Jun 5, 2026improved
New Mexico Ranking Metadata And Due-Diligence Prompts Improved
Made New Mexico ranking pages more specific for search and more actionable for rural land research.
New Mexico ranking SEO
- Replaced generic New Mexico ranking metadata descriptions with ranking-specific summaries for Freedom Score, tiny homes, RV living, off-grid living, cheap land, solar potential, and public land access.
- Added New Mexico due-diligence prompt panels to ranking pages so users see water, access, jurisdiction, source, structure, and occupancy checks tied to the ranking type.
- Styled the new prompt panels as part of the existing ranking trust layer.
Jun 5, 2026improved
Mountain Favicon And New Mexico Ranking Context Added
Added the mountain mark as the site favicon and made New Mexico ranking pages more state-specific.
Brand and New Mexico research
- Created an SVG favicon from the existing mountain logo and linked it through site metadata.
- Added New Mexico-specific ranking intros and source notes for Freedom Score, tiny homes, RV living, off-grid living, land affordability, solar potential, and public land access.
- Connected New Mexico ranking pages to relevant New Mexico guide articles for water, access, RV living, tiny homes, public land, and county-office verification.
Jun 4, 2026improved
New Mexico Review Queue Made More Transparent
Tightened the remaining New Mexico sourced profiles and added clearer website surfaces for county-office verification.
New Mexico research
- Added visible verification-queue panels to partially sourced county profiles so users can see what remains unresolved before parcel research.
- Updated De Baca, Guadalupe, and Harding notes with the specific State Records Center subdivision regulation anchors confirmed during review.
- Added the sourced review queue to Data Status and expanded the New Mexico county-office verification guide with county-specific next checks.
Jun 4, 2026improved
County Freedom Index Domain Migration Started
Deployed the latest local updates to Vercel and prepared the project for the countyfreedomindex.com domain migration.
Launch readiness
- Deployed the New Mexico dataset, verification checklist, and internal-linking updates to Vercel production.
- Added countyfreedomindex.com and www.countyfreedomindex.com to the Vercel project while DNS verification remains pending at the registrar.
- Updated canonical-domain defaults, launch documentation, and added a disabled-by-default redirect switch for the old cofreedommap.com domain.
Jun 4, 2026improved
New Mexico Verification Checklist Linked
Connected the New Mexico county-office verification checklist to the New Mexico directory, guide hub, and research-status workflow.
Guide UX
- Added the checklist to New Mexico lifestyle research paths so users can find it from the state directory.
- Added the checklist to the guide hub research references alongside data status, methodology, sources, and research status.
- Kept the checklist connected to the remaining sourced New Mexico profiles so De Baca, Guadalupe, and Harding have a clear verification path.
Jun 4, 2026improved
New Mexico Sourced Queue Tightened
Tightened De Baca, Guadalupe, and Harding county profiles while preserving their sourced status until stronger county-specific rule confirmation is available.
New Mexico research
- Updated De Baca County with clearer sourced-queue language around State Records Center subdivision regulation records and State Engineer subdivision review context.
- Added Guadalupe County official website context and tightened its subdivision, rural addressing, water, septic, and county-confirmation language.
- Added Harding County affordable-housing-plan context and documented why the profile should remain sourced until direct county-rule confirmation is available.
Jun 4, 2026verified
Third New Mexico Verification Cohort Promoted
Promoted Curry and Hidalgo counties after stronger official planning and subdivision-source review, bringing New Mexico verification coverage to 30 of 33 counties.
New Mexico research
- Updated Curry County with official county ordinances, permits/applications, GIS services, and State Records Center subdivision regulation sources.
- Updated Hidalgo County with comprehensive-plan, State Records Center subdivision, and Office of the State Engineer subdivision review context.
- Kept De Baca, Guadalupe, and Harding counties in the sourced review queue because current source coverage still leans on state subdivision records and needs stronger county-specific confirmation.
