Writing about tech can be just as important as making it. Developers spend plenty of time creating new applications and debugging existing codebases, but most developers also spend at least some of their time reading and writing about technical concepts, recent advancements, and new technologies. A simple Google search for any concept covered in this course returns thousands of think pieces and tutorials from developers of all skill levels!

The goal of this application was to build a CMS-style blog site similar to a Wordpress site, where developers can publish their blog posts and comment on other developers’ posts as well. This site is also deployed to Heroku for live use (see link below). This app follows the MVC paradigm in its architectural structure, using Handlebars.js as the templating language, Sequelize as the ORM, and the express-session npm package for authentication.

AS A developer who writes about tech
I WANT a CMS-style blog site
SO THAT I can publish articles, blog posts, and my thoughts and opinions

GIVEN a CMS-style blog site
WHEN I visit the site for the first time
THEN I am presented with the homepage, which includes existing blog posts if any have been posted; navigation links for the homepage and the dashboard; and the option to log in
WHEN I click on the homepage option
THEN I am taken to the homepage
WHEN I click on any other links in the navigation
THEN I am prompted to either sign up or sign in
WHEN I choose to sign up
THEN I am prompted to create a username and password
WHEN I click on the sign-up button
THEN my user credentials are saved and I am logged into the site
WHEN I revisit the site at a later time and choose to sign in
THEN I am prompted to enter my username and password
WHEN I am signed in to the site
THEN I see navigation links for the homepage, the dashboard, and the option to log out
WHEN I click on the homepage option in the navigation
THEN I am taken to the homepage and presented with existing blog posts that include the post title and the date created
WHEN I click on an existing blog post
THEN I am presented with the post title, contents, post creator’s username, and date created for that post and have the option to leave a comment
WHEN I enter a comment and click on the submit button while signed in
THEN the comment is saved and the post is updated to display the comment, the comment creator’s username, and the date created
WHEN I click on the dashboard option in the navigation
THEN I am taken to the dashboard and presented with any blog posts I have already created and the option to add a new blog post
WHEN I click on the button to add a new blog post
THEN I am prompted to enter both a title and contents for my blog post
WHEN I click on the button to create a new blog post
THEN the title and contents of my post are saved and I am taken back to an updated dashboard with my new blog post
WHEN I click on one of my existing posts in the dashboard
THEN I am able to delete or update my post and taken back to an updated dashboard
WHEN I click on the logout option in the navigation
THEN I am signed out of the site
WHEN I am idle on the site for more than a set time
THEN I am able to view comments but I am prompted to log in again before I can add, update, or delete comments

The following animation demonstrates the application functionality:

The deployed (via Heroku) application can be found here.

The GitHub repository can be found here.

To run locally:

• clone the GitHub repo using the above link
• create a .env file from the repo root that houses your personal MySQL password, username, and db name
• run npm i from the repo root to install all dependencies
• login into your personal MySQL account via CLI and source the db by running (from within MySQL CLI at the repo root) source db/schema.sql
• seed the db with npm run seed
• start the application with npm run start

Once the application is running you can then go to localhost:3001 in your preferred browser which will route you to the homepage. The homepage will show all posts from other users (including yourself). You can click on the title of a post to leave a comment. To access the Dashboard, you must click 'Sign In'. Once done, you will be prompted to sign in or given the choice to sign up. After signing in or signing up, you can then click 'Dashboard' in the navigation bar to route to a page with all of your posts. From here, you can edit and/or delete any past posts you have made, or you can click 'New Post' to make a new post. All new posts/updates will be automatically refreshed on the Home page.

I hope you find all the user tips as helpful as I do, enjoy!

Note: If a homework assignment submission is marked as “0”, it is considered incomplete and will not count towards your graduation requirements. Examples of incomplete submissions include the following:

• A repository that has no code

• A repository that includes a unique name but nothing else

• A repository that includes only a README file but nothing else

• A repository that only includes starter code

This homework is graded based on the following criteria:

• Satisfies all of the preceding acceptance criteria plus the following:

  • Application’s folder structure follows the Model-View-Controller paradigm.

  • Uses the express-handlebars package to implement Handlebars.js for your Views.

  • Application must be deployed to Heroku.

• Application deployed at live URL.

• Application loads with no errors.

• Application GitHub URL submitted.

• GitHub repository contains application code.

• User experience is intuitive and easy to navigate.

• User interface style is clean and polished.

• Application resembles the mock-up functionality provided in the homework instructions.

• Repository has a unique name.

• Repository follows best practices for file structure and naming conventions.

• Repository follows best practices for class/id naming conventions, indentation, quality comments, etc.

• Repository contains multiple descriptive commit messages.

• Repository contains quality readme file with description, screenshot, and link to deployed application.

You are required to submit BOTH of the following for review:

• The URL of the functional, deployed application.

• The URL of the GitHub repository, with a unique name and a readme describing the project.

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