To-Do List Web Application

A simple to-do list web application built with Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and EJS.

Table of Contents

• Project Overview
• Features
• Technologies Used
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Usage
• Project Structure
• API Endpoints
• Future Improvements

Project Overview

This is a basic web application that allows users to create and manage a list of to-do items. It provides a simple and intuitive user interface for adding tasks. The application is built on the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture, with a Node.js and Express backend, EJS for the views, and MongoDB for the database.

Features

• Create To-Do Items: Add new tasks to your to-do list.
• View To-Do Items: See a list of all your to-do items. (Currently under development)
• Edit To-Do Items: Update the content of existing tasks. (Future feature)
• Delete To-Do Items: Remove tasks from your list. (Future feature)

Technologies Used

• Node.js: A JavaScript runtime for building the backend.
• Express.js: A web application framework for Node.js.
• MongoDB: A NoSQL database for storing the to-do items.
• Mongoose: An Object Data Modeling (ODM) library for MongoDB.
• EJS: A simple templating language for generating HTML.
• dotenv: A module for loading environment variables from a .env file.
• Nodemon: A tool that automatically restarts the server during development.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• Node.js (v14 or later)
• npm (usually comes with Node.js)
• MongoDB (or a MongoDB Atlas account)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/LoneWolf728/TodoApp.git
   cd todo-app

2. Install the dependencies:

   npm install

3. Create a .env file:

   Create a .env file in the root of the project and add your MongoDB connection string:

   DB_CONNECT=mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@<cluster-name>.mongodb.net/<database-name>?retryWrites=true&w=majority
   

   Replace <username>, <password>, <cluster-name>, and <database-name> with your actual MongoDB credentials. You can find this connection string in the mongodbinfo.txt file.

Usage

To start the application, run the following command:

npm start

This will start the server on http://localhost:3000. You can access the application by opening this URL in your web browser.

Project Structure

.
├── .env
├── index.js
├── mongodbinfo.txt
├── package-lock.json
├── package.json
├── models/
│   └── TodoTask.js
├── node_modules/
├── public/
│   └── stylesheets/
│       └── style.css
└── views/
    └── todo.ejs

• index.js: The main entry point of the application.
• models/TodoTask.js: Defines the Mongoose schema and model for the to-do tasks.
• views/todo.ejs: The EJS template for the user interface.
• public/: Contains static assets like stylesheets.
• .env: Stores environment variables, including the database connection string.
• package.json: Lists the project's dependencies and scripts.

API Endpoints

• GET /: Renders the main to-do list page.
• POST /: Creates a new to-do item.

Future Improvements

• Implement the ability to display all to-do items from the database.
• Add functionality to edit existing to-do items.
• Add functionality to delete to-do items.
• Improve the user interface and add more styling.
• Add user authentication to create personal to-do lists.
• Add due dates and priority levels to the to-do items.
• Write unit and integration tests for the application.