Universe - A Community App for Huskies

INFO6150 Web Design & User Experience Engineering

Project Overview

Welcome to Universe - A Community App for Huskies, a comprehensive web application designed and developed as part of the INFO6150 - Web Design & User Experience Engineering course. The project focuses on creating an engaging platform with advanced features, including user analytics, suggested connections, and a robust messaging system.

Project Idea

The primary goal of Universe is to provide users with a feature-rich environment, combining analytics, user recommendations, and seamless communication. Admins can efficiently manage user accounts, analyze user engagement, and facilitate communication, creating a dynamic and interactive user experience.

How to Run

To run the project locally, follow these steps:

Navigate to the backend directory:
```
cd backend
npm i
npm run start
```
Navigate to the frontend directory:
```
cd frontend
npm i
npm run dev
```

Features

Key features of the Universe web application include:

Mobile Responsive UI: Ensures a seamless user experience across various devices.
Admin and Users: Distinguishes between administrator and user roles with specific functionalities.
Landing, Login & Sign Up Pages: Provides intuitive and secure onboarding experiences.
Pages: Includes Home, Profile, Update Profile, Post, and Message Pages for comprehensive user interaction.
Password Encryption: Utilizes bcrypt for secure password storage.
Session Management: Implements JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for efficient session handling.
Data Consistency: Maintains consistency in User, Posts, Message, and Conversation Models.
End-to-End Transactions: Ensures seamless transactions for both Admin and User workflows.
3rd Party Libraries: Integrates Chakra UI and Bootstrap for enhanced UI components.
Frontend Framework: Developed using React.
Backend Tech: Powered by Node.js & Express.js.
External APIs: Utilizes APIs from Hugging Face, Unsplash, OpenWeather.
AWS Hosting: Hosts the web application on AWS EC2 instances for scalability and availability.
CRUD Operations: Implements Create, Read, Update, and Delete operations for User & Posts.
REST & MVC Architecture: Follows a RESTful API design and adheres to the Model-View-Controller architecture.
Git Branching: Utilizes developer branches and functionality-based commits for effective version control.
Documentation: Includes inline comments and follows a consistent naming convention for clarity.
Database Management: Utilizes MongoDB, hosted on MongoDB Atlas, for efficient data storage and retrieval.

External APIs Used

OpenWeather - Used to render the weather of the user's region.
Unsplash - USed to render background images in the Login/Signup
Hugging Face - Used to generate images with the power of AI.

Getting Started

To get started with Universe, you can explore the repository and its various components:

Project Report: For a detailed overview of the project, refer to the Project Report.
Architecture Diagram: For a detailed overview of the system architecture, refer to the diagrams that are part of the Readme.
Code Snippets: The repository includes code snippets that showcase the core components, including user accounts, posts and messaging. These components are the building blocks of Universe.
Presentation: The final presentation can be found at Project Presentation.

Architecture: MERN Stack

Backend

Frontend

Folder Structure

Group 14

Amuktha Vaishnavi Kotamsetty, Ketan Keshava, Nagalekha Ramesh, Ruchika Shashidhara.

License

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

Feel free to explore and contribute to the Universe project. Happy coding!

RuchikaShashidhara/Universe-NEU