AceBook Project

This repository is a FaceBook clone which aims to replicate its core functunalities.

Built with MERN, Bootstrap, HTML, CSS, Jest and Vitest

🌟 Features

* Authentication: Secure user authentication implemented using JWT for session management, with encrypted passwords stored in a MongoDB database.
* State Management: Managed application state efficiently using React for seamless user interactions and  data handling.
* Responsive Design: Designed a responsive and user-friendly interface with Bootstrap, HTML, and CSS.
* API Integration: Developed APIs using Node.js and Express to handle user actions such as creating posts, commenting on posts, and liking posts.
* Database Operations: Utilized MongoDB for data storage, enabling robust handling of user profiles and posts.
* Dynamic Frontend: Built interactive frontend components with React, ensuring modularity and maintainability.
* Media Uploads: Implemented functionality for uploading and displaying media files, such as photos and videos.

🔧 Prerequisites

Ensure you have Node.js and MongoDB installed.

Set up your project

Install dependencies for both the frontend and api applications:

cd frontend
npm install
cd ../api
npm install

Install an ESLint plugin for your editor, for example ESLint for VSCode

Setting up environment variables.

You need to create two .env files, one in the frontend and one in the api.

Frontend

Create a file frontend/.env with the following contents:

VITE_BACKEND_URL="http://localhost:3000"

Backend

Create a file api/.env with the following contents:

MONGODB_URL="mongodb://0.0.0.0/acebook"
NODE_ENV="development"
JWT_SECRET="secret"

For an explanation of these environment variables, see the documentation.

How to run the server and use the app

1. Start the server application (in the api directory) in dev mode:

; cd api
; npm run dev

2. Start the front end application (in the frontend directory)

In a new terminal session...

; cd frontend
; npm run dev

You should now be able to open your browser and go to http://localhost:5174/signup to create a new user.