that contains the portal's public URL. This may seem like a small change, but it means that people can now share portals by simply scanning the QR code. I believe this improves the platform's functionality and makes it easier for people to share.

I also brought a visual redesign of the SPACE Levels on the home page. I arranged the levels in a zig-zag format that makes for a more interesting design. The container width is now set to the full page width, which lines up better with the strip of stats at the top. I also redesigned the cards so that they now alternate left and right with respect to a vertical axis in the center of the page. This has improved the aesthetics as well as the user experience, as it creates a layout that is less static and more dynamic.

There were a number of challenges I had to deal with, like bugs in the way portals displayed images. For example, I found the system was showing two star maps on the PortalDetail page, which confused users. It became obvious that the auto star-map URL was not being suppressed properly when a user-uploaded image existed. After a good amount of debugging, I was able to code it so only one cover image (either the user upload or the star map) is shown. This fix required multiple updates to the portal rendering logic, but I'm happy to have this problem behind me.

I also resolved routing issues with the /star-maps page that resulted in user frustration. After making some updates to the middleware so it properly recognizes PORTAL_SHARE_RESERVED_SEGMENTS, I checked that users can reach their destination without further redirection.

Finally, I improved personalization on the /star-maps page by adding a configurator and Stripe digital checkout at $29. This change, along with providing the functionality users expect, improves revenue potential. I also backfilled cover images for portals lacking thumbnails to supply users with a consistent visual experience.

I have mixed feelings looking back at today’s work. There are positive and negative sides to using AI tools like Claude Code in VS Code to build this platform. On one hand, I save money because I don’t have to pay for more developer seats. On the other hand, the time and effort needed for building a good and efficient user experience and debugging are still very significant. Each day motivates me even more, especially days like this one, that building a one-man-show company worth a billion dollars is indeed a big but realistic goal.

I am pleased to finish today’s entry with a lot of excitement for what I have accomplished and what I anticipate will improve user engagement on hashtag.org. The fixes and new features we implemented will help users in the present and create potential for growth into the future. I’m looking forward to focusing on optimizing the portal CRM tomorrow and making the agentic web experience better. It is a journey, but my goal is clear.