DEV Community: Dchool

🚀 Day 3 — Giving Lanorx a Face

Dchool — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 12:30:18 +0000

Hey everyone 👋

I’m Dchool — solo dev, indie hacker, and builder of Lanorx,

a tool that helps makers validate their ideas before they build.

Today marks Day 3 of my #50DaysTo1K challenge —

and this one was all about identity.

For the first time, Lanorx doesn’t just work —

it actually looks like a product. ⚡

💡 What Changed Today

Until now, the main Lanorx domain just redirected to /create.

There was no proper landing page, no first impression — just pure functionality.

Today, that changed.

I built the main landing page and a header component,

making Lanorx feel like something real, not just a developer playground.

I also took time to refine parts of the design:

cleaner spacing, improved typography, and a layout that finally feels cohesive.

And beyond visuals, I started shaping the production-mode plan —

defining how Lanorx will evolve from MVP into a scalable product.

🧱 What I Built Today

🧩 Frontend

Built a new Header component for the landing page
Created the official Lanorx landing page (no more /create redirect 🎉)
Tweaked colors, layout, and spacing for a more polished look

⚙️ Planning & Specs

Defined production mode specifications
Outlined data flow, user interactions, and backend scaling strategy

It might sound small, but this step marks the transition from “just working” → “ready to grow.”

🧭 What’s Next (Day 4 Plan)

Tomorrow’s focus:

Designing the production architecture and laying down the backend base.

Specifically:

Define internal API structure
Plan backend routes and Server Actions
Begin writing the core backend logic for production

Once this is in place, Lanorx will have a foundation that can handle real users — not just test data.

🧠 Reflection

Day 3 was quieter, but pivotal.

The product finally has a face — and a future.

It’s funny how adding a landing page changes your mindset.

Until now, Lanorx was code and logic.

Now it has an identity, a place where people can see it.

And finalizing the production spec made things feel serious.

This is no longer just a validation experiment —

it’s shaping up to be a real SaaS.

“Day 3 wasn’t about new features.

It was about definition — giving Lanorx a clear shape, both visually and structurally.”

📍 Follow the Journey

I’m sharing the full #50DaysTo1K journey here —

from idea → MVP → revenue → (hopefully) $1K MRR.

Follow me on Twitter/X → @D_chool

and check out the live product here 👇

https://www.lanorx.com

You can even create your own test page now →

https://www.lanorx.com/create

🧠 Hashtags

buildinpublic #50DaysTo1K #indiehackers #SaaS #NextJS #TypeScript #Prisma #Mantine #SoloFounder #webdev

🚀 Day 2 — The MVP is Alive

Dchool — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 17:51:36 +0000

Hey everyone 👋

I’m Dchool — solo dev, indie hacker, and builder of Lanorx,

a tool that helps makers validate their ideas before they build.

Today marks Day 2 of my #50DaysTo1K challenge —

and the big milestone: the Lanorx MVP is officially done. ⚡

💡 What Lanorx Can Do Now

Lanorx now runs the full validation loop from start to finish:

create an idea → auto-generate a landing page → collect emails → view real data

It’s no longer a prototype — it’s an actual working product.

Every step in the validation cycle now exists and talks to each other.

No mockups. No placeholders.

Real pages, real events, real data stored in the database.

🧱 What I Built Today

I spent most of the day building and polishing the MVP features.

And honestly — it took longer than expected,

because I cared way too much about the landing page design 😅

Even for an MVP, the landing page needed to feel real.

Good design builds trust — and trust drives validation.

A bad first impression kills interest faster than bugs ever could.

Here’s what got done 👇

🧩 The Full MVP Flow

/create page — Idea input form with Mantine Form + Zod validation
/land/[project_name] — Dynamic landing page generation (SSR)
/dashboard/[access_id] — Dashboard with metrics & email list
Email submission → stored via Server Action → recorded as events
CSV export fully functional (client-side download)

⚙️ Backend Logic

Extended Server Actions for submitEmailAction and recordEventAction
Added metrics aggregation logic (views, interactions, submissions)
Implemented 404 handling for invalid projects and access IDs

🎨 Design & UX

Polished layout for landing pages using Mantine Grid + CSS Modules
Added light/dark theme support with MantineProvider
Improved CTA feedback and success state transitions
Added subtle animations for CTA button and section transitions

🧭 What’s Next (Day 3 Plan)

Tomorrow’s focus:

Using Lanorx to launch Lanorx.

I’ll be building Lanorx’s own landing page using Lanorx itself.

This is the meta moment I’ve been waiting for —

using my own product to validate my own product.

After that, I’ll move into production planning:

Architecture review
Pricing model draft
Onboarding and marketing flow
Domain setup and public launch prep

By the end of Day 3, Lanorx will have its own landing page

— powered entirely by Lanorx.