Jun 4, 2026verified
Second New Mexico Verification Cohort Promoted
Promoted Catron, Quay, and Roosevelt counties after official county-source review, bringing New Mexico verification coverage to 28 of 33 counties.
New Mexico research
- Updated Catron County with official permit-letter language covering unincorporated zoning, county building permits, New Mexico CID permits, and floodplain certification.
- Updated Quay County with adopted comprehensive-plan language describing subdivision-only county land regulation and no prescriptive zoning regulations.
- Updated Roosevelt County with official planning/rural addressing, subdivision, ordinance, and resolution sources while keeping Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, and Hidalgo counties in the sourced review queue.
Jun 4, 2026verified
New Mexico Verification Cohort Promoted
Initially promoted 25 New Mexico county profiles to verified county-source coverage while keeping 8 thinner-source counties in the sourced review queue.
New Mexico research
- Marked stronger New Mexico profiles as verified where official county planning, zoning, building, permit, subdivision, or code sources support county-level discovery notes.
- At this stage, Catron, Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, Hidalgo, Quay, and Roosevelt counties stayed sourced until deeper local rule review confirmed enough official county-level detail.
- Preserved parcel-level verification language across the New Mexico dataset so verified does not imply approval for tiny homes, RVs, container homes, off-grid dwellings, wells, septic, access, or parcel purchases.
Jun 4, 2026improved
New Mexico Dataset And Guides Published
Added New Mexico as the second expansion dataset with county profiles, rankings, guide content, source tracking, and launch-status coverage.
Expansion architecture
- Published all 33 New Mexico county profiles from the shared multi-state data model with official county-rule citations and land-market snapshots.
- Added New Mexico ranking pages, New Mexico guide articles, guide hub filtering, comparison links, and state directory content.
- Updated status, source, launch-readiness, footer, homepage, schema, and llms.txt surfaces so the platform now reflects Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
Jun 4, 2026verified
Wyoming County-Source Verification Completed
Promoted all 23 Wyoming county profiles to verified county-source coverage while preserving parcel-level verification language.
Wyoming research
- Marked all 23 Wyoming counties as verified where official county planning, zoning, development, building, wastewater, subdivision, or unusually clear limited-regulation sources support the profile notes.
- Added stronger official Albany County and Weston County source coverage so the final two Wyoming holdouts could move from sourced to verified.
- Updated data status, research status, and methodology language to show Wyoming as a verified county-source dataset.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Wyoming Dataset And Multi-State Trust Layer Added
Added Wyoming as the first expansion dataset and updated the guide, status, source, launch, and maintenance surfaces for a live two-state platform.
Expansion architecture
- Published Wyoming county profiles, Wyoming ranking pages, and Wyoming alternative-living guide content from the shared data model.
- Updated the guide hub, homepage, footer, data status, research status, land market status, and sources pages to recognize Colorado and Wyoming.
- Updated launch readiness, source freshness, and refresh-runbook language so future New Mexico expansion can follow the same operating model.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Third Guide Expansion Published
Added a dynamic guide publishing system and drafted the next large batch of Colorado land-buying and alternative-housing articles.
Educational content
- Added 50+ additional guide topics covering camper living, shed conversions, domes, A-frames, modular homes, climate, water, septic, access, owner financing, regional land buying, public land, wildfire, floodplain, and county comparisons.
- Created a reusable /guides/[guide] page template so future guide batches can publish from structured content data.
- Wired the new guides into the guide hub filters, sitemap, route audit, smoke tests, visual QA targets, and llms.txt.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Homepage Depth And Logo Refresh Added
Added layered homepage depth, subtle sitewide transition animations, and replaced the CFM text mark with a minimal mountain outline logo.
Brand and UX
- Updated the header and footer brand mark to use a reusable black mountain outline on a white badge.
- Added page-entry and surface-rise animations with reduced-motion safeguards.
- Added homepage depth through layered hero treatment, raised verification strip, overlapping bands, deeper card shadows, and subtle hover motion.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Guide Hub Filtering Added
Added category filters and guide search to the /guides hub so the expanded article library is easier to scan.
