📰 Blogging Platform API

A RESTful API built with Django and Django REST Framework (DRF) that powers a blogging platform. It allows users to create, read, update, and delete blog posts, manage categories and tags, and perform filtering, search, and authentication.

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🚀 Project Overview

This project is part of the ALX Backend Engineering Capstone Project. The goal is to design and implement a fully functional Blogging Platform API that demonstrates backend development skills in Django.

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🧩 Features

• User Management (CRUD)
  • User registration, login, profile update, and deletion
  • Authentication and permissions (only authors can modify their posts)
• Blog Post Management (CRUD)
  • Create, update, delete, and view posts
  • Associate posts with categories and optional tags
  • Pagination, search, and filtering
• Filtering and Search
  • Filter posts by author, category, tags, or date
  • Search posts by title or content
• Optional Enhancements
  • Comments, likes, and draft publishing
  • Markdown support for post content

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🧱 Models Overview

Model	Description
User	Represents authors and readers
Post	Stores blog post details and relationships
Category	Defines categories (e.g., Tech, Lifestyle)
Tag	Defines tags (e.g., AI, Health, Startups)
Comment (optional)	Stores user comments on posts

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🛠️ Tech Stack

• Language: Python
• Frameworks: Django, Django REST Framework
• Database: MySQL
• Authentication: Django Auth / JWT
• Testing: Postman & Django Test Framework
• Deployment: PythonAnywhere / Render

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⚙️ Installation & Setup

1️⃣ Clone the Repository

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

2️⃣ Create a Virtual Environment

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate    # on Mac/Linux
venv\Scripts\activate       # on Windows

3️⃣ Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

4️⃣ Configure Database

Update your settings.py with MySQL credentials:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
        'NAME': 'blog_api_db',
        'USER': 'root',
        'PASSWORD': 'your_password',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
        'PORT': '3306',
    }
}

5️⃣ Run Migrations

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

6️⃣ Run the Server

python manage.py runserver

Visit the API at: 👉 http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/

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📖 API Endpoints (Examples)

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/posts/	List all posts
POST	/api/posts/	Create new post
GET	/api/posts/{id}/	Retrieve single post
PUT	/api/posts/{id}/	Update post
DELETE	/api/posts/{id}/	Delete post
GET	/api/categories/	List categories
GET	/api/tags/	List tags
POST	/api/users/register/	Register new user
POST	/api/users/login/	Log in user

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🧭 Folder Structure

blogging-platform-api/
│
├── blog/                  # Main app
│   ├── models.py
│   ├── serializers.py
│   ├── views.py
│   ├── urls.py
│   └── tests.py
│
├── blog_api/              # Project configuration
│   ├── settings.py
│   ├── urls.py
│   └── wsgi.py
│
├── requirements.txt
├── manage.py
└── README.md

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🧠 Future Enhancements

• Add comments and likes system
• Implement JWT authentication
• Add markdown support for content
• Deploy frontend integration (React or Flutter)

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👨‍💻 Author

[Justin Monubi Ogenche] Backend Engineering Student @ ALX 📧 [monubijustin@gmail.com] 🔗 [linkedIn]

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