CoA

App Features

• Create and manage user accounts, whom can edit certain parts about their experience, as well as receive notifications about upcoming disasters
• Display disaster events, shelters, escape routes across the globe
• Let administrator change the data of the database, as well as import and export data
• Expose API endpoints for importing, exporting and serving structured data
• Keep the public UI separate from the API layer so page rendering stays simple and data exchange stays isolated

Technologies used

• PHP - Vanilla application without frameworks, following the MVC model: controllers, models si views
• MySQL - Database for user accounts, event alerts, shelters and routes
• mysqli - Prepared statements + safe access to the database
• Composer autoload - Automatic load for api/models and api/handlers
• JavaScript - Interaction between the admin interface and dashboard
• CSS - Stylizing the pages

Design patterns used

• MVC - The main MVC flux: public/index.php -> controller -> model -> view
• Procedural controllers - The HTTP logic remains in different files, for a better organization and easier time reading code
• Repository-like models - Each model encapsulates the data access
• Separation of concerns - The API, Admin interface and public user interface are all separated

Project structure

• public/ - Entry point for the public application
• admin/ - The administrator interface. It allows the admin to modify the database
• api/ - Endpoints and handlers for data and exports
• schema/ - SQL Scripts for the database
• config/ - Database connection configurations

Testing & Validation

To ensure the application works correctly and meets the expected requirements, everything has been carefully tested to work accordingly.

Test Plan

The following aspects were validated:

• User interface responsiveness on different screen sizes (Desktop & Mobile)
• Correct handling of user input and forms
• Navigation between pages/components
• Functionality of core features
• Error handling for invalid or missing data

Acceptance Criteria

The project is considered complete when:

• The application runs without errors
• All main features are fully functional
• The design remains responsive on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices
• The user experience is consistent and intuitive
• The final solution matches the initial requirements

Deployment with Apache

The application is designed to run on an Apache Web Server with PHP, MySQL, and Composer.

Requirements

• Apache 2.4+
• PHP 8.x
• MySQL / MariaDB
• Composer 2.x
• mod_rewrite enabled

Deployment Steps

1. Copy the project into the Apache document root or configure a virtual host for it
2. Point the web server document root to the public/ directory. This is the only public entry point
3. Make sure mod_rewrite is enabled so the public/.htaccess rewrite rules can route requests to public/index.php
4. Run composer install in the project root to install dependencies and generate the vendor/ directory
5. Import the database schema from the schema/ folder
6. Configure the database credentials in config/
7. If there are any issues, restart Apache

Local Hostname

The project is intended to be accessible locally at http://coa.local through an Apache virtual host configuration.

Notes

• The admin/ and api/ folders also use .htaccess and should remain protected from direct access.
• vendor/autoload.php is required by the application, so Composer must be installed before running the project.

Presentation Video

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UfU9SJdc7Gb446mMZJFLfOG4cAn-D0iL?usp=sharing