📝 Blogging API

A RESTful API built with Node.js, Express, and MongoDB that allows users to create, manage, and publish blog posts.
This API supports JWT-based authentication, pagination, searching, filtering, and ordering of blog posts.

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🚀 Features

• User authentication with JWT (expires after 1 hour)
• Public and Private blog access
• Blog states: draft and published
• Pagination (default: 20 blogs per page)
• Searchable by author, title, or tags
• Orderable by read_count, reading_time, and timestamp
• Auto-increment read_count when a blog is viewed
• Reading time automatically calculated
• CRUD operations for blog owners
• Uses MVC pattern for clean architecture

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🛠️ Tech Stack

• Backend Framework: Node.js + Express
• Database: MongoDB + Mongoose
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Token)
• Environment Variables: dotenv
• Logger: morgan
• Security & CORS: cors
• Testing: Jest / Supertest (optional)

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📦 Installation

1️⃣ Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/blogging-api.git
cd blogging-api

2️⃣ Install Dependencies

npm install

3️⃣ Create a .env File

touch .env

Add the following:

PORT=5000
MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key
NODE_ENV=development

⚠️ Ensure your MongoDB connection string is correct.

▶️ Running the Server

Development Mode

npm run dev

Production Mode

npm start

Server will run on:

http://localhost:5000

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📁 Project Structure

.
├── config/
│   ├── db.js            # MongoDB connection
│   └── jwt.js           # JWT helpers (sign/verify)
├── controllers/
│   ├── blog.controller.js
│   └── user.controller.js
├── models/
│   ├── Blog.js
│   └── User.js
├── routes/
│   ├── blog.routes.js
│   └── user.routes.js
├── middlewares/
│   └── auth.middleware.js
├── server.js
├── package.json
└── README.md

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🔑 Authentication

This API uses JWT for authentication.

Login to Get Token

Once a user logs in, you’ll receive a JWT token.

Add it to your headers for protected routes:

Authorization: Bearer <your_token>

Tokens expire after 1 hour.

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🧍 User Endpoints

1️⃣ Register a User

POST /users/signup

Request Body:

{
  "first_name": "Mareola",
  "last_name": "Plate",
  "email": "mareola@example.com",
  "password": "123456"
}

Response:

{
  "message": "User registered successfully",
  "token": "<jwt_token>"
}

2️⃣ Login User

POST /users/login

Request Body:

{
  "email": "mareola@example.com",
  "password": "123456"
}

Response:

{
  "message": "Login successful",
  "token": "<jwt_token>"
}

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📰 Blog Endpoints

1️⃣ Get All Published Blogs (Public)

GET /blogs?state=published&page=1&limit=20&author=mike&order_by=read_count

Supports:

• Pagination → page, limit
• Filtering → state
• Searching → author, title, tags
• Ordering → read_count, reading_time, timestamp

2️⃣ Get a Single Blog (Public) (Blog must have been published using the PATCH/:id/state route)

GET /blogs/:id

Automatically:

• Increments read_count by 1
• Returns author details

Response:

{
  "title": "How to Learn Node.js",
  "description": "A beginner guide",
  "author": {
    "first_name": "Mareola",
    "last_name": "Plate"
  },
  "read_count": 45,
  "reading_time": "3 mins",
  "state": "published",
  "tags": "nodejs", "backend",
  "body": "Full blog content..."
}

3️⃣ Create a Blog (Authenticated)

POST /blogs

Header:

Authorization: Bearer <token>

Body:

{
  "title": "My First Blog",
  "description": "Introduction to blogging",
  "tags": "intro", "blog",
  "body": "This is my first blog post."
}

Created blogs start as draft.

4️⃣ Publish a Blog (Authenticated)

PATCH /blogs/:id/state

Body:

{
  "state": "published"
}

5️⃣ Edit a Blog (Authenticated, Owner Only)

PUT /blogs/:id

Body:

{
  "title": "Updated Blog Title",
  "body": "Updated blog content."
}

6️⃣ Delete a Blog (Authenticated, Owner Only)

DELETE /blogs/:id

Deletes the blog completely from the database.

7️⃣ Get All Blogs by Logged-in User

GET /blogs/my-blogs?state=draft&page=1

Lists blogs created by the logged-in user.

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🧮 Reading Time Algorithm

The reading time is estimated based on word count:

const wordsPerMinute = 200
const readingTime = Math.ceil(wordCount / wordsPerMinute)

Result stored as: "3 mins read".

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🧪 Testing (Optional)

Run tests with:

npm test

You can use Jest or Supertest for endpoint testing.

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☁️ Deployment

For Render or Vercel deployment:

1. Connect your GitHub repo.
2. Add environment variables under project settings.
3. Use the start command:

npm start

Render automatically detects Express and sets up a web service.

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👨‍💻 Author

Mareola
Software Engineer | Backend Developer | Tech Innovator

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🧠 License

MIT License © 2025 Mareola