feat(site): promote Discord community in banner, header, and footer

Move the top NEW announcement to the Create Awesome Discord invite.
Flagship templates remain featured in the mid-page banner section.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

Author: ulises-jeremias

src/app/page.tsx

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { AnimatedTerminal } from '@/components/animated-terminal';
 import { AnnouncementBanner } from '@/components/announcement-banner';
 import { ContributorsSection } from '@/components/contributors-section';
 import { CopyButton } from '@/components/copy-button';
+import { DiscordIcon } from '@/components/discord-icon';
 import { EcosystemSection } from '@/components/ecosystem-section';
 import { FeaturedTemplate } from '@/components/featured-template';
 import { HeroSection } from '@/components/hero-section';
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ import { StatsBar } from '@/components/stats-bar';
 import { TemplateCategories } from '@/components/template-categories';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import { Card, CardContent, CardDescription, CardFooter, CardHeader, CardTitle } from '@/components/ui/card';
+import { DISCORD_INVITE_URL } from '@/lib/community';
 import { getTemplatesData } from '@/lib/data';
 
 const PRIMARY_COMMAND = 'uvx create-awesome-python-app my-app';
@@ -31,11 +33,12 @@ export default async function Home() {
     <div className="flex min-h-screen flex-col">
       <main className="flex-1">
         <AnnouncementBanner
-          message={
-            <>New: FastAPI Starter — production-ready API with uv, Ruff, pytest, and composable Python extensions.</>
-          }
-          ctaHref="/templates/fastapi-starter"
-          ctaLabel="Explore template"
+          icon={<DiscordIcon className="h-5 w-5 shrink-0 text-yellow-200" />}
+          label="NEW"
+          message={<>Join Create Awesome on Discord — chat, good first issues, and collab across Node / Python / V.</>}
+          ctaHref={DISCORD_INVITE_URL}
+          ctaLabel="Join Discord"
+          ctaExternal
         />
         <HeroSection
           title={

src/components/announcement-banner.tsx

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ const bannerVariants = cva(
   {
     variants: {
       variant: {
-        gradient: 'bg-gradient-to-r from-blue-600 via-blue-500 to-green-600 text-white',
+        gradient: 'bg-gradient-to-r from-amber-600 via-amber-500 to-teal-600 text-white',
         subtle: 'bg-[hsl(var(--background))] border-b border-border/60 text-foreground/90 dark:text-foreground/80',
         accent: 'bg-[hsl(var(--primary)/0.15)] text-foreground',
       },
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ export function AnnouncementBanner({
         {variant === 'gradient' && (
           <>
             <div className="absolute inset-0 bg-[url('/grid.svg')] bg-center opacity-40 [mask-image:linear-gradient(180deg,white,rgba(255,255,255,0))]" />
-            <div className="absolute inset-0 bg-gradient-to-r from-blue-500/20 via-blue-400/15 to-green-500/20 animate-gradient-text" />
+            <div className="absolute inset-0 bg-gradient-to-r from-amber-500/20 via-amber-400/15 to-teal-500/20 animate-gradient-text" />
           </>
         )}
       </div>

src/components/discord-icon.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { cn } from '@/lib/utils';
+
+/** Discord brand mark (simple-icons path). */
+export function DiscordIcon({ className }: { className?: string }) {
+  return (
+    <svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" className={cn('h-5 w-5', className)}>
+      <path d="M20.317 4.37a19.8 19.8 0 0 0-4.885-1.515.074.074 0 0 0-.079.037c-.21.375-.444.864-.608 1.25a18.3 18.3 0 0 0-5.487 0 12.6 12.6 0 0 0-.617-1.25.077.077 0 0 0-.079-.037A19.7 19.7 0 0 0 3.677 4.37a.07.07 0 0 0-.032.027C.533 9.046-.32 13.58.099 18.057a.08.08 0 0 0 .031.057 19.9 19.9 0 0 0 5.993 3.03.078.078 0 0 0 .084-.028 14 14 0 0 0 1.226-1.994.076.076 0 0 0-.041-.106 13.1 13.1 0 0 1-1.872-.892.077.077 0 0 1-.008-.128 10.2 10.2 0 0 0 .372-.292.074.074 0 0 1 .077-.01c3.928 1.793 8.18 1.793 12.062 0a.074.074 0 0 1 .078.01c.12.098.246.198.373.292a.077.077 0 0 1-.006.127 12.3 12.3 0 0 1-1.873.892.077.077 0 0 0-.041.107c.36.698.772 1.362 1.225 1.993a.076.076 0 0 0 .084.028 19.8 19.8 0 0 0 6.002-3.03.077.077 0 0 0 .032-.054c.5-5.177-.838-9.674-3.548-13.66a.061.061 0 0 0-.031-.03zM8.02 15.33c-1.183 0-2.157-1.085-2.157-2.419 0-1.333.956-2.419 2.157-2.419 1.21 0 2.176 1.096 2.157 2.42 0 1.333-.956 2.418-2.157 2.418zm7.975 0c-1.183 0-2.157-1.085-2.157-2.419 0-1.333.955-2.419 2.157-2.419 1.21 0 2.176 1.096 2.157 2.42 0 1.333-.946 2.418-2.157 2.418z" />
+    </svg>
+  );
+}

src/components/layout-shell.tsx

@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ export function LayoutShell({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
                   <p className="text-xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-widest text-muted-foreground">Community</p>
                   <nav className="flex flex-col gap-2">
                     {[
+                      { href: 'https://discord.gg/bR5VyATgka', label: 'Discord Community', external: true },
                       { href: 'https://github.com/Create-Python-App', label: 'GitHub Organization', external: true },
                       {
                         href: 'https://pypi.org/project/create-awesome-python-app/',

src/components/saas-ai-banner.tsx

@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export function SaasAiBanner() {
             {/* Badge */}
             <div className="inline-flex items-center gap-2 rounded-full border border-blue-400/30 bg-blue-500/10 px-4 py-1.5 text-sm font-medium text-blue-200 backdrop-blur-sm">
               <span>✨</span>
-              <span>Flagship Template</span>
+              <span>NEW · Flagship</span>
             </div>
 
             {/* Heading */}

src/components/site-header.tsx

@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@ import { Gauge, Github, Menu, Package, Search } from 'lucide-react';
 import Link from 'next/link';
 import { usePathname } from 'next/navigation';
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+import { DiscordIcon } from '@/components/discord-icon';
 import { usePerformanceMode } from '@/components/performance-provider';
 import { ThemeToggle } from '@/components/theme-toggle';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import { Sheet, SheetContent, SheetHeader, SheetTitle, SheetTrigger } from '@/components/ui/sheet';
+import { DISCORD_INVITE_URL } from '@/lib/community';
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils';
 
 interface NavItem {
@@ -139,6 +141,11 @@ export function SiteHeader({ onOpenCommand }: { onOpenCommand?: () => void }) {
               <Package className="h-5 w-5" />
             </Button>
           </Link>
+          <Link href={DISCORD_INVITE_URL} target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="Discord Community">
+            <Button variant="ghost" size="icon" className="hidden sm:inline-flex">
+              <DiscordIcon className="h-5 w-5" />
+            </Button>
+          </Link>
           <Link href="https://github.com/Create-Python-App" target="_blank" aria-label="GitHub">
             <Button variant="ghost" size="icon">
               <Github className="h-5 w-5" />

src/lib/community.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+/** Canonical Create Awesome Discord invite (shared across CNA / CPA / CVA). */
+export const DISCORD_INVITE_URL = 'https://discord.gg/bR5VyATgka';