🧠 Reflection

Day 2 was the first real “it works” moment.

Seeing data flow through — from landing page to dashboard — felt surreal.

There’s something special about seeing your product validate itself.

That’s exactly what Lanorx was meant to do — and now it’s doing it.

Today also reminded me that design matters, even early on.

You can’t validate something people don’t want to engage with.

A clear, trustworthy UI is a validation tool in itself.

“Momentum is built through credibility —

and credibility starts with design that feels real.”

📍 Follow the Journey

I’ll keep posting daily progress on Twitter/X → @D_chool

and weekly breakdowns here on Dev.to.

This is Day 2 of 50.

Tomorrow, I’ll use Lanorx to launch Lanorx.

🧠 Hashtags

buildinpublic #50DaysTo1K #indiehackers #SaaS #NextJS #TypeScript #Prisma #Mantine #SoloFounder #webdev

🚀 50DaysTo1K — Day 1 Laying the Foundation for Lanorx

Dchool — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 13:35:49 +0000

Hey everyone 👋

I’m Dchool — solo dev, indie hacker, and builder of Lanorx,

a tool that helps makers validate their ideas before they build.

Today marks Day 1 of my #50DaysTo1K challenge —

building Lanorx from scratch, shipping fast, and aiming for $1,000 MRR in 50 days.

💭 The Goal

Every indie hacker knows the struggle of building something

without knowing if anyone actually wants it.

Lanorx is my attempt to solve that —

to make idea validation effortless and automatic.

No templates. No endless setup.

Just input → launch → validate.

🧱 What I Built Today

Today was all about foundation —

no visuals, no fancy UI — just building a rock-solid base to move fast later.

Here’s what got done 👇

⚙️ Core Setup

Bootstrapped Next.js (App Router) + TypeScript
Configured strict ESLint / Prettier setup
Added Mantine (UI) and Emotion (SSR caching)

🧩 Database & ORM

Designed and migrated full Prisma schema
- Projects, Emails, Events, and AccessKeys models
Connected to PlanetScale (MySQL) successfully
Implemented Prisma Client singleton with HMR-safe logic

🔍 Validation & Utilities

Wrote Zod schemas for project creation, email submission, and dashboard access
Built slug generator and Access ID util (Base62 + regex validation)
Added CSV export util for dashboard downloads (RFC4180 compliant)

🎨 Shared Components

Created base components: Button, Input, Card, and Stack
Added design tokens (tokens.css) and Mantine theme overrides
Everything styled with CSS Modules for full control — no Tailwind.

🔧 Server Action Prototype

Implemented createProjectAction:
- Validates input (Zod)
- Checks duplicate slugs
- Creates Project + AccessKey in MySQL

This means — starting tomorrow —

I can actually create new projects and generate landing pages dynamically.

🧭 What’s Next (Day 2 Plan)

Tomorrow’s focus:

Building the full MVP validation loop.

Here’s the goal:

1️⃣ /create — Input your idea and instantly create a landing page

2️⃣ /land/[project_name] — Visitors can submit their email

3️⃣ /dashboard/[access_id] — See collected data and conversion metrics

By the end of Day 2, a user should be able to:

Create → Share → Collect → Analyze — all inside Lanorx.

If that works, Lanorx officially becomes a working product.

🧠 Reflection

Day 1 wasn’t flashy.

It was architecture, structure, and groundwork —

the invisible stuff that makes fast iteration possible.

The difference between an app that collapses after launch

and one that scales smoothly often comes down to what you build first.

So I didn’t rush the UI.

I built the skeleton that’ll hold everything up.

“Before you can validate your idea,

you have to validate your system for building ideas.”

📍 Follow the Journey

I’ll post daily progress on Twitter/X → @D_chool

and deeper weekly reflections here on Dev.to.

This is Day 1 of 50.

Tomorrow — we make Lanorx real.

🧠 Hashtags

buildinpublic #50DaysTo1K #indiehackers #SaaS #NextJS #TypeScript #Prisma #Mantine #SoloFounder #webdev

🚀 50DaysTo1K — Building a SaaS to $1,000 MRR in 50 Days

Dchool — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 07:24:39 +0000

Hey everyone 👋

I’m Dchool, a solo developer and indie hacker from Seoul.

Today marks the start of my new public challenge: #50DaysTo1K —

Build a SaaS from scratch and reach $1,000 MRR in 50 days.

But this time, it’s not just another side project.

It’s something that came out of a long cycle of building things that never took off.

💭 A Little Backstory

I’ve been coding for years.

I’ve built countless projects — websites, apps, tools — you name it.

But most of them never went anywhere.

Why?

Because I kept building in silence, chasing perfection before feedback.

