What it is
Island Happenings is a curated Vancouver Island event guide built around useful weekly decisions, not calendar completeness.
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Independent product
Island Happenings
A curated Vancouver Island event guide built around useful weekly decisions, not calendar completeness.
I built a source-linked listing system with event detail pages, calendar and region views, practical planning notes, cost context, submission and correction paths, and an editorial workflow for maintaining weekly picks.
What I chose
Every public listing needs a source, useful planning context, and an honest reason to be included.
What I built
A source-linked listing system with event detail pages, calendar and region views, planning notes, cost context, submission paths, and correction language.
Why it matters
Events with vague details, weak sources, or unclear public value are held back instead of padded into the guide.
Listing anatomy
The product proves its taste through what each listing keeps visible.
Source link: the original event page stays close to the listing for final confirmation
Time and place: dates, venue details, region context, and uncertainty stay explicit
Cost and planning notes: practical context is treated as part of the listing, not decoration
Editorial reason: every event needs a useful reason to be included
How I built it
The editorial and sourcing choices behind the guide.
Editorial product judgment
The guide is organized around choosing a plan this week, not browsing a raw database of everything that might exist.
Source-backed listings
Listings keep the original source close so people can confirm times, costs, venue details, and late changes before committing.
Editorial workflow
Weekly research packets are reviewed before approved events are normalized into source-controlled event files.
Community input
Submission and correction paths let community tips improve the guide without pretending listings publish automatically.
Technical notes
- Next.js and TypeScript app structure for event listings, detail pages, calendar views, region pages, and submissions
- Event data model shaped around source URL, checked language, planning notes, cost context, regions, and audience tags
- Source-controlled weekly event files instead of a premature admin database
- Editorial workflow that can stay small while still producing useful weekly coverage
Scope
I built Island Happenings as a curated guide, not an official venue calendar. I keep the original source close so people can confirm changes before heading out.