Blogs Galaxy Backend

Project Description

Blogs Galaxy is a robust backend application designed to power a dynamic blogging platform. It provides a comprehensive set of RESTful APIs for managing users, blog posts, comments, ratings, and administrative functionalities. Built with Node.js and Express, it emphasizes clean architecture, secure authentication, and efficient data handling.

Features

• User Management: Secure user registration, login, and profile management.
• Blog Post Management: Create, read, update, and delete blog posts.
• Commenting System: Allow users to comment on blog posts.
• Rating System: Enable users to rate blog posts.
• Admin Panel: Dedicated routes for administrative tasks like managing users and content.
• Authentication & Authorization: JWT-based authentication and role-based authorization.
• Error Handling: Centralized error handling with custom error classes.
• Database Integration: Seamless integration with MongoDB (or your chosen database) via Mongoose.

Data Models

The application uses the following Mongoose models to structure data:

• User: Stores user information, including username, email, password (hashed), and role (e.g., user, admin).
• Blog: Represents a single blog post with a title, content, author (references the User model), and timestamps.
• Comment: Contains the content of a comment, the author (references the User model), and the associated blog post (references the Blog model).
• Rating: Stores the rating value given by a user to a specific blog post.

Installation

To set up the project locally, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/MrMADS28289/Blogs_Galaxy_Server
   cd Blogs_Galaxy_Server

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Configure Environment Variables: Create a .env file in the root directory and add the following environment variables:

   PORT=5000
   MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
   JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key
   JWT_EXPIRE=1h
   

   Replace your_mongodb_connection_string with your MongoDB connection URI. Replace your_jwt_secret_key with a strong, random string.

4. Run the application:

   npm start

   The server will start on the port specified in your .env file (default: 5000).

API Endpoints

Below is a summary of the main API endpoints. Detailed documentation can be found using tools like Postman or Swagger (if integrated).

Authentication

• POST /api/auth/register: Register a new user.
• POST /api/auth/login: Log in a user and get a JWT token.
• GET /api/auth/me: Get current user's profile (requires authentication).

Users

• GET /api/users: Get all users (admin only).
• GET /api/users/:id: Get a single user by ID (admin only).
• PUT /api/users/:id: Update user details (admin only).
• DELETE /api/users/:id: Delete a user (admin only).

Blogs

• GET /api/blogs: Get all blog posts.
• GET /api/blogs/:id: Get a single blog post by ID.
• POST /api/blogs: Create a new blog post (requires authentication).
• PUT /api/blogs/:id: Update a blog post (requires authentication, author or admin).
• DELETE /api/blogs/:id: Delete a blog post (requires authentication, author or admin).

Comments

• GET /api/blogs/:blogId/comments: Get comments for a specific blog post.
• POST /api/blogs/:blogId/comments: Add a comment to a blog post (requires authentication).
• PUT /api/comments/:id: Update a comment (requires authentication, comment author or admin).
• DELETE /api/comments/:id: Delete a comment (requires authentication, comment author or admin).

Admin

• GET /api/admin/dashboard: Admin dashboard data (admin only).
• PUT /api/admin/users/:id/role: Update user role (admin only).

Gemini

• POST /api/gemini/chat: Interact with the Gemini API for chat-based functionalities.

Technologies Used

• Node.js
• Express.js
• MongoDB (via Mongoose)
• JSON Web Token (JWT) for authentication
• bcrypt.js for password hashing
• Joi (or similar) for validation (if implemented)
• Google Gemini API

Authentication & Authorization

Authentication is handled using JSON Web Tokens (JWT). When a user logs in, a token is generated and must be included in the Authorization header of subsequent requests.

Role-based authorization is implemented to restrict access to certain endpoints. For example, only users with the admin role can access the /api/admin routes. This is managed by embedding the user's role in the JWT payload and verifying it in the middleware.

Deployment

This application is ready for deployment on platforms like Render, Heroku, or any other service that supports Node.js.

To deploy on Render:

1. Push your code to a GitHub repository.
2. Create a new "Web Service" on Render and connect your GitHub repository.
3. Set the "Start Command" to npm start.
4. Add the required environment variables in the Render dashboard.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch (git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name).
3. Make your changes.
4. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'feat: Add new feature').
5. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/your-feature-name).
6. Open a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.