North Carolina Historic Companion

Description

The North Carolina Historic Companion is a web application designed to provide users with an interactive experience of historic sites in North Carolina. The application has two main interfaces:

• Visitor Side UI: Allows users to browse and explore various tours, view detailed descriptions, and access multimedia content such as images and audio files related to each tour.
• Admin Side UI: Enables administrators to create, update, and manage tours. Admins can add titles, descriptions, images, and audio files for each tour, ensuring the content is up-to-date and engaging.

Software Architecture

The application is built using the following technologies:

• Frontend: React and TypeScript for building a responsive and interactive user interface.
• Backend: Node.js and Express for handling API requests and serving static files.
• Database: JSON-based storage for simplicity and ease of use.
• Styling: CSS and a little bit of bootstrap for styling the components and pages.

The frontend and backend communicate via RESTful APIs, ensuring a clear separation of concerns and maintainability.

Installation

To install the application, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/OrangeAed/nc-historic-companion.git
   cd NC_Historic_Companion

2. Install NVM (Node Version Manager): Follow the instructions on the NVM GitHub page to install NVM.

3. Install the latest version of Node.js and npm:

   nvm install node
   nvm use node

4. Install project dependencies:

   npm install

Starting the Application

To start the application, run the following commands in three seperate terminals. You will need to run these in nc-historic-companion directory for them to work. To see the full commands, look in the package.json file in the nc-historic-companion directory.:

• Start the development server:

  npm run dev  # This will start up the visitor side UI

• Start the backend server:

  npm run dev:server  # This will start up the admin side UI

• Start the production build:

  npm run start  # This will set up the backend server which both sides need to function

These commands will start the application, allowing you to access the visitor and admin interfaces through your web browser.

Contributing

We welcome contributions to the North Carolina Historic Companion project! To ensure a smooth collaboration, please follow these guidelines:

How to Contribute

1. Fork the Repository: Start by forking the repository to your GitHub account.

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/nc-historic-companion.git
   cd nc-historic-companion

2. Create a Branch: Create a new branch for your feature or bug fix.

   git checkout -b <feature-or-bugfix-name>

3. Make Changes: Implement your changes in the codebase. Ensure your code follows the project's coding standards and is well documented.

4. Commit Changes: Commit your changes with a clear and concise commit message.

   git add .
   git commit -m "Description of the feature or fix"

5. Push to GitHub: Push your changes to your forked repository.

   git push origin <feature-or-bugfix-name>

6. Create a Pull Request: Go to the original repository and create a pull request from your forked repository. Provide a detailed description of your changes and any related issues.

Code Style

• Follow the existing code style and conventions.
• Ensure your code is well-documented.
• Run npm run lint to check for any linting errors.

Reporting Issues

If you find a bug or have a feature request, please open an issue on GitHub. Provide as much detail as possible to help us understand and address the issue. Your issue should include a description of the bug, what the intended behaviour should be, and the steps to reproduce the bug.

Thank you for contributing to the North Carolina Historic Companion project!