Guide UX
- Grouped guide cards into Start here, Housing types, Off-grid and utilities, Land due diligence, Access and public land, and Rankings categories.
- Added a client-side guide search field that filters by article title, eyebrow, and summary text.
- Added guide counts, empty-state handling, and category click tracking metadata.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Second Guide Expansion Published
Added ten more Colorado land-buying and alternative-housing guides, then connected related guide pages with stronger internal links.
Educational content
- Published guides for container homes, ADUs, rural cabins, limited zoning, remote workers, covenants and HOAs, land-buying red flags, mineral rights and easements, solar-powered off-grid homes, and a land-buyer glossary.
- Added the new articles to the guide hub, sitemap route list, structured data, route audits, smoke tests, visual QA targets, and llms.txt.
- Added internal guide links across RV living, off-grid living, tiny home rules, cheap rural land, and homesteading guides.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Guide Library Expanded For Launch
Added ten new Colorado alternative-housing research guides and wired them into the guide hub, sitemap, schema, QA lists, and llms.txt.
Educational content
- Published new guides covering zoning research, wells and septic, camping on private land, RV construction permits, land without utilities, seasonal access, planning department questions, home type definitions, van life basecamps, and public land access for homesteaders.
- Added guide cards to /guides so the new articles are discoverable from the main education hub.
- Updated static route coverage, structured data, route audit, smoke tests, visual QA targets, and LLM-readable summaries.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Guide Articles Nested Under Guides
Moved educational guide articles under /guides/ so the URL structure matches the county profile hierarchy.
SEO architecture
- Moved the five educational guide article routes to /guides/[article-slug].
- Updated guide hub links, homepage links, article breadcrumbs, structured data, sitemap routes, llms.txt output, and QA route lists.
- Added permanent redirects from the former root-level guide article URLs to the new /guides/ URLs.
Jun 4, 2026verified
Vercel Production Deployment Created
Created the Vercel production deployment, linked the cofreedommap project, and attached cofreedommap.com plus www.cofreedommap.com.
Launch readiness
- Linked the local project folder to Vercel project cofreedommap.
- Set NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL to https://cofreedommap.com in Vercel production environment variables.
- Verified production smoke against https://cofreedommap.com after DNS and HTTPS came online.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Homepage Photography Updated
Replaced the homepage hero with provided Colorado meadow photography and added a second provided mountain image to the research-path section.
Homepage UX
- Added compressed homepage image assets under public/images/home.
- Updated the hero background to use home-hero-meadow.jpg.
- Added home-path-ridge.jpg as a subtle background behind the What Are You Researching section.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Production Domain And LLM File Cleaned Up
Set cofreedommap.com as the default production domain and simplified machine-readable LLM output to llms.txt only.
Launch readiness
- Changed the default NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL fallback to https://cofreedommap.com.
- Removed the duplicate /llm.txt route and footer link.
- Updated route smoke, production smoke, route audit, launch readiness, and launch docs to reference only /llms.txt.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Production Smoke Check Added
Added a production-domain smoke test for post-deployment route and SEO file verification.
Launch readiness
- Added npm run qa:production with PRODUCTION_BASE_URL support.
- Verified key public routes, sitemap, robots, and llms.txt against a deployed domain.
- Updated launch readiness, deployment notes, launch checklist, and README with the post-deploy command.
Jun 4, 2026verified
Manual Launch Gate Review Recorded
Recorded the first manual launch-gate review pass and surfaced the findings on the launch readiness dashboard.
Launch readiness
- Added docs/launch-gate-review.md with reviewed routes, findings, and remaining deployment tasks.
- Added a latest manual review section to /launch-readiness.
- Confirmed reviewed routes loaded without horizontal overflow and included discovery/verification trust language.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Pre-Launch Gates Added
Added a manual pre-launch gate checklist to the launch readiness dashboard and launch checklist docs.
