I was tired of being bombarded with ads, pop-ups, videos and notifications while trying to read articles or blogs. That’s why I built Enkel, it’s a clean and simple, privacy driven RSS reader that lets you focus on the content that matters.
The Stack
The web application was built using Laravel, PostgreSQL, Stripe, Inertia.js, Vue.js, Mercury Parser and Tailwind. I hosted it on a single $5 Digital Ocean droplet, and the database in their managed databases solution. Let me break those down:
- Laravel - PHP backend framework for quickly building out the application, and made use of PHPs XML library to parse RSS feeds users were following.
- PostgreSQL - The database, nothing fancy here.
- Stripe - My payment provider of choice, using Laravel Cashier for an easier integration.
- Inertia.js - Allows you build a frontend with the feel of an SPA, but use the backends routing and controllers.
- Vue.js - My preferred choice in modern frontend frameworks.
- Mercury Parser - A super cool open source tool for parsing any page online into simple HTML, Markdown or text.
- Tailwind - Utility based CSS framework, doesn’t impose any design, just provides the tools for quick and iterative CSS.
- Digital Ocean - My preferred choice in cloud providers, their Droplets (VPS) are fast and they’ve just launched a new PaaS service.
End of life
It’s a project I’ve since shutdown to focus my time and resources on other projects and work.