TaskFlow Task Management System

A PHP and MySQL task-management web application built for local use with XAMPP. TaskFlow lets users register, log in, manage their own tasks, mark tasks complete, undo completion, edit task details, and delete tasks from a simple dashboard.

Recruiter Summary

TaskFlow is a full-stack PHP/MySQL CRUD application with user authentication, session-based access control, PDO database queries, and user-specific task management. It demonstrates practical backend workflow, database design, secure password hashing, and a clean project structure suitable for local deployment with XAMPP.

Problem Statement

Many students and small teams need a simple way to track daily tasks without using a large project-management platform. This project solves that problem by providing a lightweight web app where each user can create an account and manage only their own tasks.

Features

• User registration with basic validation.
• Secure password hashing with PHP password_hash().
• User login with password_verify().
• Session-based authentication.
• Logout flow that clears the active session.
• User-specific task dashboard.
• Create, read, update, delete task workflow.
• Mark tasks as complete and undo completion.
• Optional task description, category ID, and due date fields supported by the task model.
• Centralized database connection through src/db.php.
• PDO prepared statements for database access.

Technologies Used

• PHP
• MySQL
• PDO
• HTML
• CSS
• XAMPP
• Apache
• phpMyAdmin

Project Structure

Task-Management-System/
|-- README.md
|-- src/
|   |-- index.php
|   |-- register.php
|   |-- dashboard.php
|   |-- add_task.php
|   |-- edit_task.php
|   |-- delete_task.php
|   |-- complete_task.php
|   |-- logout.php
|   |-- db.php
|   `-- db_test.php
|-- assets/
|   |-- css/
|   |-- images/
|   `-- js/
|-- screenshots/
|-- docs/
|-- sql/
|   |-- schema.sql
|   `-- sqltable.txt

System Architecture

TaskFlow uses a traditional server-rendered PHP architecture:

1. The browser sends requests to PHP pages in src/.
2. Pages that need database access include src/db.php.
3. src/db.php starts the PHP session and creates the PDO MySQL connection.
4. Authentication data is stored in $_SESSION.
5. Task pages use the logged-in user's session ID to load or modify only that user's tasks.
6. MySQL stores users, categories, and tasks.

Database Structure

The app expects a MySQL database named todo_app.

Main tables:

• users: stores account details and hashed passwords.
• categories: stores optional task categories such as school, work, or personal.
• tasks: stores user tasks, descriptions, category links, due dates, completion timestamps, and creation timestamps.

The import file is available at:

sql/schema.sql

Backend Workflow

• src/db.php starts the session and creates the PDO connection.
• src/index.php handles login and redirects authenticated users to the dashboard.
• src/register.php validates registration input, hashes the password, and inserts a new user.
• src/dashboard.php checks the active session and loads tasks for the current user.
• src/add_task.php inserts a new task for the logged-in user.
• src/edit_task.php loads an existing task, checks ownership, and updates it.
• src/complete_task.php sets or clears the completion timestamp.
• src/delete_task.php deletes a task only when it belongs to the logged-in user.
• src/logout.php clears the session and returns the user to login.

Authentication Flow

1. A new user registers with username, email, password, and password confirmation.
2. The password is hashed before being saved to the users table.
3. During login, the submitted email is used to find the user record.
4. password_verify() checks the submitted password against the saved hash.
5. On successful login, the app stores the user's ID, username, and email in the session.
6. Protected pages redirect unauthenticated users back to src/index.php.
7. Logout clears and destroys the session.

CRUD Functionality

Operation	File	Description
Create	src/add_task.php	Adds a task for the logged-in user.
Read	src/dashboard.php	Displays all tasks owned by the current user.
Update	src/edit_task.php	Updates task title, description, category, and due date.
Complete/Undo	src/complete_task.php	Marks a task complete or restores it to incomplete.
Delete	src/delete_task.php	Deletes a task owned by the current user.

Preview

Login Page

Backend Page Flow

Database Overview

Task Table

Setup Instructions

1. Install XAMPP

Download and install XAMPP for your operating system.

2. Start Apache and MySQL

Open the XAMPP Control Panel and start:

• Apache
• MySQL

3. Place the Project in htdocs

Copy or clone this repository into the XAMPP htdocs folder.

Example folder path:

C:\xampp\htdocs\Task-Management-System

4. Import the SQL Database

1. Open phpMyAdmin at http://localhost/phpmyadmin.
2. Create a database named todo_app.
3. Select the todo_app database.
4. Open the Import tab.
5. Choose sql/schema.sql.
6. Click Import.

5. Confirm Database Settings

The default database connection in src/db.php is:

$DB_HOST = '127.0.0.1';
$DB_NAME = 'todo_app';
$DB_USER = 'root';
$DB_PASS = '';

These settings match the default local XAMPP MySQL setup.

6. Open the Localhost URL

Visit:

http://localhost/Task-Management-System/src/index.php

Challenges Encountered

• Keeping user sessions consistent across multiple PHP pages.
• Making sure users can only view, update, complete, or delete their own tasks.
• Centralizing the database connection so every page uses the same PDO setup.
• Designing table relationships between users, tasks, and optional categories.
• Separating completed and incomplete task state using timestamps.

Future Improvements

• Improve the visual design with a shared stylesheet.
• Add search and filtering for tasks.
• Add priority levels for tasks.
• Expand category management beyond fixed category IDs.
• Add password reset and email verification.
• Improve form feedback for validation errors.
• Add automated tests for authentication and task workflows.

What I Learned

• How to connect PHP to MySQL using PDO.
• How to use prepared statements for safer database queries.
• How PHP sessions protect authenticated pages.
• How to hash and verify passwords correctly.
• How CRUD operations map to separate backend workflows.
• How to structure a small full-stack project for clearer presentation.

Project Documents

• Project presentation PDF
• Project presentation PPTX