Blogging Platform API

This is the backend API for a personal blog built using Node.js and Express.js, with MongoDB Atlas as the database. The API includes JWT-based authentication and role-based authorization, supporting three roles: Admin, Moderator, and User.

Hosted on Render: Blogging Platform API

Technologies Used

• Backend:
  • Node.js: JavaScript runtime environment
  • Express.js: Web application framework
  • MongoDB Atlas: NoSQL database
• Authentication and Authorization:
  • JSON Web Tokens (JWT): For secure authentication
• Email:
  • Nodemailer (for sending account activation and password reset emails)
• Deployment:
  • Render (cloud platform for hosting)

Features

Actions

Unauthenticated Users:

• Can read posts and comments.
• Cannot like/dislike or comment unless logged in.

Authenticated Users:

• Can like/dislike posts, comments, and replies.
• Can comment on posts and reply to comments.
• Can update or delete their own account.
• Can view their own profile or other users' profiles.

Authentication

• JWT-based authentication: Sign up, login, and protected routes.
• Account Activation via Email: Users must activate their account after signing up via an activation email before logging in.
• Forgot Password: Users can reset their password via a reset password email.

Public API Endpoints

For detailed information about the public API endpoints, please refer to the API Documentation.

Project Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14+)
• MongoDB Atlas (or local MongoDB instance)

Installation Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/AbdallahRdf/blogging-platform-api.git

2. Install dependencies:

   cd blogging-platform-api
   npm install

3. Create a .env file with the necessary environment variables:

   PORT=Server_port_number.
   JWT_SECRET_KEY=Secret_key_for_JWT_authentication.
   MONGODB_CONNECTION_STRING=your-mongodb-connection-string
   FRONTEND_URL=URL_of_your_frontend_application_(optional)
   EMAIL_USER=Email_address_for_sending_emails
   EMAIL_APP_PASSWORD=Application_password_for_the_email_account.
   NODE_ENV=development_or_production

4. Create an initial admin user:

   run the command below to run createAdmin.js script to create an admin user.

   npm run create-admin

5. Start the development server:

   npm run start:dev

Contributing

If you want to contribute to this project, feel free to fork the repo and submit a pull request.