Bringing the island together — online.
This project is a digital platform for the vibrant island community of Westray, one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Designed with the unique needs of small island life in mind, this web application provides a central online space for commerce, community, and collaboration.
To create a digital commons where individuals, businesses, clubs, and local bodies can connect, share, and thrive — whether you're selling hand-knitted jumpers, organising a seaweed-foraging clu 9558 b, or announcing a village ceilidh.
-
Island Marketplace
Residents can create their own online shops, list goods or services, and trade locally (or globally, if desired). -
Community Profiles & Organisations
Support for clubs, interest groups, and official bodies — each with their own space to post updates, events, and resources. -
Social Feeds & Forums
Open and private discussion areas for real-time updates, island gossip, serious debate, and everything in between. -
Responsive Design
Fully functional on mobile, tablet, and desktop — perfect for crofters and café dwellers alike. -
Privacy-Conscious & Community-Owned
Built with respect for user privacy and autonomy, and structured to be governed by the island itself.
- Frontend: A vue.js powered Nuxt implementation (composition API with modern tooling)
- Backend: Currently either Appwrite or Google's Firebase
- Modules: Nuxt/Icons
- Database(s): Currently using the serverless provisions of either Google's Firebase suite or Appwrite. Later, a microservices polyglot architecture may be deployed using a combination of MongoDB / MySQL / Neo4j (depending on context-specific needs)
- Hosting: To launch the project will be using the serverless backend technologies of Appwrite and Netlify or Google's Firebase suite. Eventually, it is intended that a self-hosted or island-internal server capability will be used.
- Other: Support for offline-first operation and local resilience
This application is more than just code — it’s a tool to strengthen real-world relationships, foster economic resilience, and keep Westray’s culture alive in the digital age.
This project is under active development. Contributions, suggestions, and stories from islanders are all welcome.
This project will be released under an open license (TBC) with the spirit of community ownership and transparency.
If you're part of the Westray community — or a curious outsider with a heart for island tech — feel free to reach out, fork, or open an issue. Let’s build something enduring.
Developed with care for Westray, from Westray.
Look at the Nuxt documentation to learn more.
Make sure to install dependencies:
# npm
npm install
# pnpm
pnpm install
# yarn
yarn install
# bun
bun installStart the development server on http://localhost:3000:
# npm
npm run dev
# pnpm
pnpm dev
# yarn
yarn dev
# bun
bun run devBuild the application for production:
# npm
npm run build
# pnpm
pnpm build
# yarn
yarn build
# bun
bun run buildLocally preview production build:
# npm
npm run preview
# pnpm
pnpm preview
# yarn
yarn preview
# bun
bun run previewCheck out the deployment documentation for more information.