Document project plan and setup in README

README.md

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+# Polymer
+
+Polymer is the ongoing digital rebuild of **The Polytechnic** web presence.
+This repository currently contains the early alpha frontend and deployment automation.
+
+## Current Status
+
+- Phase: early alpha
+- Focus: landing/header experience, branding, and launch messaging
+- Target launch window: **March 2026**
+
+## Project Plan
+
+### Phase 1: Foundation and Alpha Experience (in progress)
+
+- Set up a Next.js frontend in `frontend/web`
+- Build a responsive newspaper-style header/navigation
+- Ship a temporary alpha overlay with rollout messaging
+- Establish CI-driven deployment workflow
+
+### Phase 2: Core Content Experience (planned)
+
+- Replace placeholder homepage body with real content modules
+- Implement section pages (News, Features, Opinion, Sports, etc.)
+- Add search and archive browsing paths
+
+### Phase 3: Editorial and Platform Readiness (planned)
+
+- Add content publishing/editorial workflows
+- Improve accessibility, performance, and SEO
+- Finalize analytics/observability and release hardening
+
+## Repository Structure
+
+```text
+.
+|-- docs/                    # Mockups and design artifacts
+|-- frontend/web/            # Next.js web application
+|-- .github/workflows/       # Deployment workflow(s)
+|-- package.json             # Root package metadata
+|-- pnpm-workspace.yaml      # Workspace config
+```
+
+## Tech Stack
+
+- Next.js (App Router)
+- React
+- TypeScript
+- Tailwind CSS v4
+- pnpm
+
+## Local Development
+
+### Prerequisites
+
+- Node.js 20+
+- pnpm 10+
+
+### Run the frontend
+
+```bash
+cd frontend/web
+pnpm install
+pnpm dev
+```
+
+Then open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000).
+
+## Deployment
+
+Production deploys run via GitHub Actions (`.github/workflows/deploy.yml`) on pushes to `main`.
+The workflow syncs the repo to `/var/www/polymer/`, builds `frontend/web`, and restarts the `polymer` PM2 process.
+
+## License
+
+MIT (see `LICENSE`).