Launch readiness
- Added visual QA, data confidence, trust language, SEO files, analytics, and deployment gates to /launch-readiness.
- Linked each gate to the relevant live project routes for review.
- Updated docs/launch-checklist.md so the written launch process matches the live dashboard.
Jun 4, 2026improved
County Hero Image Visibility Tuned
Adjusted county profile hero overlays so generated regional landscape images are easier to see while preserving readable hero text.
County profile UX
- Increased county hero background image opacity.
- Reduced the forest-green overlay strength across county profile hero sections.
- Kept the existing regional image assignment system intact for all 64 county pages.
Jun 4, 2026improved
County Profile Hero Images Added
Added generated Colorado-style landscape backgrounds to county profile heroes with a low-opacity image layer and green overlay.
County profile UX
- Generated five reusable regional hero images for mountains, southern valley, eastern plains, western slope, and front range counties.
- Stored compressed project assets under public/images/county-heroes.
- Mapped county profile hero backgrounds from each county's region while keeping hero text readable.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Homepage And Guide Visual Polish
Added a centered explorer heading, image-backed guide heroes, and cleaner leaderboard badge spacing.
UX and content presentation
- Added an Explore Colorado Counties title above the interactive homepage map.
- Applied relevant background images with forest-green overlays to the guide hub and guide article hero sections.
- Adjusted county leaderboard card layout so status badges sit farther right from rank numbers.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Homepage Hero Copy Updated
Updated the homepage hero to foreground alternative living research and guide visitors directly into the county explorer.
Homepage UX
- Replaced the hero headline and supporting copy with alternative-living discovery language.
- Added a primary Start Exploring Counties jump link to the interactive county explorer.
- Removed the three hero toolbar bubbles below the first viewport.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Map Filter Bar Added
Added duplicate homepage map controls above the interactive map so filter state is visible where users browse counties.
Homepage UX
- Kept the existing Minimum Freedom Score filter and sidebar controls in place.
- Added top-of-map controls for minimum Freedom Score, lifestyle focus, research status, matching county count, and reset.
- Shared the same filter state with the sidebar controls and URL query parameters.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Homepage Map Expanded
Expanded the homepage county map to a full-width explorer row and added county-name hover labels.
Homepage UX
- Updated the homepage explorer layout so the map spans the full available width above filters and county details.
- Added custom county hover labels showing county name and Freedom Score.
- Kept existing click, keyboard selection, filters, quick list, and comparison behavior intact.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Homepage Research Paths Added
Added a path-based homepage section that helps visitors choose tiny homes, RV living, off-grid living, homesteading, or cheap land research.
Homepage UX
- Added five homepage research path cards with links into the relevant rankings and educational guides.
- Placed the path selector before the interactive explorer so visitors can choose a goal before browsing the map.
- Styled the cards with the existing Bento-inspired white, forest green, and Vegas gold visual system.
Jun 4, 2026improved
Parcel Verification Notices Added
Added consistent parcel-level verification notices across the main discovery, guide, ranking, comparison, and county profile surfaces.
Trust and compliance
- Added a reusable parcel verification notice component with context-specific copy.
- Placed the notice on homepage, guide hub, educational guides, ranking pages, comparison pages, and county profiles.
- Linked the notice to the full disclaimer so users understand that county-level signals are research leads, not parcel approvals.
Jun 4, 2026verified
Launch QA Report Refreshed
Refreshed the local visual QA report with fallback route checks against the latest preview build.
Launch QA
- Confirmed the production preview responds on the latest local QA port.
- Ran route smoke against 26 launch routes with no issues.
- Regenerated the visual QA report with 23 fallback HTTP checks and no route issues while browser screenshots remain blocked in the sandbox.
Jun 3, 2026improved
Guide Internal Linking Expanded
Added topic-specific research path links to the newest educational guides so readers can move into rankings, comparisons, county profiles, and trust pages.
