diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6945896..7262dc5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ certs
 
 
 rebuild.sh
-vendor
 .gx
 
 # generated js
diff --git a/contrib/js/vendor/placeholder.js b/contrib/js/vendor/placeholder.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64f2715
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/js/vendor/placeholder.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+/* 
+ *  placeholder for vendor javascript files 
+ *  DO NOT REMOVE THIS FILE but feel free to edit it
+ */
+
diff --git a/contrib/js/vendor/readme.md b/contrib/js/vendor/readme.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ddfa31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/js/vendor/readme.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+vendor javascript files
+
+add your js here and it will be included in /static/nntpchan.js after running the build-js.sh script