diff --git a/server/models/Item.js b/server/models/Item.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..325bdb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/models/Item.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+module.exports = {
+  findRecent: async () => [],
+  findFeatured: async () => []
+};
+
diff --git a/server/routes/users.js b/server/routes/users.js
index 369754c..c15e732 100644
--- a/server/routes/users.js
+++ b/server/routes/users.js
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ router.post('/register', async (req, res) => {
     errors.push({ msg: 'Username must be between 3 and 20 characters' });
   }
 
-  if (username && !/^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$/.test(username)) {
+  // Ensure the entire username only contains allowed characters
+  if (username && !/^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$/u.test(username)) {
     errors.push({ msg: 'Username can only contain letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens' });
   }