I’d code for weeks, sometimes months, before realizing no one even needed what I made.

I wasn’t failing because I couldn’t build.

I was failing because I never validated what I built.

And that realization changed everything.

💡 The Problem

Every indie hacker hears the same advice:

“Don’t start coding yet — create a landing page and see if people care.”

It’s true.

But let’s be honest — that process sucks.

You need to:

design and host a landing page
set up email collection or waitlists
connect everything manually (Google Sheets, Notion, whatever)
and then somehow manage and email those early users

It’s repetitive, time-consuming, and kills momentum before you even start.

And I got tired of it.

🔧 Why I’m Building Lanorx

So I decided to build Lanorx —

a tool to automate all of that validation friction away.

Lanorx creates a full validation loop in minutes:

idea → landing page → data → feedback — all in one place.

No setup. No third-party forms. No manual work.

Just type your idea, share the generated link,

and watch the real signals come in — views, clicks, emails, and conversion data.

⚙️ How It Works

Enter your idea. Write your project title, tagline, and short description.
Lanorx generates a landing page automatically. You get a clean, minimal, and shareable page.
Share your link. Visitors can show interest or leave their email.
View analytics in your dashboard. No setup, no tracking code, just real data.

It’s not a landing page builder.

It’s a validation engine.

🧱 Tech Stack

Framework (MVP): Next.js (App Router)
Framework (Production): Next.js + Express (API Gateway & microservice expansion)
Language: TypeScript
Database: MySQL + Prisma
UI: CSS Modules (not Tailwind — I want full control)
Auth: Email-based Access Link (passwordless)
Deploy: Vercel

Every decision is guided by one principle:

“Make validation so easy that makers have no reason to skip it.”

🧭 The Challenge: #50DaysTo1K

For the next 50 days, I’ll build, ship, and share everything in public.

My goal:

From $0 → $1,000 MRR in 50 days.

I’ll post daily progress on Twitter/X (@D_chool)

and weekly breakdowns here on Dev.to —

including what I built, how users responded, and what I learned.

🧠 What I’m Trying to Prove

I want to prove that momentum matters more than polish.

That validation is a feature — not an afterthought.

And that even as a solo indie hacker,

you can turn execution + public feedback into traction.

📍 Follow the Journey

Follow me on X/Twitter for daily updates

and here on Dev.to for deeper reflections.

If you’re also building something —

don’t wait for it to be perfect.

Launch it, validate it, and learn in public.

🧠 Hashtags

#buildinpublic #50DaysTo1K #indiehackers #SaaS #NextJS #TypeScript #SoloFounder

Mastering CSS Unit Size Conversion: Simplify Your Workflow

Dchool — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 10:43:02 +0000

When it comes to responsive web design, managing CSS unit sizes efficiently is crucial. Understanding how to convert between different units can greatly enhance your design process. Among these conversions, px to rem is one of the most commonly used, especially for creating scalable and accessible web interfaces.

Understanding px to rem Conversion

The px (pixel) is a fixed unit representing a dot on the screen, which is an absolute measurement. On the other hand, rem (root em) is a relative unit that stands for the font size of the root element (usually the <html> element). The primary advantage of using rem over px is scalability. When you use rem units, you ensure that your design scales proportionally based on the root font size, making it more responsive.

Here’s a simple formula to convert px to rem:
[ \text{rem} = \frac{\text{px}}{16} ]

For example:

16px = 1rem
32px = 2rem
48px = 3rem

Using rem units helps in maintaining consistency across different devices and ensures that your website remains accessible by allowing users to adjust the base font size according to their preferences.

A Superior Solution: CSS Unit Size Converter

While the basic conversion can be done manually or using simple online calculators, what if you need to convert an entire CSS file? Manually converting each unit is tedious and error-prone. This is where a comprehensive tool can make a significant difference.

I highly recommend checking out the CSS Unit Size Converter available at css-nexus.com/SUC/px-to-rem. Unlike other tools that only convert individual values, this site allows you to input your entire CSS code and automatically converts all the px values to rem (or any other unit you prefer). This feature can save you a tremendous amount of time and effort, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in your workflow.

Features of CSS Nexus Unit Size Converter:

Batch Conversion: Convert entire CSS files at once.
Customizable Base Values: Set your base value for rem conversion according to your project needs.
Multiple Unit Support: Besides px to rem, it supports various other unit conversions, making it a versatile tool for any CSS project.
User-Friendly Interface: The intuitive interface makes it easy for both beginners and experienced developers to use.

By using this tool, you can streamline your CSS workflow and focus more on the creative aspects of your web design, rather than getting bogged down with repetitive tasks.

Try it out at css-nexus.com/SUC/px-to-rem and take your web design efficiency to the next level.