The latest phase of the Street Source redesign is officially done!?
This was a big step forward in modernizing the app, and now the focus is shifting from front-end polish to behind-the-scenes upgrades that make everything run smoother and faster.
What’s Next for the Platform?
Now that the current redesign phase is complete, I’m diving into the next area of work: modernizing some legacy services. A few of these still rely on timed jobs that run every 5 minutes — which might not sound bad until you're waiting for an email or your uploaded photos to show up. Here's what's changing:
Event-driven emails – You’ll now get emails immediately, whether you're resetting a password or getting a notification.
Real-time photo processing – No more waiting around; your uploaded photos will process as soon as they hit the system.
These changes are about making Street Source feel faster and more responsive — because in 2025, 5-minute delays just feel outdated.
Spring Cleaning for the Codebase
After that, I’ll be doing another code audit. The goal this time is to track down and remove unused or half-baked features. As cool as some of these sounded on paper, leaving them in the codebase adds bloat and makes development more painful than it needs to be. Simplifying the foundation makes room for better, faster features moving forward.
Thinking Long-Term: Stability and Growth
Once the audit is done, I’ll be shifting focus to automated testing. It’s not glamorous, but it’s a critical part of reducing bugs and making sure changes don’t break something unexpectedly. Over time, I’m also planning to:
Add a progress page so you can see what’s in the works
Let users request new features directly
Share more behind-the-scenes updates like this one
Time is Always the Challenge
One of the biggest challenges right now is time. Between work, family, and rebuilding this platform, I also recently jumped back into a personal project: my 1990s body-dropped Toyota pickup. As I’ve gotten older, my interests have shifted — I’m less focused on adjustable suspension and squeezing the biggest wheels possible under a body drop, and more into resto mods with reliable, street-friendly performance.
Originally, I planned to undo the body drop on my old truck, but then I came across a great deal on another Toyota that didn’t have an engine — and conveniently needed everything my original build had. I decided to consolidate and reuse what I can, not to mention doing an unbody drop would have taken me months to finish!
This new project is called Stanky Red — a restomod build that’s all about keeping it simple, adding some V8 power, and turning it into a fun truck to cruise around in.
About That YouTube Channel…
A while back I started experimenting with video editing, thinking I’d be able to document builds and progress more visually. But wow — it’s way more time-consuming than I expected. Between syncing footage, editing, and trying to tell a decent story, it quickly became clear that something had to give.
For now, I’m putting video on the back burner. I could definitely see expanding into YouTube one day, but trying to do that on top of development, platform updates, family life, and truck builds just isn’t realistic — and honestly, it wouldn’t turn out very good if I forced it. So for now, it’s words and photos, not videos.
Thanks for following along! If you're into trucks, platform updates, or just curious about what’s next, keep an eye out — I’ve got a lot planned. And as always, feel free to reach out with your ideas or feedback.
Stay tuned,
– Rob
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