I’m ready to lay the groundwork for a community-first classifieds platform and need a solid, scalable foundation that I can confidently build on. Scope • Core feature: intuitive category browsing structured strictly “by item type.” Users must be able to drill down through parent → child categories with fast load times, search filters, and clean URLs. • Architecture: design the database schema, API endpoints, and front-end flow that keep category queries snappy today yet remain flexible for future additions such as user profiles and private messaging. • MVP build: a responsive web interface (mobile-friendly) that lets visitors post an item, select its item-type category, upload photos, and see their listing instantly reflected on the public feed. • Admin essentials: basic dashboard to add, edit, merge, or deactivate categories and moderate listings. • Documentation: concise setup guide and comments so I can extend the codebase later without guesswork. Tech notes Use a modern, widely supported stack—frameworks such as Laravel, Django, Ruby on Rails, or Node/Express are all acceptable; pair with a relational database (MySQL, PostgreSQL) and lightweight front-end framework or templating. I’m open to your recommendations as long as deployment remains straightforward on a standard VPS. Success looks like 1. Category pages load in <300 ms with 5k sample listings. 2. New category creation appears on the site without manual routing tweaks. 3. Clear README covering install, environment variables, and deployment steps. Deliverables • Source code repo (Git) • SQL migration or ORM schema files • Front-end templates/components • Admin dashboard access credentials • Setup & usage documentation If you’ve architected classifieds, marketplace, or directory apps before, please highlight them and outline the stack you propose.