Add Makefile for staging deployment and update README with usage instructions

Author: PoojaB26

Makefile

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# Usage:
+#   make staging                         # channel = current git branch, expires in 7d
+#   make staging CHANNEL=my-channel      # custom channel name
+#   make staging CHANNEL=my-channel EXPIRES=14d
+#   make build                           # just build the site
+#   make deploy-staging                  # deploy without rebuilding
+
+SHELL := /usr/bin/env bash
+.SHELLFLAGS := -eu -o pipefail -c
+
+BRANCH  := $(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
+CHANNEL ?= $(BRANCH)
+EXPIRES ?= 7d
+
+# Firebase channel IDs must match [a-zA-Z0-9_-]
+SAFE_CHANNEL := $(shell echo "$(CHANNEL)" | tr '/' '-' | tr -c 'a-zA-Z0-9_-' '-' | sed 's/-\+/-/g; s/^-//; s/-$$//')
+
+.PHONY: staging build deploy-staging check-firebase
+
+staging: build deploy-staging
+
+build:
+	npm run build
+
+deploy-staging: check-firebase
+	@echo "Branch:  $(BRANCH)"
+	@echo "Channel: $(SAFE_CHANNEL)"
+	@echo "Expires: $(EXPIRES)"
+	firebase hosting:channel:deploy "$(SAFE_CHANNEL)" --expires "$(EXPIRES)"
+
+check-firebase:
+	@command -v firebase >/dev/null 2>&1 || { \
+		echo "firebase CLI not found. Install with: npm install -g firebase-tools" >&2; \
+		exit 1; \
+	}

README.md

@@ -28,6 +28,21 @@ You may want to run the docs site locally to test and visualize changes you are
 1. **Install Dependencies:** Run **`npm install`** in your terminal to install the necessary dependencies.
 2. **Preview Changes:** To see your changes in real-time as you edit the files, you can run a local development server. This server will host your website and reflect the latest changes. Use the command **`npm run start`**.
 
+## Deploying a Staging Preview
+To share your branch with reviewers before merging, deploy it to a Firebase Hosting preview channel. This builds the site and publishes it to a temporary URL (defaults to a 7-day expiry).
+
+```bash
+make staging                              # channel name = current git branch
+make staging CHANNEL=my-channel           # custom channel name
+make staging CHANNEL=my-channel EXPIRES=14d
+```
+
+Other targets:
+- `make build` — build the site only
+- `make deploy-staging` — deploy without rebuilding
+
+Requires the Firebase CLI (`npm install -g firebase-tools`) and access to the `flutterflow-docs-82026` Firebase project.
+
 ## Ready to Contribute?
 Your contributions are vital to keeping FlutterFlow's documentation clear, up-to-date, and helpful. We look forward to seeing your pull requests and are excited to welcome you into our community of contributors!