SEO content
- Added research path sections to the off-grid, homesteading, tiny home rules, and cheap rural land guides.
- Linked guides to relevant rankings, comparison examples, methodology, data status, research status, source, and disclaimer pages.
- Added a reusable article link-grid style for guide navigation blocks.
Jun 3, 2026improved
Ranking Trust Strip Added
Added source confidence snapshots to ranking pages so visitors can evaluate top-10 coverage, citation depth, and ranking input transparency.
Ranking pages
- Added verified-profile count, major source coverage count, top-10 citation count, and ranking input count to ranking pages.
- Linked ranking confidence strips to methodology, data status, and source glossary pages.
- Applied the trust strip across Freedom Score, tiny home, RV living, off-grid, land affordability, solar, and public land rankings.
Jun 3, 2026improved
Comparison Trust Strip Added
Added source confidence snapshots to county comparison pages so users can quickly check citation depth, land snapshot date, and paired source coverage.
Comparison pages
- Added citation count, land snapshot date, and source coverage count for each county in a comparison.
- Added a paired full-coverage status when both counties include major comparison source layers.
- Linked comparison confidence strips to data status, source glossary, and disclaimer pages.
Jun 3, 2026improved
Educational Guide Set Added
Added four Colorado alternative-housing guide pages for off-grid living, homesteading, tiny-home rules, and cheap rural land research.
SEO content
- Added Can You Live Off-Grid in Colorado?
- Added Best Colorado Counties for Homesteading.
- Added Colorado Tiny Home Rules by County and Cheapest Rural Colorado Counties for Land.
- Wired the guides into the guide hub, sitemap route coverage, QA route lists, and LLM-readable summaries.
Jun 3, 2026improved
County Trust Strip Added
Added a compact source snapshot strip to county pages so visitors can quickly see major data-layer dates and citation counts.
County profiles
- Added land snapshot date, broadband year, public land year, solar period, and county citation count to each county profile.
- Linked the strip to data status, source glossary, methodology, and disclaimer pages.
- Kept the full Source Trail lower on county pages for detailed source links.
Jun 3, 2026improved
Source Freshness Layer Added
Added latest source snapshot summaries for the major data layers used by the county profiles.
Data transparency
- Added freshness summaries for land, population, broadband, climate, snowfall, solar, public land, and utility accessibility.
- Published the freshness layer on /data-status and /launch-readiness.
- Added source freshness review language to the data pipeline and refresh runbook docs.
Jun 3, 2026improved
Data Refresh Runbook Added
Added a public maintenance runbook for monthly, quarterly, annual, and future data-upgrade cycles.
Operations
- Created a public /data-refresh-runbook page.
- Documented monthly land market refreshes, quarterly county-rule reviews, and annual source updates.
- Added the runbook to launch readiness, footer navigation, sitemap coverage, route audit, and QA coverage.
Jun 3, 2026improved
Launch Readiness Page Expanded
Expanded launch readiness to include dataset coverage, generated route counts, SEO files, QA status, and refresh cadence.
Launch QA
- Added route, dataset, SEO, and QA readiness cards.
- Mirrored the refresh cadence from the data status page.
- Embedded the latest local route-smoke QA report when available.
Jun 3, 2026verified
All Colorado County Profiles Verified
Validated all 64 Colorado county profiles for county-level discovery and comparison.
County dataset
- Confirmed 64 verified county profiles.
- Confirmed full coverage for land market, demographics, property tax, climate, snowfall, public land, broadband, solar, and GeoJSON boundaries.
- Kept utility accessibility marked as a draft/editorial layer until sourced infrastructure data is added.
Jun 3, 2026verified
SEO And Machine-Readable Files Added
Added sitemap, robots, llms.txt, metadata, breadcrumbs, and JSON-LD support for core launch routes.
SEO
- Generated indexable county, ranking, comparison, region, guide, and trust pages.
- Added LLM-readable route summaries for AI systems.
- Added route audits for sitemap content routes and special SEO files.