Stations

A Reddit aggregator web application that collects and displays posts from various workstation and battlestation subreddits. Built with Laravel and deployed on Vercel, Stations showcases how PHP applications can run efficiently on serverless infrastructure.

Overview

Stations solves the problem of browsing multiple Reddit communities to find inspiring desk setups, battlestations, and workspace configurations. Instead of visiting multiple subreddits, users can browse all workstation-related content in one unified interface.

Key Features

• Multi-Subreddit Aggregation: Aggregates posts from r/battlestations, r/workspaces, r/macsetups, r/shittybattlestations, and more
• Categorized Browsing: Filter by different station types (Average Battlestations, Work Stations, Battlestations, Mac Setups, etc.)
• Clean Interface: Modern, responsive design built with Laravel Blade and Tailwind CSS
• Vercel Deployment: Demonstrates Laravel running on Vercel’s serverless infrastructure
• Real-time Updates: Fetches and displays the latest posts from Reddit

Technical Stack

Built with:

• Backend: Laravel (PHP 87.2%)
• Frontend: Blade templates (12.8%)
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• Deployment: Vercel (serverless PHP runtime)
• API: Reddit API for fetching posts
• Build Tools: Webpack Mix

Challenges & Solutions

Deploying a Laravel application on Vercel required careful configuration of the serverless PHP runtime. The project demonstrates how to adapt traditional Laravel applications to work with Vercel’s on-demand infrastructure while maintaining all the framework’s powerful features.

Results & Impact

Stations serves as both a useful tool for discovering workspace inspiration and a demonstration project showing Laravel’s flexibility on modern serverless platforms. The project showcases how PHP applications can leverage Vercel’s infrastructure for scalable, cost-effective deployments.

What I Learned

This project provided valuable experience in deploying Laravel applications on serverless infrastructure. It reinforced the importance of understanding platform-specific requirements and adapting applications accordingly, while also demonstrating Laravel’s versatility across different deployment targets.